IRC offtopic moderation

silver2 · 2020-05-15 18:51:47

Offtopic discussion moderation in the devuan freenode irc support room could be improved. I'd like to suggest some changes that can be made to encourage better community interaction and engagement, which would increase devuan evangelism and adoption. Many of us do not want to read a room completely full of offtopic material, and while it is easy to empathize with users that want to see none at all, I believe a more balanced approach would be very helpful. To that end I have some suggestions for the moderators.

* The rules for the channel should be the first link in the topic, easily visible in 80 column terminals.

* The second link should be to an FAQ, and this FAQ should also be linked from the rules.

* The rules and FAQ should link to the channel archives and mention search is available.

* The scope of on topic discussion should be broadened to explicitly include what users of devuan are doing with devuan even if they are not requesting support.

* The room should not be expected to only be engaged when a user pops in with a question or problem. "Alive" channels are much easier than dead ones for users to participate in.

* Moderation messages should be CLEARLY designated as such and follow a template.

* A message with the specific rule being violated should always be provided when a moderator engages.

* Discussion of current moderation activity should be considered offtopic, and moderators should refrain from commenting on their own moderation activity.

* Comments on a users behavior should not be made by moderators, and should be gently discouraged when from other users.

* Moderators must understand that new users learn the rules by breaking them and so any first violation should simply result in a reminder that rules exist.

* Moderation messages, if ignored, should be followed up with another template message stating what options a moderator has if a user doesn't take heed.

"Wow this is all great, Who's going to do the work to make those pages though?"

Heck I'll do it. Seems worthwhile enough. This is a good distro, keeping users engaged is good for everyone.

"You are not helping, leave the moderators alone, they work hard!"

Yeah I know they do, but I see too many good discussions get shut down in the room by telling users to leave, and it makes me not want to be there myself. You need a wide variety of people in the room that can help users, so I made this post to discuss how moderation can be done without causing experienced users to disengage out of boredom. Users are not getting paid to provide support, so support should be fun to provide.

Last edited by silver2 (2020-05-15 18:52:20)

golinux · 2020-05-15 19:54:03

Stay on topic in a channel or be reminded there is a more appropriate place to do it. It's that simple.

Also have a look at The dev1galaxy.org (almost) No Code of Conduct in this very forum

Please post a list of just what you have contributed to the betterment of the Devuan project besides your pompous opinions.

SJW begone!

PS. No appropriate discussion is ever shut down in the appropriate channel

sgage · 2020-05-15 20:03:59

I think that perhaps the rules could be made more obvious up front, but I see no reason for the sweeping changes you put forward. There is the tech support channel, and there's the the debian-fork channel for other matters. I for one do not want to to see the tech support channel bogged down with OT stuff and personal chit-chat, especially when an issue being actively worked. It is noise.

"The scope of on topic discussion should be broadened to explicitly include what users of devuan are doing with devuan even if they are not requesting support."

Strongly disagree. Maybe a third channel could be instituted for that. Or go to Dev1Galaxy. IMO it is underutilized.

I think having too many fiddly procedures and templates and whatnot is premature at this point. It can get pretty draconian pretty fast if you're not careful. Next thing you know you have some ridiculous CoC.

In any case, 'first offenses' are noted fairly gently. The main offenses, really, are hogging the channel for social chit-chat, reminiscing about the good old days, or rants. It is a tech support channel, and needs to stay on topic. I've never seen anyone tossed off mysteriously or for 'political' reasons. Usually, golinux says 'come on, that's not a support issue, take it to debian-fork'. She often gives several warnings. No problem. When a dialog drifts off topic, it seems to usually happen gradually, which requires a flexibility of response. I don't think we need templates and such.

Last edited by sgage (2020-05-15 20:08:35)

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#1 2020-05-15 18:51:47

IRC offtopic moderation

#2 2020-05-15 19:54:03

Re: IRC offtopic moderation

#3 2020-05-15 20:03:59

Re: IRC offtopic moderation

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