Due to the large number of reports we’ve received about recent posts, we’ve added Rule 7 stating “No low-effort posts. This is subjective and will largely be determined by the community member reports.”
In general, we allow a post’s fate to be determined by the amount of downvotes it receives. Sometimes, a post is so offensive to the community that removal seems appropriate. This new rule now allows such action to be taken.
We expect to fine-tune this approach as time goes on. Your patience is appreciated.
What are some examples of low-effort posts? I’ve never felt that way about any posts I’ve seen here. Granted I’m not a heavy user in this community, just been a lurker, but I may be using this more as I grow my own home lab.
You’re right. One problem is, even though mods already have the power, specifically saying in the rules that the criteria is subjective sounds like something that a mod would make when they are tired of having to explain their moderation choices.
They can just say that it was low-effort, and problem solved. They don’t need to explain themselves, right?
But when the rules are vague, I think they’ll end up with more complaints from people who have different criteria of low-effort from the mods. This sort of interaction leads to accusations of mods power-tripping.
If the mods can nail down exactly what is low-effort, like, “X will always get removed. Z will never get removed unless it violates other rules. Y may be at risk of the moderator’s mood. You have been warned.” If they nail things down a bit more, then they will probably make things easier for themselves in the long-run than just keeping things vague.
Plus, if the rules are not vague, then people can discuss them safely when the rules are changed. When rules are vague, people will simply be upset that moderation was sprung on them, and everything will be discussed while people are upset. My belief is that people best discuss things while calm, and not while experiencing one person having power over another.
The problem is “Evil” people who see rules now know what abuse they can get by with and they have incentive to find all the weird loopholes the the rest of us wouldn’t think of. I don’t know a good answer to this.
For me, the important thing is that this is a vibrant community.
That means that from the mods’ perspectives, they don’t get too loaded down with moderation work, or need to defend themselves and create friction with the community.
It also means that when people want to contribute to the community, they’re not afraid of what the mods will say. If they post without reading the rules, like probably most people do, it’s really the poster’s fault. But if they are afraid to post even after reading the rules, then I think that has a freezing effect on the community.
As for people who are looking for loopholes, I think they’re trying to make the mods’ lives harder, and so I don’t really think they’re worth worrying too much about. They’ll probably get banned sooner or later because that is the attitude of a troll.
Just my opinion. I’ve never been a mod, and I don’t think I could handle that responsibility. I just try to be empathetic with everybody involved.
I think having a clear understanding of what is and isnt allowed is a good thing in any scenario. I dont think making everyone afraid to post is a good solution to trolls pushing the boundaries (that they would be pushing anyways). And in any case, the mods have a final say in such matters, thats why they are there, hopefully it doesnt come to that tho.
Agreed. If anything, I’ve seen relevant posts be removed as “not related to self-hosting” when they’re questions about stuff like certificates.