I Have a Suggestion for Similar Worlds

@Gentle153

And my concern is that in the meantime, if one has been unfairly targeted by vigilante flagging teams, that we suffer the unfair consequences until someone reviews it.

EP, too, made such promises. The trouble is they got overwhelmed by the vigilantes.

I was told by Andrew on another thread that he later accused me of "hijacking" (because I asked for clarifications such as what I asked here) essentially that until something bad happens I shouldn't basically shouldn't voice such concerns and merely file a report if and when it does happens.

I'm told and have read that we'll have no way of knowing what our reputation score is , nor how many times we've been blocked, nor how many times we've been flagged, nor what the reasons for us being blocked or flagged or.

Not being able to delete comments to your own stories would led to abuse as once vigilante flagging teams discover someone has lost that ability, obscene content could be posted on them.

Of course one way to lessen the likelihood of being targeting is to simply not post anything. or maybe just discuss the weather. Because discussing anything the least bit controversial puts a target on one's back, especially if one can lower the reputation score of someone they don't like fior whatever reason, such as their age, sex, race, religion, political affiliation, gender identity, etc.

I want you guys to succeed. Your intensions are good. I like 99% of the stuff and tools I've seen such far. But I don't think voicing concerns should lead to a public spanking as if being made an example of.

But I guess it will be what it will be.

Thank you for responding.

@beckyromero raises a lot of good points here. Any system that is highly automated will be subject to corruption by trolls. A good system always requires manual review - and a supporting process based on facts and rules - to have a human being make a decision about whether a given report or block has a good faith basis.

Along these lines, it would be good if - when a person blocks another person - they are required to disclose their reasons for doing so. If there is plain evidence of harassment or some other violation of terms of service, those kinds of blocks should affect reputation. But if the user simply says "I don't like her" or "I think she is rude" I think those kinds of reports are very subjective and can be abused by trolls and should not count towards reputation.

Yesterday, I explained to a user here how to discover when a user is posting fake photos. A girl in that thread - who is a fake user who is stealing some other girl's photos - immediately blocked me. That kind of block should never affect my reputation. She is violating the terms of service, and I am a good samaritan helping another user and uncovering the person who is the real troll. An automated system could be abused to punish me and support the troll.

In my opinion, the number of blocks someone gets shouldn’t automatically have any effect on their reputation score. People can be blocked with some frequency for any number of frivolous reasons or because they state controversial opinions on "hot button" topics. Even though I never bullied, harassed, or preyed on anyone and was usually polite and respectful to people, I still found myself blocked from time-to-time on EP. I know many others had the same experience. What should matter in terms of one's reputation score are the reasons they were blocked. Being blocked 10 times for bullying should be taken very seriously and there should be adverse consequences for it. Being blocked 20 times for stating pro-choice (or pro-life) views on abortion shouldn't result in any penalty at all, including the reputation score taking a hit, just as long as the person stating those views wasn't exceedingly obnoxious to people who disagreed with them.

It's much better if consequences stem for a reporting system rather than just being blocked. Reporting involves bilateral action. An individual reports, staff reviews. There's controls and protections in place. Blocking is unilateral. There's nothing to stop me and 12 of my friends from deciding to be a prick to someone and abuse the algorithm by mass blocking someone.

@Gentle153

Also, on another thread, Andrew responded to someone who asked:

How do I complain about my profile being flagged when it should not have been ?

"Please send us an email with your complaint at: support@similarworlds.com"

Which begs the question:

How does one know if their profile has been flagged in the first place?

I apology if this has been answered somewhere else.

@BarryKlob
"That sounds like the sort of thing that could get abused to get people booted for no reason."

I agree completely with that.

And I wish someone would explain what "extra limitations on your account" exactly means.

After all, it appears SW intends to sell VIP membership at some point.

@pone22
"But if the user simply says "I don't like her" or "I think she is rude" I think those kinds of reports are very subjective and can be abused by trolls and should not count towards reputation."

Definitely agree with that and with Rutterman's comments, too.

BarryKlob, reputation is based on many factors, including being blocked and being (rightfully) reported.

Let's all rest assured that if the algorithms do anything unfair at any point, they will be adjusted to solve that.

@Jessa29, @Gentle153

Thanks, Jessa & Gentle, for everything you guys do. I see one of the things on the SW to-do list is FAQ. I suggest when it's complete, things like this could be included on that page.

@beckyromero: as people's reputations drop, they'll have less influence on getting others suspended by reporting them, will have to wait longer between posts or starting pm conversations and they may lose the ability to delete other people's comments on their own stories.

The admins keep monitoring the algorithms. If any unfair consequences are found, these will be reverted and the algorithms changed to prevent it from happening again.

That sounds like the sort of thing that could get abused to get people booted for no reason.

@Beckyromero Andrew replied to you about that on his post.

Being blocked a lot more than most members will indeed lower your reputation, which leads to extra limitations on your account. The team is aware that anyone can be blocked occasionally regardless if their behavior though, so a few blocks won't have any significant impact.

I do like the 'fully investigated' bit especially since other sites clearly don't do that.

*assembles group of ten bored trolls, picks target, mass blocking, fun ensues*

@Fargolover and everyone if this happens the team will investigate it completely

I'd like a few disciples but then again they can be a pain in the ass.