Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment • Hacker News Board

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#21

Post by commandlinefan » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:36 PM UTC

BitwiseFool wrote: post #12

thebouv wrote: post #5

So, I don't get it. Why does it matter if a few volunteer mods manage a ton of subs? Isn't it hard to do? So they have a hard job? And it's volunteer? And .. what? I don't understand the outrage directed at mods I guess. Note: I'm a light Reddit user. I follow a handful of subs. And I can't name a single mod of any of them. Maybe this is more meaningful for people who spend more time on the site and are more involved…

As a moderator you have the power to control what people see - subscribers and visitors alike. To me, it's easy to see how moderators with an agenda can curate content to match their views. It also wouldn't surprise me if some moderators are compensated - under the radar - by influencers and marketers.

When I first started on Reddit like 10 years ago, it leaned pretty libertarian (pro Ron Paul, pro free speech, etc.). I noticed over time that it leaned farther and farther left, and I wondered what had happened to all the previous users. Then there came a conspiracy theory that a handful of users had gamed the moderation system to take control of the tone of the site overall - especially the one that's the topic of TFA. There seems to be more and more evidence that the conspiracy theorists were right all along.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#22

Post by waterside81 » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:36 PM UTC

eganist wrote: post #4

Relationship Advice lead-ish mod here. We were one of the subs "called out" as being controlled by Gallowboob with the original post and subsequent reposts. We (buu700 and I) added Gallowboob some years back largely to have insight into how other teams modded their subs at a time when we were growing quickly and needed to know what to do to keep up. While useful in meeting that goal, we quickly realized it was pretty…

As a mod - how much time do you commit to this? Are you just sitting there reading comments all day? I'm fascinated by this whole mods thing especially since it's volunteer (!!) work - which strikes me as insane.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#23

Post by myself248 » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:36 PM UTC

thebouv wrote: post #5

So, I don't get it. Why does it matter if a few volunteer mods manage a ton of subs? Isn't it hard to do? So they have a hard job? And it's volunteer? And .. what? I don't understand the outrage directed at mods I guess. Note: I'm a light Reddit user. I follow a handful of subs. And I can't name a single mod of any of them. Maybe this is more meaningful for people who spend more time on the site and are more involved…

> I follow a handful of subs. And I can't name a single mod of any of them.

I unfollowed all of the default subs, they're just not interesting to me. I use reddit for a few technical subs, a few local subs, and a few off-the-beaten-path funny subs. None of them even made the list of top-however-many that showed how they all had a few mods in common.

All these critical articles seem to assume that people consume the default reddit front page, and seem to have little relevance to the platform as a platform.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#24

Post by commandlinefan » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

dvtrn wrote: post #8

eganist wrote: post #4

Relationship Advice lead-ish mod here. We were one of the subs "called out" as being controlled by Gallowboob with the original post and subsequent reposts. We (buu700 and I) added Gallowboob some years back largely to have insight into how other teams modded their subs at a time when we were growing quickly and needed to know what to do to keep up. While useful in meeting that goal, we quickly realized it was pretty…

And Reddit has absolutely no support system for things like this. My immediate thinking involves referring affected parties to professionals and specialists who deal with this sort of thing, but in your opinion-what should Reddit (the company) be doing?

If anything Reddit (the company) should be working to limit the influence of a single "power" user like this particular moderator, not make it easier for him to control the site.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#25

Post by MattGaiser » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

People love the idea of decentralized control, but that is not how people willing to make the effort are allocated. We see this on Reddit, on Facebook, and we see this in open source.

On Reddit (I am not a mod but friends are) mods burn out quickly. Many people have never seen the horrible behavior that goes on in the background.

Same thing on Facebook. I moderate a small 800 person group, one which is private and has mostly pre-screened people. We burned through so many mods over the years and the worst things we encounter are insult wars as nobody is going to post porn or graphic violence with their real life account.

In open source, the heavy lifting on a lot of projects is done by just 1-2 people. Sure the project might have 30 contributors, but it is those 1 or 2 who dedicate their evening when a major bug is found to fixing it.

In all these cases, the work is mostly done by whoever is willing to do it. Over time, people who find the work stressful quit and those who don't end up taking on an enormous amount.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#26

Post by headsupernova » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

dvtrn wrote: post #8

eganist wrote: post #4

Relationship Advice lead-ish mod here. We were one of the subs "called out" as being controlled by Gallowboob with the original post and subsequent reposts. We (buu700 and I) added Gallowboob some years back largely to have insight into how other teams modded their subs at a time when we were growing quickly and needed to know what to do to keep up. While useful in meeting that goal, we quickly realized it was pretty…

And Reddit has absolutely no support system for things like this. My immediate thinking involves referring affected parties to professionals and specialists who deal with this sort of thing, but in your opinion-what should Reddit (the company) be doing?

paying for the councelling of the moderators.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#27

Post by koboll » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

BitwiseFool wrote: post #6

I downloaded Reddit Enhancement Suite and it has a feature that marks the cumulative amount of upvotes you've given a user when you see a post of theirs. It is absolutely eye-opening just how much content is posted by the same few dozens of usernames. GallowBoob is the most infamous but to focus on him would be a mistake. It's pretty clear to me that the vast majority of content on Reddit is heavily manipulated and a…

Or... maybe they just post good content?

You yourself said the extension marks the cumulative amount of upvotes you've given a user. So, unless you yourself are engaged in this conspiracy to inflate GallowBoob's upvotes, then all this is evidence of is that GallowBoob seems uniquely skilled at finding and posting viral content.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#28

Post by floren » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

hi41 wrote: post #9

Can someone please explain how doxing works at a technical level? Suppose I post something on Twitter or Youtube that someone does not like how would they dox me? For example, CNN outed a guy who did a video where Trump bashes a guy superimposed with CNN in a boxing ring. Wouldn't such attempts at doxing people also put pressure on their freedom of speech and expression?

> Suppose I post something on Twitter or Youtube that someone does not like how would they dox me?

Basically it's all about linking internet presences to, eventually, real-world information. Lots of people use the same username across different sites. Suppose I get mad about a video you post on Youtube, so I google "hi41" and find your Twitter. I don't find anything personally identifiable on there, but then I reverse image-search a vacation picture you posted and I find your instagram, which is under your real name. Now I've got your real name, which is a powerful thing to drop on someone who thinks they're anonymous.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#29

Post by Goronmon » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

thebouv wrote: post #5

So, I don't get it. Why does it matter if a few volunteer mods manage a ton of subs? Isn't it hard to do? So they have a hard job? And it's volunteer? And .. what? I don't understand the outrage directed at mods I guess. Note: I'm a light Reddit user. I follow a handful of subs. And I can't name a single mod of any of them. Maybe this is more meaningful for people who spend more time on the site and are more involved…

Why does it matter if a few volunteer mods manage a ton of subs?

The concern basically goes like this...

1) Mod/Subreddit does something a user doesn't like (literally anything, doesn't matter how reasonable or trivial or toxic the complaint is, that isn't important, what matters is that someone isn't happy).

2) They want to find evidence that the Mod/Subreddit in question is "bad" or "corrupt" in someway to support that grievence from 1.

3) Users points to mod list as evidence that a "corrupt" group of mods is actually in control of everything.

4) Now that the "corruption" has been found, the Mod/Subreddit involved in 1 has been "proven wrong" and now can be safely ridiculed and labeled as such.

Re: Reddit's top user leaves platform after harassment

#30

Post by ryandvm » Thu, May 21, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

bredren wrote: post #15

I am a freshman moderator of /r/portland. I had thought working as a moderator would be a great way to help grow the subreddit's base. Offer more useful real world interaction points and basically have a big impact on Portland. Instead what I've found is that 99% of the time the moderators are dealing with bad actors and that has to be the primary focus to keep the sub from falling apart. It isn't just dealing with t…

Hacker News suffers from the same problem. We have folks like dang (God bless him) manually dealing with assholes. Seems like we could solve these problems with technology, but here we are two decades into the 21st century and we still have humans cleaning the pools.

I'd be interested to know if actual forum moderators think that we could solve the bad actor problem with algorithms...