Admin Announcements

I’ve been on this site since the beginning. One person reports me and I got banned. Does the person’s reputation when reporting factor in?

Regarding the concerns over Blocking and Reporting harming your reputation, here is an example to put things into better perspective:

Because features like Reporting or Blocking "may" count as factors towards our algorithms, this doesn't mean that every Report or Blocking action may ever have any effect at all on your account.


For example, we could assume that the average member may be Blocked 2-3 times per day, maybe more.

This isn't a problem to us, it is expected behavior amongst members.


However, if someone has been getting [b]blocked 50-100 times in one day[/b], obviously that would raise some red-flags for anyone who is thinking rationally.

In such a case, a user could expect to see some negative consequences of our algorithms on their account.


As said before, and I repeat once again:
[quote]Our calculations already strongly takes into consideration the occurrence of false reporting.[/quote]

We aren't just going to go about Suspending or Limiting everyone who picks up a few reports or blocks here or there.

We observe, and understand what is a normal level of negative feedback, and more or less your reputation isn't affected once this is kept within normal levels.

If it grows to out of the ordinary levels, then it makes sense that something should be done.

[sep]

There seems to be a lot of preemptive fears over our algorithms, when most of your accounts appear to be working very fine without noticeable limitations.


For those who refer to the limitation to access of minors, we don't think this should be an urgent concern for most adults, that immediate access to minors is a necessity.
There are lots of members aged 18+ on this site you can communicate with and befriend as well.

Many adult accounts on this site can contact minors, however, our algorithms may also decide that many can not.

Still, we plan to keep improving our calculations to make things as fair as possible for everyone, while keeping security for children at the front of our efforts.

[b]@beckyromero[/b]
[quote]Please take my and others' comments about abusive flagging and reputation scores seriously. We are not being critical of you guys. Or trying to game the system. We are very concerned about being effected without doing anything wrong[/quote]

What gives you the impression that we are not taking the members concern's seriously?

We have answered to these concerns multiple times already.

You have quoted many parts of my answers, so I do not understand what further answer or explanation you are expecting.

Apparently some members here did not realize, but even Experience Project themselves did have similar (but less advanced) algorithms also.

Maybe some of EPs actions were too quick and harsh on members, and this led to much discontent on the site.

However, we have observed the situation and learned from many mistakes EP may have made during their time of operation.

[b]We have done things in a safer and more reliable way to prevent the same abusive situations being repeated on this site.[/b]



[quote]Really? My God! Come on. This is an ELECTION YEAR, Andrew. What on earth are you thinking?

Members being the target of abusive flagging because of their political viewpoints was a HUGE PROBLEM on EP.[/quote]

And have you seen that as being a problem on Similar Worlds so far?

If you have seen cases of this happening on Similar Worlds, then feel free to report it.

We will look into the situation, resolve it, and make adjustments to our systems as needed.

Otherwise, these repeated arguments are not doing anything to improve the community.

You have offered no proof of this happening on Similar Worlds at the moment, and if it does eventually happen, we will simply make adjustments where necessary.

I do not see any major problem here.


[sep]


[c=#800000][b]@beckyromero, MasterLee and others:[/b]
I have to ask you to [b]not[/b] use this Admin Announcement thread to further voice such arguments.

If you wish to argue over our algorithms, you are completely free to do so, but [b]do this on your own created Post[/b].

There are many others users who are subscribed to this thread for other reasons, mostly to give quick feedback on what they think of the new changes.

It is a bit inconsiderate to fill their notifications with your personal queries.
Do not hijack this thread to draw focus to your own point of views.[/c]

Thank you.

[b]@naughtybutnice[/b]
[quote]can andrew pls tell me why i can't see these posts on this admin thread??[/quote]

You are likely able to see most of the posts appearing on this thread.
However, if a particular member has a somewhat "Adult" rating as calculated by our algorithms, we have made the decision at this time not to have their posts appear to young minors (13-15), as well these minor's posts not appearing to those particular adults.

There may often be cases where minors share contact information on this site publicly, and certain predatory adults may take the opportunity to privately contact and build trust with the minor, before trying to take advantage of them.

"Adult" posters may also share contact information on this site, or photos, posts, etc... of adult nature.
We prefer to reduce the chances of young minors ever coming across such content on Similar Worlds.

We feel that members in the "13-15" age group are more vulnerable to predatory behavior, so we prefer to take an extra step to make things safer for these members.

This effect (invisible posts) should not happen to those in the "16-17" age bracket, as teens between these ages are often more aware and cautious about the potential dangers of online communication.

Essentially, we aim to provide a more Family/Teen safe environment for minors on SW, so that you can exist here without having to ever be exposed to the more Adult portions of this site.

There are lots of people you can still communicate with here.
Teens (13 to 17yrs), and Adults who are not detected as being involved in "Mature Content".


[sep]


[b]@CinnamonBunNy[/b]
[quote]would you or other admins prefer private messages with these questions/suggestions/critiques?[/quote]

Yes. Sending you questions and concerns via private messages would be more appropriate that posting them in admin announcements.

However ideally, the correct way to submit these questions/feedback would be via email: [b]support@similarworlds.com[/b]

From there, multiple staff can access and respond to your queries.

We understand that we haven't always been quick to respond each question at this point, and this is because we are actively developing the site, with lots of new requests coming in each day, while we have a very small team available for responding questions at the same time.

We don't have someone dedicated for answering questions all day right now.



[quote]Could you please explain what is the effect of setting my profile to "non-adult", "adult", or "mildly adult"? Will my choice of setting limit who I can interact with? Is there a setting that is most likely to let me interact with everybody?[/quote]

I recently gave this answer publicly on another thread:

[quote]We will be releasing very soon options to filter the activity shown on your homepage.

You will be able to see content from: Friends Only, Groups Only, Friends + Groups or All Content (based on your preference levels).

[c=#800000]Changing your content settings do not directly affect who can keep in touch with you; it mostly only affects the content you see on your homepage, profiles and a few other locations.[/c][/quote]



[quote]Looking on the bright side you must be doing better in your competition with Jessa over number of responses now XD[/quote]

I think you may be referring to a different staff member, not myself.


[sep]


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

Please send us an email with your complaint at: [b]support@similarworlds.com[/b]


[sep]


[b]@xal132[/b]
[quote]how can I delete a single message ...not the whole conversation?PM[/quote]

An option to delete a single message in a conversation is not available at this point.
Most websites do not offer such features for private messaging.

We will consider this request, but if we do make this feature, it would only delete the message from your side of the interface, it will not remove the message from the recipient's conversation (at least if some time has already elapsed).

Thank you for all the kind compliments and feedback!! :)

We are happy that you are enjoying the changes so far.

[sep]
@rowenabrana,
We will very soon be adding the ability for members to delete selected gallery photos.

@CinnamonBunNy,
I did already address this concern in the same topic you just posted in.

You don't have to use this option if you don't want to. I'm not sure why people see it as a problem.

A young adult may be constantly approached on this site by older individuals whom they have no interest in communicating with, and may choose to utilize this option.

If that is not the case, then they can simply ignore the option.

As I already explained in the other topic, the numbers are not random, it changes according to the age on your account.

[sep]

[quote]But rather than a single number like 36,[/quote]
[quote]They picked the random age of 56.[/quote]

Hello. As it can be noticed from member feedback, there is no single specific age chosen for this feature.

Basically, you have the option to prevent members either significantly younger or significantly older than yourself (the age registered on your account), from contacting you or seeing your content.

So, the age shown in these options vary according to the age given on your account.

[c=#004A59][i]Example:[/i]
[b]Options for Young-Adults (22-30):[/b]
Restrict Contact from Teens (<18) = Friend Requests + Messages
Block All Content from Teens (<18) = All Content and Contact

Restrict Contact from Older Adults (46+) = Friend Requests + Messages
Block All Content from Older Adults (46+) = All Content and Contact[/c]

[sep]

There may be various legitimate reasons one may choose to restrict contact from those significantly younger or older than themselves.

This is not discrimination or an illegal implementation.
It simply gives our users more options to tailor who they would like to connect with on this site.

[quote]For example, since evidently your team can see people's "account reputations"[/quote]

We have not denied that Admins can see these data.
We of course need to understand what scores are being calculated for different users, and make adjustments to improve things fairly over time.

This doesn't mean that this data should be publicly or privately available to each user.



[quote]"But the way these various algorithms are working really needs to be clarified"[/quote]

We have explained many times already how the User Reputation and Adult Ratings work in general.

As mentioned before, all major social networking sites do use their own algorithms and keep logs of user actions, but they are obviously not going to reveal this data to members, as it is unnecessary, and more so, dangerous.



[quote]"there ought to be a way for us to see our own, and steps to take if we want to improve them. Same for the "adultness" of our profiles/accounts."[/quote]

No, we will not be outlining every detail of how the algorithms operate, nor will be revealing the scores given.

Giving members the ability to observe and manipulate their scores in order to access minors, defeats the purpose of having algorithms in the first place.

We have said on many occasions: Simply be a good member on this site, not causing problems, and everything should be fine with your account.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and mostly every major social network out there, uses their own algorithms to help keep their communities safe.

They certainly do have their own internal systems, which take into account the number of times you have been reported, blocked, had offensive content removed, etc...

[i](Not to worry, our calculations already strongly takes into consideration the occurrence of false reporting)[/i]

Just because we at Similar Worlds take the time to be open and explain about changes we make here to members, doesn't mean that we are doing something different that other successful websites aren't doing.

As long as you use the site according to the rules, not attacking anyone, being a good member here, you shouldn't have anything to worry about regarding our algorithms.

So far they have been working well to protect minors and the community as a whole from offenses.
We have been improving our algorithms as we continue to gather feedback and make observations.

[b]@All[/b]: You're very welcomed!

[sep]

[b]@beckyromero[/b]
[quote]But in any case, the question is: how does one even know if their profile has been flagged? The same with stories, posts.[/quote]

The user who posted that question received a manual warning by staff after a report was investigated.

In these cases, a notice like this appears on that user's profile:
[quote]This user has been warned due to a violation of Similar Worlds Terms of Service.
Reason: ...[/quote]

And the user will see a notice like this on their own homepage and profile:
[quote]This user has been warned due to a violation of Similar Worlds Terms of Service.
Reason: ...
How to fix: ...
This warning will be removed on ...[/quote]

@rowenabrana & Yulianna,

As we have have just released many major features together at once, we expect some imperfections to exist in our algorithms.
We will continue to observe the effects and listen to feedback to improve the overall situation.

We should be making adjustments very soon that may resolve your problem of not being able to contact each other.
Stay turned.

@LastingSunshine - as soon as you comment, you are subscribed to the post. You can always unsubscribe any post by clicking the button "Stop receiving notifications".

Hi rowenabrana,

As mentioned:
[quote][i](Not to worry, our calculations already strongly takes into consideration the occurrence of false reporting)[/i][/quote]

I have checked, and your accumulated Reports and Blocks from other members has produced a negligible impact on your account reputation.

[b]@TheMightyAphrodite[/b] - Yes these cases are taken into account.
Even if malicious members were able to gang up on you and give your account a bad reputation, the matter should draw attention to our staff, we would look into the situation and reverse any false infractions on your account.
Subsequently the offenders will receive some penalty in return.


[b]@naughtybutnice[/b] - Just certain over-18s.
If an adult is engaged in a lot of adult content/discussions on this site, then the chances are greater that they will not be able to communicate with you, a minor.


[b]@CinnamonBunNy[/b] - Please check again. After the recent algorithm adjustments and cached scores have been updated, you may be able to view each other's profiles now.

It isn't exactly +21 years in each case, however, that is somewhat the general trend, yes.
We will be revisiting these options soon to make slight adjustments.


Yes, minors do have the option to block users over 18.

More specifically:


[c=#004A59][b]For Young Teens (13-15):[/b]
Restrict Contact from Adults (18+) = Friend Requests + Messages
Block All Content from Adults (18+) = All Content and Contact


[b]For Mid-Teens (16-17):[/b]
Restrict Contact from Adults (22+) = Friend Requests + Messages
Block All Content from Adults (22+) = All Content and Contact[/c]

[c=#BF0080]Curious do you really think that you complaining is going to change anything.. no its not. Nothing you say is going to matter. It is what it is. For you to say that online predators are extremely rare.. are freaking kidding me? I'm glad you think you know what goes on around the world. It's probably the number one source for predatory activity. I've said many times on here that it's also a legal issue.. I doubt this site wants any lawsuits.. and correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure some of this security is out of their control.. something they are required to do. So sit back and relax and enjoy the thousands of other people that are on here. You're acting like your the SW counselor.. you're not. If some 13 year old wants advice I'm sure there's 100 other places she can go to get it.. they dont need you. I've seen some of your comments to girls and they weren't exactly innocent.[/c]

@MasterLee,
That is an internally calculated value used by our algorithms. It is not publicly viewable by members.

@Andrew,

Please take my and others' comments about abusive flagging and reputation scores seriously. We are not being [i]critical[/i] of you guys. Or trying to [i]game the system[/i]. We are very [b]concerned[/b] about being effected without doing anything wrong.

I think I can safely speak for many others when I say I believe SW has tremendous potential and both [c=#BF0000][b]love[/b][/c] and [b][c=#BF0000]appreciate[/c][/b] almost everything we've seen thus far. Not to mention the speed in which you guys have got things done and responding to members' comments and questions.

I hope you understand I and many others appreciate all the hard work you guys have done. But many of us were long-time users of EP and saw the problems there from a [i]user's[/i] perspective and how many of us were hurt by abusers and by an overwhelmed EP staff to investigate abuse.

@Andrew
"Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and mostly every major social network out there, uses their own algorithms to help keep their communities safe. They certainly do have their own internal systems, which take into account the number of times you have been reported, blocked, had offensive content removed, etc..."

I've blocked a few people. Though not because of anything they have done wrong. Their few posts were just not things I was interested in, though they were perfectly within the terms of service.

Now I'm told that I've [b]harmed[/b] their reputation by [b]blocking[/b] them? What the heck! That isn't right. Not right at all. That certainly ripens the algorithms for unfairness and abuse.

"However, if someone has been getting blocked 50-100 times in one day, obviously that would raise some red-flags for anyone who is thinking rationally. In such a case, a user could expect to see some negative consequences of our algorithms on their account."

Really? My God! Come on. This is an [b]ELECTION YEAR[/b], Andrew. [b][c=#BF0000]What on earth are you thinking?[/c][/b]

Members being the target of abusive flagging because of their political viewpoints was a [b]HUGE PROBLEM[/b] on EP.

You just wait until Questions are up in full swing. If SW continues to have good traffic (which we [b]all[/b] want), it would be [b]IRRATIONAL[/b] to [b]NOT[/b] assume a poster of a political question getting that number of blocks in a day.

[b]Especially now that everyone will know they can harm someone's reputation by getting their friends to gang up and block someone.[/b]

"There seems to be a lot of preemptive fears over our algorithms, when most of your accounts appear to be working very fine without noticeable limitations."

That's because members' EP content hasn't been imported yet, users can't yet create groups, users can't spotlight their top stories, users can't ask questions that would be segregated into topics for users interested in such topics to easily find and because a number of users may be holding back on writing new stories until their learn more about these reputation points and algorithms.

@MasterLee
"Currently the only way to clean up the feed is to block people. If I didn't, I'd be seeing countless stories about bodily functions and various disgusting behavior. I have no problem with the people I am blocking, I just want to filter my feed. I would like to see a filtering mechanism that doesn't penalize people for just being odd. Further a nice suite of filtering would be great to remove the detritus."

[b]Exactly[/b] my take, too! I've done the same thing you did for similar reasons.

@TheMightyAphrodite
"I was a target like this back a few years ago on EP (circa 2013), I would worry that this could start again..."

That is a concern for me as well. So far SW seems capable of investigating complaints of such abuse. But I fear they will eventually get overwhelmed by abusive flaggers just like EP eventually was.

@Andrew
"Even if malicious members were able to gang up on you and give your account a bad reputation, the matter should draw attention to our staff, we would look into the situation and reverse any false infractions on your account. Subsequently the offenders will receive some penalty in return."

[i]Some penalty[/i]? Abusive flaggers should be [b]banned[/b], plain and simple. And programming should be done to ensure that the content they inappropriately flagged can't be flagged again.

@Andrew
"@naughtybutnice - Just certain over-18s.
If an adult is engaged in a lot of adult content/discussions on this site, then the chances are greater that they will not be able to communicate with you, a minor."

But some of us have already indicated in our account settings to "block ALL content and contact from people under 18."

Why should our [i]reputation[/i] suffer as a result?

@Greenwind
"Account Reputation" -- Is that going to be like EP Jail? Get a gang or "pack" of twits all slap you with a complaint because they disagree with your opinion and your account goes to "jail" or "AR" hold? Just wondering.

EP Jail. I remember that! Because I got targeted for making comments critical of President Obama and ObamaCare on political questions.

@CinnamonBunNy
"Since evidently your team can see people's "account reputations", there ought to be a way for us to see our own, and steps to take if we want to improve them. Same for the "adultness" of our profiles/accounts."

Absolutely! If one is complying with Terms of Service, there shouldn't be any penalty that hides our content, comments or questions from consenting adults. If one is NOT complying with Terms of Service, then it should be pointed out to them what they've done wrong. Serious offenders, such as stalkers and abusive flaggers, should be banned, not wrist-slapped.

@Andrew
"We have said on many occasions: Simply be a good member on this site, not causing problems, and everything should be fine with your account."

The trouble with your statement is that being a [i]good member[/i] apparently involves more than complying with the Terms of Service because abusive flaggers and being blocked for even innocent reasons like I and others have pointed out can harm your reputation, thus implying one is [b]NOT[/b] a [i]good member[/i].

Hi Guys ... I just have to say that what you've done in such a short time is amazing. And the direction you seem to be going is even better. I was on EP for just over four years and they seemed to be moving further and further away from what people wanted.

I especially love the section above on adult ratings and account reputation. I'm sure something like that is incredibly complicated to create so I wish you the best in launching and managing it.

[c=#7700B2]Hello Andrew, I am amazed by the amount of thought that has been put into the whole algorithm. :)

However, you mentioned it takes into account some things, including number of times we have been blocked.

That, is unfair. Simple example, I have been blocked by people who I never communicated with, .. some blocked me only because I talk to some GUY who they like ..

and mind you, I talk out in the open, not even in PM .. so everything is there to see. I hope you can see how unfair that would be to take blocks into account although it's not the only criteria.

Also,
regarding reports .. I am very sad to say, an incident happened to me where I was joking around with someone on his story .. (he was joking back with me) .. and then, I was informed that I should be nice in case people report it. (in other words, I should stop joking).
The jokes he and I made were NOT even slightly sexual, nothing of the sort .. no innuendos, and it was harmless chat out in the open.

I can link you the story if you need, and you can see for yourself.

In cases like that, if I had been reported by someone, it would have been deemed as a TRUE report, because the one who informed me to be nice is in your team.

I like SW .. but since I see this flaw, I find I cannot even be myself here anymore, and that is depressing.[/c]

[c=#BF0080]Love everything!! It's coming together beautifully. The "Account Reputation" is an excellent idea as well. 😊[/c]

First of all thank you for all this great work.
Secondly, I am nervous about these algorithms. I understand concerns about protecting minors, but people should be able to talk to each other freely. Some of the most interesting intellectual conversations I had on EP were with people in the 13-15 age group who happened to be very wise and thoughtful.
The "account reputation" thing sounds as if it could be abused (for example, if being "reported" lowers your reputation, will the "reports" be double-checked to make sure they are not frivolous?)

You guys are doing a fantastic job! You've done a lot since SW launched. Thank you. :)

[c=#003BB2]Although I still need to test out a couple of features which I will once I mback on my lappy I can already tell the wait was worth it! Keep going guys youre doing a great job for all of us. [/c]

Really want to say a huge thank you for creating this site, and for all you're doing to make it a lovely place to be. Soft breezes to all of you!

Thank you Andrew. You and other team members are so awesome. I'm very happy being part of Similar Worlds community.

And thank you for the great work you´ve done! :-D

I think the reputation system and the adult ratings are good. It helps to avoid having the minors to get access to info that they are not expected to (Sometimes I would have certain messages that I will not be very comfortable for minors' access). This would really help the site in the long run. Thanks!

🖐 I'm unfollowing this thread! You just said everything right there! Teenagers relate to teenagers, you have no business hanging around them however well meaning you and the rest of them claim to be!

@ Andrew ... I have read most of this thread and was amazed at the redundancy in what people are worried about in the site. You have nerves of steel my friend LOL

To the admin I just wanted to say thanks for the fast response and the fast action in dealing with Abusive people on this site.

Andrew, you and the SW team are doing an amazing job. Thank you and keep up the great work! 👍 👏

A huge round of applause for all you've done and continue to do.
Thanks!

[b][c=#800055]Wow, that's absolutely amazing! This is spellbinding how awesome a job you are doing here. Thank you so much!
You know people say things like "EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON" well I think that EP lost it's microsoft certification and the site closed to pave the way for a much better constructed and well run site that you guys are making.
Thank YOU! [/c][/b]
👌🎕

The time and energy that you guys are putting into the development and implementation of this site, is truly a staggering achievement. No doubt once fully working, will bring exceptional levels of connectivity back to many users all over the globe.
However, If I may, I should just like to suggest, that perhaps during the evolution of this site, some effort could be spent on a little work, such that the seamless usability of the UI would be also enjoyed equaly with some consideration regarding the question of accessibility.
For hose of us who are either totally blind or have low vision, and thus depend on some kind of access technology, such as Apple's voiceover gesturebased screen reader included on iOS and os10 operating systems.
Some better ult.text labeled controls for example and better implementation under the hood in the onset of code writing, would alas, be much easier to achieve rather than having to do more work at a later stage when the bulk of the development stage is over.
As an iOS application developer myself, with much experience on the question of web accessibility as part of my calling, I would be more than happy to offer some input should you wish to explore this important concideration that should not be either missed or sadly by many, just not important.
I truly hope this is not something that doesn't matter in the scheme of people of all makes and models.
Aside from that , keep up the exceptional work.

I don't think curiousinomaha is the most suitable person to defend the cross-age categories interactions here. A while ago he was advocating less stricter laws on consent and punishments on EP under the same username, while simultaneously boasting about being a convicted sex offender (with a minor under sixteen) in the past. Perhaps he failed to notice the specific rule in the guidelines, where it is stated that felons with such convictions aren't allowed to use this site. Of course that is something almost impossible to verify, but that's beside the point of hypocrisy.

@Andrew
"What gives you the impression that we are not taking the members concern's seriously?"

I am not saying you aren't. Not at all. Just trying to stress the importance of what I perceive a procedure that could be ripe for abuse in the future as SW becomes more popular and has more users.

You are asking me to point something out that hasn't occurred yet. You know that the Question section isn't completed yet.

I am concerned about the [b]potential[/b] for abuse given what I read about flagging and reputation scores.

I suggested that if someone inappropriately flags content that is within the Terms of Service, that something more than a wrist slap should be given to the person who abused the privilege of being able to flag it in the first place. After all, it appears that a user's content could be [i]hidden until[/i] a SW staffer or mod looks at it. That might be a day or two now, but what happens when the flagging-gangs come out in force? Will SW commit to a time frame whereas if the content isn't reviewed it will re-appear automatically? Of course not, that wouldn't make sense. But neither would content disappearing for weeks or months. Or a person's profile becomes invisible without them even knowing it, as what was happening on EP.

I also suggested that content that was inappropriately flagged be made immune to future flagging once a SW staffer or mod has looked at it.

[b]Andrew, I know you mean well. Just the fact that you and Nuno and the mods take the time to answer questions [c=#BF0000]speaks volumes[/c] in comparison to how EP treated its users.[/b]

I just fear that you guys will eventually get overwhelmed by complaints of inappropriately flagging or some equivalent of "EP Jail" and voicing those concerns and trying to make some suggestions.

---

Andrew, I just saw your [c=#BF0000]red-colored[/c] edit after I submitted my initial response. If I had seen your first, I guess then I wouldn't have bothered replying at all.

If you feel voicing concerns and making suggestions is [i]hijacking[/i], well, I don't know what to say to that.

Except that perhaps there should be a page for Admin Announcements [i]without[/i] a reply option. Feedback could be sent by PMs and no one would have to be annoyed by anyone else's feedback.

I really appreciate the private messaging! The messages and colours are working well for me but using the smileys has been causing my screen to freeze up. Is there a fix for that?

[c=#4C0073]@LastingSunshine - and now there's a "stop" button right in your notification feed, for a faster way to stop receiving notifications on that topic :) .. yeay ![/c]

Curious, there are plenty of people over 18 here to talk to! The disappointment will wear off :-)

[c=#BF0080]You explained it very well.. now I understand. 😊
I esp like what you said about the minors.. well said.[/c]

Admin, Programmers, Mods,

Thank you, again, for another great update.
The tools you've produced are user-friendly, elegantly functional, and fun.
When people value high quality, it always shows.
Also, I want to thank you for the detailed synopsis of your progress. I hope you continue those.
Last, I have to mention the genious word'n used for member preference... whoever authored that deserves an extra help'n of pie :) Beth 🌷

😀
[c=#BF0080]Thankyou![/c]
Its nice to get to post images and videos alongside our posts.

[c=#7700B2]Hi Andrew, thanks for the great work you and the whole team has achieved.

I have a question - regarding pictures ..
I notice the previous pics still exist when choosing a new pic, (probably in some private album somewhere) ..
is there a way to delete the older pics? If so, how do I do that?

Thank you ! [/c]

[c=#BF6900]Dear rowenabrana, am glad you highlighted on the unreasonable blocks 🖒 happening on SW. Though, it doesn't affect me a wee bit but the chance of sharing or discussions happening on the sensitive topics definitely gets restrained which sure is unproductive.[/c]

You da MAN Andrew! ;)

Blimey - if you've migrated group images from Experience Project to Similar Worlds, no WONDER you need to clean 'em up!!😱

But well done - patience is rewarded, and anyone who left in a huff because things took a while can get stuffed!😏

Don't you think we have the right to know what marks are against us? It makes more sense to keep people informed. In ep they sent out nebulous emails alluding to some infraction but would never identify the problem so it could be corrected. This sounds distinctly gestapo in tactic. Why not trust people that they can monitor their own behavior before it becomes an 'issue'? ep would sometimes violate people for having a different political view and free speech is the cornerstone of our lives. It would be good to know if you are dinging someone for supporting a particular political candidate or having a stance of a controversial subject.

Hello! Overall thank you so much.

But... Wtf with the option to "block users over 46" in your profile settings?? Preventing communication between minors and adults is not something I agree with, but I can see arguments for it because of moral and legal issues around erotic communications. But blocking middle-aged people is just age-ism and shouldn't have any place on here. And why 46? Why not 44 or 48? What if like the original hippies we read about, you don't trust anyone over 30? What if you just can't stand people ages 24-37? This option is arbitrary and discriminatory and should be removed.

@Andrew

OK. Once you guys have looked at the content in question, made a determination it violated the terms of service and warned the member, the notice is posted. [b]That makes total sense[/b].

But I guess I wasn't clear in my question because I couldn't see the original poster's original full post.

I was [i]actually[/i] wondering what happens when someone initially flags your profile or content and [i]before you guys look at it[/i]? Is the user somehow automatically alerted to this or is the member only alerted if the content is in violation of the terms of service in the way you indicated after a review by you guys?

Thank you.