glk572's Journal: Moderator Comments I'd like to have

I used to be happy when I got moderator points it seemed like a rare and special occasion, now I literally get 5-10 points a day. It seems the goal is to prevent me from posting, by keeping me moderating. I actually like moderating, it gives me a chance to do something that I feel rarely happens on /. Reading entire threads, it gives the chance to steer the conversation in a positive direction.

Yet I feel that some of the moderator tags are used in ways that I don't find optimal. The troll tag is among the most misused tags out there. People seem to moderate anyone that they disagree with as trolls, and in other cases of clear trolling; trying to chase people away from slash-dot, attempting to create off topic replies, and especially outright rudeness troll is rarely applied.

Overrated is often misused, in the same way as troll, however by more intelligent moderators, in meta moderation people will much more realty agree that a comment is overrated than it is a troll.

On the other hand I feel that off-topic is wildly underused. Feel that the amount of side conversation in most topics is a good thing. I've read many a thread that has gone off on a tangent never to come back to the topic of conversation.

I want a punk moderation option, this would be for when one of the elitist high schoolers who prowl slash-dot is action up. These kids are a major distraction. It's not them at all but the know it all attitude that many of them bring with them. A long timer will make a joke, and one of these kids who jump in with out lurking for a wile, will correct them, and not only will they correct an obvious joke, but they will do it rudely.

I want a misinformation, and a wrong tag. I often see people slanting information to suit their dues (that's the american way.) But I want a tag for when this gets completely out of hand, I want a Bullshit tag. I think that this would be much more clear than the current catch all troll tags.

I want the underrated tag to go away, it's unnecessary, just moderate it up another way.

I overwhelmingly use positive moderations, mostly insightful, I like the insightful tag, anyone can bring in information, we live after-all in the information age. But thought is a virtue that I see lacking in the modern world, especially on the internet.

One thing that bothers me most of all is when people post ultra nationalistic messages. These usually come along when someone offers any specific information that is tied to a location. Some one usually complains about slash-dot being north american centric. This is an obvious troll, we are all centric to the location where we live. This is a case of Trolls trying to stop conversations by making anti american statements, derailing the conversation.

The feeling of anonymity offered by online communities causes temptations for people who lack empowerment in their personal lives to act out aggressively in an environment where they feel that they will suffer no consequences.

I want an end to anonymous posting. The goal is to promote conversation, which is impossible with ac posters, I like to see lively collegial debate. Posting ac is, I feel, equivalent to interjecting into a conversation and then running away. Slash-dot works because we are all accountable for our actions, thoughts, and errors, AC posting fractures the community.

Above all we need to remember that this is a community, we need to all be good citizens.