Hi all,

To help us identify reported content more quickly, we've added categories to the report system for you to select in the event you need to report a post. The categories are as follows:

Abusive behaviour

Alias account

Bringing forum into disrepute

Derailing thread

Discriminatory comment / hate speech (racist, homophobic, sexist, etc)

Harassment

Illegal material

Inappropriate language

Off-topic

Personal attack

Spam

Threatening or intimidating behaviour

Trolling or baiting

Worried about poster safety

This is not intended to be fully comprehensive and you will still be able to report something that doesn't fit the categories above if you feel it's appropriate. We may add to this list in the future if we think of anything that's been missed. Please do check the drop-down list when reporting content, though - it'll help us figure out what needs to happen faster, and be able to prioritise reports and act faster in issuing sanctions.

More information will come soon about a more standardised approach to warnings and suspensions, but in the meantime, a report is the fastest way to make us aware of anything that needs our attention.

Similarly, please don't abuse the reporting system. It's not for any posts you disagree with or simply don't like, it's for posts that go against the forum terms of service or fall into the above categories. Abusing the report system, or reporting the same post multiple times, will only slow down any response we take. Outcomes of reports will not generally be shared with posters unless deemed necessary, but you're always welcome to drop one of us a PM after some time has passed, if you want to follow up your report.

Thanks,

The management team

Can I ask what exactly would count under 'off-topic'? I presume it's for some kind of extreme cases, as obviously that kind of thing does happen naturally sometimes but often doesn't cause a problem.

I would say look at the extent of it, a couple of posts deviation or chat about things other than the topic at hand is fine as long as it naturally fades and doesn't become continuous and purposeful, I would also look at what's being discussed - things like politics or current news/controversial events are usually divisive and can attract arguments so should be shut down or redirected as soon as possible. Most can be shut down by just a verbal reminder to stay on topic, it's if the individual continues despite this or if it's a pattern of behaviour where it becomes report-worthy.

This is a great addition imo and I think all of those categories are pretty self explanatory

I think you genuinely have all bases covered with those but do you think it would be worthwhile having an "other/issue is not listed" option, assuming there's still a text field available to expand/explain why you're reporting the post?

2 hours ago, Lindsey. said:

I think all of those categories are pretty self explanatory

Not necessarily. I agree with having this but it's fine to ask for clarification for pretty much anything imo. One could in theory ask what counts as inappropriate language? People swear on here sometimes (including me the odd time), of course it's often censored or they switch letters around but is that inappropriate or not, for example?

Or even the issue of harassment can be seen differently. My flatmate and I went to the police the first time we lived together, about our neighbour randomly threatening us several times (without us ever having had any other interactions), and they said it didn't count as harassment, even though we felt pretty harassed when he came knocking on our door to announce that he's gonna kick my flatmate's teeth in and hurling insults whenever we walked past. (They did eventually have a quick chat with him at least)

I'm just saying things aren't always so clear-cut and sometimes it takes some amount of more complex navigating.

Don't worry too much about the definitions, report stuff as you usually would and select what you feel best suits the incident, it'll just help us identify what's going on faster!

@Lindsey. If something doesn't fit the category then keep it on the top option (as per the screenshot), the comment box is still there and was just hidden by the dropdown in my screenshot!

Sorry if I was splitting hairs, didn't mean to be challenging or anything. I realize it makes things easier, even if it's not all self-explanatory.

@matto I think if you're not sure on something but it's close to the border then report it anyway and let the management team decide. I think the mod team have been on the forum long enough and are familiar enough with the community guidelines to know what is okay and what isn't, at least in 99% of cases (I'd have thought anyway 😅)