WebApps moderation

Franck Dernoncourt

Mar 27, 2023 11:24

Hi Flimm, I got suspended on WebApps because Ruben changed some policy (showing research is required now), which caused some of my questions to get closed, which then caused Ruben to suspend me because "You may have noticed that questions you’ve asked weren’t well received by the community; they were downvoted and closed.". At the time of the suspension, I had asked only 2 questions over the past 30 days... it's ridiculous.

Flimm

Hi. Is this chat room public? I'm asking because I know that disputes are better resolved in private, at least at first.

Franck Dernoncourt

I don't mind if public, I plan to write a post on Meta webapps on it when the suspension is over.

Flimm

Rubén closed a couple of my questions, because he thinks the answer is found elsewhere on the web (in product documentation). I fundamentally disagree that this is a good reason to close a question. If there isn't a duplicate on the website, let's keep the question.

It's OK. Let's keep it private. I'm just not sure how chatrooms work, as I don't use them much.

Franck Dernoncourt

Suspension message: i.sstatic.net/CP3fR.png

Flimm

Honestly, I understand why people on STack Overflow want to close questions, and there is just a flood of questions. But WebApps has so few good questions anyway, why not err on the side of leaving them open.

Do you think the other moderators are involved too? Rubén seems to be the main moderator who's active.

Franck Dernoncourt

Mar 27, 2023 11:30

The 5 questions mentioned in the message were:
https://webapps.stackexchange.com/q/169704/18147
https://webapps.stackexchange.com/q/169569/18147
https://webapps.stackexchange.com/q/169019/18147
https://webapps.stackexchange.com/q/168969/18147
https://webapps.stackexchange.com/q/168769/18147

Flimm

I don't think your questions deserve a suspension. The examples listed in your screenshot look like excellent questions to me.

Franck Dernoncourt

Other mods aren't involved AFAIK.

Flimm

Two of those questions are deleted and I don't have enough rep to see them.

Franck Dernoncourt

Just a few got closed because of no research shown. But 1) that is a new policy (introduced after I posted the questions) 2) No ideas how to show research. Mods didn't answer on webapps.meta.stackexchange.com/q/4918/18147

The 2 deleted questions (Roomba):
https://i.sstatic.net/SRzY2.png
https://i.sstatic.net/WQLSY.png

Flimm

Suspensions should be for things like spamming, harassment, copyright violations... and I guess if someone is posting loads of bad questions, but five questions are not loads, and those are not bad questions.

Franck Dernoncourt

Mar 27, 2023 11:35

5 questions over ~2months... not much indeed

webapps.stackexchange.com/users/18147/…

Flimm

I posted this question: webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/169932/… and Rubén closed it.

Now I admit it's a noob question, but I don't think it should be closed just because of that. I did try to find the answer and I didn't find it at first.

Here's another question I asked: webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/168857/…

Franck Dernoncourt

yeah that's a good question too. I can't vote though since I am suspended, so it'll get deleted soon :(

Flimm

How quick is Roomba?

30 days. Wow

That seems too quick for a low traffic site

Here's my other question: webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/168857/…

Rubén said it was a duplicate of webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/2603/… (which had answers). I disagreed. That duplicate target is now deleted!

Someone recently posted a similar question, so Rubén (or somebody) closes my question as a duplicate of the new question! webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/169891/…

Franck Dernoncourt

I forgot exactly but closed wit no answers and negative score can be even faster than 30 days actually.

Flimm

And then Rubén gives a detailed answer to the new question!

Franck Dernoncourt

Mar 27, 2023 11:40

(eg travel.stackexchange.com/posts/178910/timeline got deleted in only 11 days)

Flimm

If it was a bad question, why is the oldest question deleted, my old question closed, and the new one answered by a moderator?

Roomba deletes in 30 days on WebApps: webapps.stackexchange.com/help/auto-deleted-questions

9 days if closed

Franck Dernoncourt

Could be 9 days only "If the question was closed more than 9 days ago, and .."

yep :(

Flimm

Yeah

Franck Dernoncourt

Decrease the required view count to prevent Roomba deletion when score = 0 on smaller sites: meta.stackexchange.com/q/355097/178179

but anyway here it is a moderation issue.

Flimm

The oldest question had lots of useful answers (they just weren't duplicates, in my humble opinion). So I'm really surprised that the oldest one got deleted.

I upvoted your Meta StackExchange post.

Franck Dernoncourt

Mar 27, 2023 11:44

Thanks, yeah avoiding closures and question deletion shouldn't be that hard... it's not good for webapps.stackexchange.com/questions imho. Visitors seeing good questions are closed is not a good way to motivate them asking questions.

Flimm

Do you know when the next election for WebApps moderators will be? I found this link, but it's not clear to me: webapps.stackexchange.com/election

Agreed.

Franck Dernoncourt

Highly visited questions, all closed:
1. 191k views: [How can I share my shopping cart with someone else on Amazon?](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/59685/how-can-i-share-my-shopping-cart-with-someone-else-on-amazon)
2. 109k views: [How can I see Facebook notifications older than one week?](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/53784/how-can-i-see-facebook-notifications-older-than-one-week)
3. 72k views: [Where can I see all my comments on issues on GitHub?](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/103374/where-can-i-see-all-my-comments-on-issues-on-github)

sorry, no idea about when the next election for WebApps moderators will be.

webapps.stackexchange.com is becoming a support place for Google Sheets.

Flimm

The moderators are: stackexchange.com/about/moderators

It looks like Rûben was elected in 2020 and one by default because there weren't enough nominees. Another moderator was elected in 2012. ChrisF in 2011

Franck Dernoncourt

Sathyajith Bhat and ChrisF are rarely active nowadays.

Flimm

If we run we could both become moderators by default.

I'm not sure I'm willing to sign up for the workload, but it probably wouldn't be a lot, since it's a small site.

I just don't know if there when another election will happen.

I think we should at least consider contacting Stack Exchange staff to ask for another election.

Franck Dernoncourt

Mar 27, 2023 11:55

I have no interest in becoming a mod, but I'd be happy to vote. I think the issue is that a mod isn't supposed to replace a community when making decisions, and if new policies are put in place, they have to be clear (eg, clearly state how to show research).

(and don't abuse the suspension power...)

(and maybe don't close most of the questions, as this will happen if the "show research" requirement is applied to all users and all questions)

Anyway, I have to get going but I don't how to fix all that without a new election or CM intervention. There aren't enough people on webapps.meta.stackexchange.com to help fix the issue.

(btw note that casting more than 3 votes on a given user's post in a single day may get reversed)

Thanks for the help!

Room for Franck Dernoncourt and Flimm

Participants