h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Not Panicking Ltd (NPL) has been evaluating the moderation system on h2g2 that has been in operation since it took the site over from the BBC a few years ago now. The Board has now made a few key decisions relating to how moderation is going to be managed on site going forward. When we took the site back from the BBC, we knew that moderation was always going to be delicate issue on h2g2, that prides itself rightly on being, alongside a Guide, a lively and imaginative community too.

Legally, NPL is responsible for all aspects of the running of the site and that of course includes moderation. The Board has therefore decided to take responsibility for moderation directly under its wing. The Moderation team will, with immediate effect, be totally autonomous and anonymous, reporting directly to and accountable to NPL. NPL will of course keep moderation policies and tone under careful review.

Moderators will no longer be identified as such on site, and will be prohibited from identifying themselves as moderators to anyone, including the other moderators. Any moderator who does so will be removed from the team immediately. However, the Moderation Team Leader will remain known to all members of the team, and as a point of contact on site.

Access to personal data will continue to be held by NPL. From now on, any requests related to passwords, email addresses, or user accounts should be referred to the Moderation Team.

Please contact the Moderation Team or NPL with any questions or concerns.

NPL is tremendously grateful for all the time and assistance that previous moderators have given to h2g2; many moderators have been part of this process and we are genuinely thankful to them all. It is a hard and sometime somewhat thankless task but an essential one.

---
For Aly and Moderators;
Milla

So, the people on the site we chat with:

Previously, some of these were mods. Does this announcement mean that they will no longer be mods (so we can trust them, basically)? Or does it mean that some of them will now become secret mods?

Will there be any change to the moderation rules? At the moment, a single posting being hidden by a moderator results in one month of premoderation for the poster, effectively preventing the poster from doing anything useful on the site.

And will there be action taken against volunteers who openly insult members of the community on other public forums?

The rules remain the same Gnomon. It depends on how many times you break the rules, a single misguided post would not incur sanctions apart from the removal of the offending post.

Icy I appreciate your comment. Researchers and Volunteers alike should aim to treat each other with respect and understanding.

Lanza, according the official moderation page, A87706713, a first offence gets a 24-hour suspension, and every suspension incurs a 30-day pre-moderation period. Or am I reading that wrongly?

"Access to personal data will continue to be held by NPL. From now on, any requests related to passwords, email addresses, or user accounts should be referred to the Moderation Team."

Cool. Delete anything of mine you've got linked to U219983.

I truly appreciate the work of all the volunteers, past and present, here on h2g2.

Thankyou so much.

cc

*sniggers*

Is the new Secret Police going to be made up of h2g2 members? If not, surely that will only create the same problems anonymous separated moderation had on the BBC?

*ROFL*

This post has been removed.

So no basic changes then. Being restrained in discussions, as you would in a pub, for example, continues to be the norm. H2G2, whilst important to many of us, isn't where we live. If we object to its laws we can emigrate with a lot more ease than in the real world.

On behalf of a number of former hootooists who have been
left to rot beside this Trial of Tears for sins, infractions and
rebellions against the machine, may I say how much we hope
that a new regime of Moderation will one day be able to offer
a general amnesty and let the most prodigal sons-a-Bs return.

None of this cyber-lark is real y'know - it's just a dream and none
of it worth the dying for - though many haf wit wallace bled.


~jwf~

NB: Trial is in the Kafka-esque way

To answer some of your questions:

Regarding anonymous moderation, the previous moderation volunteers, with the exception of the Moderation Team Leader, have been retired from the team. The site will continue to be moderated by site users, however none of those moderators will be identified as such to anyone other than Aly and the Moderation Team Leader.

Regarding volunteers’ behaviour offsite, it is not within the remit of the moderation team to monitor other web sites or forums (depending on privacy settings, some may not even be visible to us). Should you have any concerns about the behaviour of any h2g2 volunteers on or off site, please bring those concerns directly to the attention of Not Panicking, Ltd.

To clarify with regard to pre-moderation: a single removed post does not typically result in suspension or pre-moderation, unless the offense is very serious (such as death threats or linking to illegal material). The list of time scales refers to moderating people, not posts; however having reviewed the page, I can see that the wording is unclear and will edit at my earliest opportunity. If a specific user has had multiple posts removed within a six-month period then the moderators begin to apply sanctions to that user’s account, according to these time scales, the first sanction being a 24-hour suspension. Should further sanctions be required within the six-month period, subsequent suspensions may increase in duration according to the time scales list. Should six months pass without further moderation, then any future infraction is treated as a first offense. All suspensions are followed by 30 days’ pre-moderation, to ensure compliance with the House Rules upon reinstatement.

Please remember that for privacy reasons, the moderators cannot and will not discuss individual moderation decisions on site.


Regards,
psychocandy, Moderation Team Leader

I do not want to interfer in answering questions about the future of moderation, but I have to make a comment at this stage.

jwf says 'None of this cyber-lark is real y'know '

As before I have to vehemently oppose this. Everything to say to somebody else is ral, no matter if it is online or out in the street. You can hurt people here and there. It doesn't make any difference. It is real. We are all real people. We are not monsters in a computer game.

Well said, Tav.

{the previous moderation volunteers, with the exception of the Moderation Team Leader, have been retired from the team. The site will continue to be moderated by site users}


So, to put it another way, you've sacked the previous volunteers, and then recruited a different bunch who will act as normal h2g2 community members, but operate a secret life as moderators, unknown to the community, or even each other.

Am I allowed to declare that I am not a secret moderator?

And am I allowed to invite others to do the same?

I'm Spartacus and so's my wife!

Does it really matter as long as they do a decent job? This site is far, far, far more relaxed than most sites. Yes, sites like Redit and 4Chan could be cited as more relaxed, but they're a different sort of place. And I'm glad for that.

Yours,
Brian Spartacus Pastey

I'm not Spartacus.