More policy tweaks (And new jellytable!)
Posted April 6th, 2009 by andrewAs part of our continual refining of Fluther’s vision, Ben and I sent out a new moderation policy to the mod team last night, and I wanted to share it with the collective. One thing we’ve honed in on as we define what’s acceptable on the site is motive — why someone is asking a question. We’ve touched on this in the new community guidelines, but I’ll spell it out more succinctly here.
We’ll be institutionalizing this as we revamp the asking process in the near future.
(Also! The next jellytable will be on Thursday, April 9, at 10AM Pacific time).
Here are the motives that are encouraged and allowed:
- Help me resolve this issue: (aka legit questions).
This is the fundamental type of question in Fluther. A user has a problem, and taps into the collective to find the answer.
The more specific the problem and the more personal the details, the better. Most ‘legit’ questions use first person language: “I, my…”.
A subsection of this are the legitimate, not-rhetorical curious questions, or “Why is this this way?” questions, like “What happens when you’re arrested by a bike cop?”, “What’s the etymology of this word?”, etc.
Of course, quality, spelling, clarity are all paramount, and questions lacking in these should be moderated so users are better able to ask great questions. Easy/Googleable questions are allowed, and should be answered courteously.
- I want to start a thoughtful discussion (aka social questions).
This is a valuable and important type of question, and also requires the most finesse. Interesting questions here can be open-ended, and are really looking for thoughtful exploration of an idea, rather than resolving an issue. “Can a religion or philosophy be immoral?” The key for a quality social questions is a good premise (idea), a succinct title (subject), and a thoughtful prompt (details, jumping off point). Questions that are lacking in these categories should be moderated and helpful guidance given so the user can better start great discussions/ask great questions; this includes questions that are rhetorical.
Special note on games and puzzles:
Games and puzzle are allowed (sparingly), but only if presented in such a way that inspires a quality discussion / exploration / playing of game, so the premise (the game itself) and the prompt are especially important. Simply posing a puzzle will be moderated for the the same reasons as before.
As a rule of thumb, if one can answer a “social question” in a short sentence, it needs a better prompt or it doesn’t belong.
- This is a question or issue about Fluther itself. (aka meta questions).
This is a special motivation specific to getting help about how to use Fluther, getting an opinion about an idea for Fluther, or simply announcing something relevant to Fluther users (used very sparingly–”Has everyone voted for Fluther’s new award?”. Asking a great meta question is very similar to 1. and 2.: It still should be clear and concise, and (if appropriate) supply a thoughtful prompt for a discussion (”Should Fluther add this feature? Details: I’ve been struggling with this problem…”). Simply blasting something is not appropriate.
Those are the allowed motives. Other motives for questions (To get attention, to be funny, to sell a product, to be controversial, etc.) do not belong on Fluther.
Explore posts in the same categories: Fluther, News
April 6th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
So you’re saying rhetorical questions are not welcome? I hope so, because those endless but what if questions drive me nuts.
April 6th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Exactly. By and large, rhetorical questions do not belong here — unless they’re extremely creative and offer a great prompt for a quality discussion.
April 6th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Now no one can complain about why they got modded - It’s all right here! It’s great to see what the official moderator guidelines are, instead of second hand attempts at explaining them.
Too bad I’ll miss the JellyTable. 7AM on a weekday? Awwww, mannnn, I’ve already got plans =(
April 6th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
These are some wonderful guidelines! I am very glad that you explained these fully. Much lurve to you!
April 6th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Awesome, can’t wait! I love these things. So that would be… 1 PM EST? Good I don’t have to get up early.
April 6th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Good guidelines. It would be nice to see a real body of technical questions-”I’m finsihing an antique dresser and am wondering about processes?” to balance some of the socio-political commentary- “What are the implications of maintaining troops in Saudi Arabia?’
P.S.-Nice April Fool’s joke.
April 6th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Was this brought along by one of our more recent thread wars today? Because I would look forward to a wis.dm vs. fluther war…
April 6th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
It’s tricky making rules about motivation, it’s internal and thus not always possible to tell what the motivation is. It’s much easier to make rules about action.
April 6th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Great guidelines, guys. Thanks for clarifying. I was modded today and wasn’t sure why, but when I went back and worked to reword my question, I could see that it wasn’t of the best quality. Thanks for working hard to keep Fluther a QUALITY site and community.
April 6th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
More good work from the dazzling duo!
April 6th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I won’t be available for the jellytable as I have to work. But I like what I’ve read here so far. it’s obvious that you guys are on the ball, again. Thanks for the clarification.
April 6th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Thanks for keeping us in the loop!!
April 6th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Well said, dude.
And hooray! I may make it to the next JellyTable. That will be nice.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Great job of clarification, thanks!
@dverhey: There are no wis.dm / fluther wars. Everyone here came here from somewhere, sometime. Fluther, to me, is like the great American melting pot, where everyone is a jelly, not a fomer anything. Right?
April 7th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Subtle but important changes to the existing rules. Interesting to see that easy and Googleable questions ARE allowed.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
That was the most beautiful thing I’ve read all week.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
@Zen: Thanks. I was just reading one of the recent flame-war threads and the subject of a wis.dm fluther war was brought up by (hopefully) a troll… I would love it because fluther would kick ass.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Well done! Thanks for all your hard work. We know it’s a thankless job - but we lurve you for it!
April 7th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I feel for you guys. Maybe the new guidelines will cut down on your aspirin intake!
April 7th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
(thumbs up)
April 8th, 2009 at 3:37 am
It’s good to be west-coast : )
Who determines motive - the user, or the community?
I’m wary of other users presuming (and subsequently reporting to mods) the motives and intents of others incorrectly.
April 8th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Thanks for posting the refined guidelines offering more clarification which is especially important for newcomers like myself. I’ve been a Flutherite for only a few weeks and I think I’ve got modded only once recently as my question didn’t meet the criteria. I feel it’s important to know about the boundaries. My conclusion is that whenever we stick to the rules diversity and individual creativity is appreciated. I’m interested in answering all types of questions, but I’m especially interested in asking social questions to start a thoughtful discussion and explore ideas. I like your rule of thumb that good social questions can’t be answered on just one sentence.
April 8th, 2009 at 8:24 am
I am still unclear as to whether my kind of questions fit into this, and if they do or do not, why they have not been explicitly ruled in or out.
My questions are social questions that aren’t really asking for discussion. I ask for people’s personal experience with respect to something of interest to me. I don’t care if people discuss it (it’s nice if they do), but I am not asking for discussion. However, there really isn’t any kind of issue or exploration of ideas underlying the questions. It’s just stories. Essentially, it’s data gathering; an open-ended poll question. Any analysis occurs inside people’s head, but I’m not asking them to analyze the data.
I’m talking about questions like “what was the worst storm you were ever in?” “What do you like about rain?” “Could you describe in detail some small action that you do every day?
Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you could explicitly rule these kinds of questions in or out. I’ve been able to get away with these questions, and for that reason, I hesitate to even bring it to your attention, but It’s hard living with the anxiety about them, and trying constantly to jigger them so they won’t get moderated.
April 8th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Thanks for the continuing refinement of the guidelines and clarity of thought. Must have gone to a good college :-).
Didn’t want to weigh in on the 185 post bunfight question but I do want to say that I think Fluther has been great in the last few days and that it is integrating well the new members who are catching on to the culture and weeding out the provacateurs.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I’ll try not to start a riot about Fluther vs. Wis.dm in the Jelly-Table this time… sorry about last time!
April 8th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Here’s an addition to my previous post above: I fully agree with Daloon that social questions related to finding out about experiences need clarification. I too find them very valuable. They help us understand each other better. Every human being is unique. Why is there so much friction in the world? Very often it’s related to the fact that we don’t listen enough. Sharing experiences and feelings can sometimes lead to thoughtful discussions as well. Daloon gave a great example “What was the worst storm you were ever in?” I would welcome a more flexible interpretation related to the acceptable range of social questions. But this is the decision of the owners of this website.
April 10th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Yes, questions that invoke stories are definitely included within the “social” category — and just like the other “social” questions, it’s important to make sure that enough details are in the question so that it provokes substantial responses.
April 10th, 2009 at 3:41 am
Transcript here for those that missed it..
http://www.pillowpersuasion.com/fluther/jellychat/3/
It was pretty uneventful. But it was proof that Andrew still cares.
April 10th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU
I missed it… Thanks for the transcript, jp.
April 10th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
So asking questions to be funny, in order to brighten someone’s day, get a few chuckles, just in general to be funny… thosearen’t allowed? What a crock.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I’ve got another question about the rules: If an (unusual) question follows all the guidelines, is accepted by the moderators, and starts generating answers, is it okay that a particular user (not a moderator) suddenly starts challenging the nature of the question because he or she doesn’t like it or find it too odd? My expectation would be: No! I’m not interested in every question, some people won’t be interested in my questions. How much effort does it take to ignore a question someone doesn’t like or think it’s not worth bothering. I think: virtually none. If the question arouses someone’s curiosity, but still remains unclear, the best way to handle this in my opinion is to ask: What do you mean by…? or Could you please clarify…? It would be nice to have a culture of tolerance when it comes to the diversity and the nature of questions (as long as they comply with the guidelines). Please confirm or clarify. Thanks.
April 17th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Good Work I like it
April 21st, 2009 at 12:43 pm
wow! this is the best site of its kind ever. your icon gets a coveted spot on my iphone’s springboard. and what awesome jellyfish, too.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
ps, it’s cool you’re allowing googleable questions. i google a lot but there’s a value and immediacy in being able to ask a question aned have ppl address that specific question, in real or near-real time. fluther is also interactive. it’s the difference between a book and a tutor–you can get clarification on things, and the questioner’s insights can stimulate the answerers to learn more as well, or to become aware of knowledge they didn’t realize they possessed. google and fluther complement each other nicely.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:49 pm
pps: sorry for the typo. i see you’re big on fixing them. just so you know: i have dyslexia and am usually typing on an iphone, and sometimes i miss those even when i read them over. fluther’s flexibility is much appreciated by me.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
@WillWorkForChocolate: As far as I know, Fluther is meant for serious questions, not necessairally questions that are simply meant to be funny. However, if a funny question were asked in such a way that it might lead to some interesting discussion, I imagine it would probably stay up.
@Matt Browne: You are correct. Generally, the way a user who has a problem with a certain question should go about expressing that thought is through the flag button– not by complaining in the thread itself. If the question is flagged by other users, or if a moderator deems it inappropriate, it will be removed. Also, some zany questions will stay up if it elicits a substantial number of responses before a moderator gets around to it, or if a meaningful discussion develops despite the absurd nature of the question itself. (Otherwise there would be no frizzers.)
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I feel there’s a real danger in stunting the growth of this great site via the continual imposition of these rules. What’s the harm in just letting it grow organically? In simply letting fluther be what its users want it to be? I think all you need is one clear guideline w/r/t what’s NOT allowed - e.g., hateful, divisive, or pointless posts.
So my question is, why all the rules?
Also, I am still relatively new to fluther & to this blog, but I can’t help but notice the overall tenor of the feedback is very much “rah! rah! great work, guys!” I’m all for pats on the back, but there is a startling lack of dissent or even constructive criticism in these comments.
Just my two cents.
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:19 pm
@maruader76: On the contrary — we’ve had quite lively debate about these rules.
Also, we’re not worried about growth — we’re doing quite well — we’re worried about the wrong type of growth, and making sure that as we continue to grow that Fluther maintains a great level of quality.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I feel fluther is getting to main stream and strict, it’s taking alot of the fun away from things…kinda why I stopped using it…
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:07 am
Thanks, petethepothead!
June 25th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
omg a couple days a go i went to six flags and rode the
V2