Historically
From 2014; the first diary I ever did on site statistics. (Replace “HR”: Hide Rate with “Flag” to bring it up to date...)
This is not the picture of a site torn apart by factionalism, or omnipresent HR abuse. All things considered, the level of civility is incredible. Considering that this is the internet, and that most of the users are posting anonymously, it's fricking unbelievable.
For the vast majority of users, HRs are not a problem. Only .21% of comments ever see an HR. Only .059% ever hit the "piling on" level. Only .012% descend into an HR fight. When 99.8% of all comments and 96% of all diaries manage to avoid HRs entirely, this is not a problem which should create any serious demand for a better moderating system, or major changes in policy.
Currently
This month Hidden comments are down from roughly .09% (Feb/Mar 214/237,573) to .0749% (157/209663) in May [May4-Jun3 .0713% (150/210365), May5-June4 .0684% (142/207598), May8-Jun7 .0728% (148/203243), May14-June13 .0893% (179/200370) ] which is a good thing, right?
(Unfortunately, I can’t make a direct comparison to past stats, since flags are no longer trackable in the system.) I don’t know, however, whether the current drop may be due to a lower recent level of moderation, a spate of users with recommends, determined to undermine the process, a lower level of comments that conflict with the Rules of the Road, or some combination of the above. (Of the three, I consider the last the least likely, human nature being what it is.)
OTOH, average daily comments are down 25% between Feb and May, which is probably not a good thing.
*****
Or Maybe Not ...
So I took a couple of hours to try a few not very random keyword searches on the last month of comments.
Of course, there are already DK bots that can do that, but they don’t seem to be very active lately, either.
In any case, without particularly pushing the envelope, I found three unflagged rape jokes,
170 comments using bitch, bitched, bitching, son-of-a-bitch. Two legitimate usages for female puppies/dogs. Two Hiddens. Ignoring the usage as a verb, I caught 15 that were legitimately flaggable but not Hidden, and that was in the first 55 of those comments.
and a few whores, -tards, and Miss Lindseys that probably could have been picked up.
That, of course, does not account for all the possibilities.
*****
We’ve seen, over the years, that the rather free-swinging, sometimes snarky, not necessarily “nice” moderation structure has, on the whole, kept the really ugly commenting down to a bearable level, though there may have been unintended negative consequences, along with the intended ones.
Now we’ll find out whether the new structures can continue the process. Fingers crossed.
*******
The Archive for the group “A Guide to Community Moderation” remains, and I’d appreciate it if people would comment or message me with links to new diaries that you think might belong there. I expect to be doing these at least once a week for some time to come, as open threads. Think you have an interesting topic? Leave a comment, or send me a message. Tuesdays at 8 pm Central still looks like a good time. ;)
Comments are open.
Thank you all.
General Caveat:
I am not on the Daily Kos Staff; I have no official position at Daily Kos, except Member and Trusted User. I do not speak for the Help Desk, and just about everything in these except for direct quotes from the Rules of the Road is my personal opinion. Some of it I can back up with numbers, some is pure guesswork, and some of it is pulled straight out of thin air (or something), because it seemed to make a reasonable argument at the time.