Welcome to The Hiddens, an ongoing, unaffiliated, unofficial, semi-formal discussion of moderation activity on Daily Kos. Thanks for stopping by, I hope to hear from you, eventually.
My process and procedures here are entirely ad hoc. It is all based on my opinion, and it all expresses only that. But I have tried to use a semi-structured format to make it easier (though not easy I'll admit) to follow what I'm describing. It isn't a surprise that I've gotten recurring requests to explain something of the 'codes and categories', over and above the brief paragraph (below) that I now include in each diary. Join me below the fold for the complete breakdown, a walkthrough of the record format for The Hiddens.
The numbers in "incident notes" are recs/HRs/replies as displayed on the hidden comments list at the time of writing. If they're followed by a number in parenthesis, that is the total number of replies downthread. If there are multiple sets, the record covers multiple comments, which may or may not be in the same thread. Other special symbols may appear, such as a hash/number sign (#) which indicates the statistics are for a non-hidden comment or other special circumstances.
Here's a quick "don't blink you'll miss it" incident, that looks like it ended in an Admin ban.
Incident: 'See what happens? (or: Randal Terry)'
Incident notes: trivial (primary) tip jar+ (0/26/8(228), 0/1/5, 0/2/5)
Diary notes: troll diary, tip jar and sprinkles
User notes: Crusader For Justice (seriously)
HR notes: other user comments in diary had donuts without current uprates but still hidden, one comment had (2/5/12)
Disposition: bony mojo Status: sock puppet?
User's stay on DK was brief. Professional troll, possibly hard core.
That was a record from last week. I've gotten a couple of comments that mentioned how kind of impenetrable my 'codes and such' are. I get it, I do. But the format serves me so well, I think the value is seeing a number of them over time, regardless of what systemic structure I put on it. Half of it is "editorial subtext", for entertainment purposes, or Easter Eggs.
An Easter Egg in this context is a reference to some text or aspect of the incident (it could even be from some user's other diary or something like that) which will probably be meaningless to anyone who hasn't investigated the case themselves. I put these in to (hopefully) encourage every TU to go look themselves, to make the record possibly amusing to those who were involved (and so may recognize the egg on their own) or even to provide an excuse to make a point if someone should ask about what this or that entry means.
Now let me explain the format itself:
Here's a quick "don't blink you'll miss it" incident, that looks like it ended in an Admin ban.
Each record starts with a textual introduction, giving various background or introductory text or just providing a segue.
Incident: 'See what happens? (or: Randal Terry)'
The 'Incident' line in bold is the record identifier. Each record loosely corresponds to an 'incident', and may document a single hidden comment, multiple hidden comments by the same contributor, or other single comment or multiple comments in special cases. The text of the incident name may be a direct or indirect reference to the subject line of the hidden comment, the title of the diary in which it was posted, and/or other contextual cues. The incident identifier is contained in single quotes (regardless of whether the words are direct quotes from subject/title/other source) and frequently includes a "counter-title", with the formulation "(or: counter-title)" appearing in parenthesis, as shown.
Incident notes: trivial (primary) tip jar+ (0/26/8(228), 0/1/5, 0/2/5)
The Incident notes line provides context information, normally derived from the content of the hidden comment and/or the diary and thread. Typically (but not always) it identifies the
pie fight category, a fanciful delineation of frequently controversial topics (See Group Acronyms.) Incident notes will also identify if the hidden comment is a tip jar. Here you can see "tip jar+", meaning the record relates to multiple hidden comments by the diarist. Following a textual 'subject category' or similar entry, the mark statistics appear in parenthesis. Mark statistics are the numbers as presented on the hidden comments list at the time the record was made. They are presented as (at least) three numbers separated by slashes. The first is the number of recs/uprates the comment has, the second is the number of HRs, and the third is the number of direct replies made to the comment. If multiple comments are included in a single record, additional mark stats will be listed sequentially separated by commas. If a tip jar is included in a multiple comment record, it will always be first. In addition to the standard mark stats, an additional number may appear for one or more comments. This number will follow the 'direct reply' stat, inside an additional pair of parenthesis, and identifies the number of total replies in all threads in response to the hidden comment. Note that on DK4, that number represents the total comments actually hidden from non-TU view. If the stat marks are for a tip jar, however, this 'total replies' stat will normally identify the total number of comments in the diary (though not hidden comments).
Diary notes: troll diary, tip jar and sprinkles
Diary notes include textual descriptions of the diary the hidden comment was posted in (which may or may not be related to the incident) based on a pseudo-randomly selected aspect/property. IOW, I make something up. This is intended both the give clues as to which diary the hidden comment in and why. Often it will identify a subject category or group (see Group Acronyms), and may describe a type or perspective the diary displays. If the diary has been republished by additional groups (particularly the "Trolls" group) that may be included. Diaries that are not published through a group queue are labeled "individual", but may still be associated with a subject group. (Not all diaries identified "BK" in the diary notes, for example, are necessarily published or republished by any Black Kos groups, however defined.)
User notes: Crusader For Justice (seriously)
User notes provides (normally) descriptive information or (perhaps) clues as to the identity of the Kossack that contributed the hidden comment. It may categorize the (putative) political position, but will (almost) always identify whether the contributor has TU status. It might also state if the user is a newbie (non-TU, registered within last two calender years) or old timer (registration prior to 2006, roughly) or other context information related to the author of the comment.
If an actual account name appears under User Notes, it usually means that the account has already been suspended.
HR notes: other user comments in diary had donuts without current uprates but still hidden, one comment had (2/5/12)
This line will provide any "pie fight" information, if available and interesting (according to editorial decision.) It may also include textual information or background, context information or statistics, or simple editorial comment on the incident.
Disposition: bony mojo Status: sock puppet?
The final 'data' line includes both Disposition and Status. These are pseudo-categories, possibly unique, and undifferentiated. In other words, I just stick something in each one, often snarky or Easter eggs; it barely even matters which is which. If Admin attention seems appropriate, the term 'admin' or some derivation will appear in one or the other. In general, 'Disposition' identifies a conclusive analysis and 'Status' identifies follow-up action. If the hidden comment can still be uprated or HRd by TUs, the word "open", following a comma, will be the last word of the 'Status'. See "Vocab" for commonly used terms.
User's stay on DK was brief. Professional troll, possibly hard core.
Following the Disposition/Status line, a brief textual summary will appear. Throughout the record, symbols may appear, which may or may not relate to 'footnotes'. Most of the time, these symbols identify when Yours Truly, the author/editor of The Hiddens, contributed an uprate, HR, or reply comment. (What symbol this will be is still under development. I wanted to just use asterisks but I keep forgetting about this fugotta diary editor messing that up. Yes, in case you couldn't tell, The Hiddens is not copy and paste.)
Buzzwords and Group Acronyms
For additional definitions of common terms (troll) used in the series, please refer to this diary.
Here's a list of vocabulary terms as used in The Hiddens, neither complete nor entirely authoritative but hopefully useful.
I/P Israel-Palestine
BK Black Kos (African American Kossacks)
LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
DFH Dirty Fucking Hippy, self-styled monicker for radical leftists
DK Daily Kos - D'oh!
IGTNT I Got The News Today, DK group for grieving for and commemorating fallen service members
RKBA Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 2nd Amendment DK group
NNFT Netroots Nation For the Troops, servicemember support effort
WAYWO What Are You Working On, DIY home project group
TU - Trusted User. After contributing for long enough and gaining sufficient mojo, a Kossack is granted Trusted User status, enabling them to a) Recommend diaries, b) see hidden comments and reply threads to hidden comments, and c) mark comments to be hidden.
HR - Hide Rate (also hydrate, troll rate, hide, donut, pastry, zero) When 2 or more TUs mark a comment to be hidden, presuming no Kossacks have recommended the comment, it (and all reply threads) disappears from view for any non-TU. If and/or when any Kossack (prior to being hidden) or TU (after being hidden) recommends the comment, an algorithm determines whether the comment is hidden or not, based on the total number (and potentially timing) of both hides and recs the comment currently has.
Mojo - A quantitative measure of a Kossacks popularity within the DK community moderation system. Mojo is gained from having other Kossacks recommend your comments/tip jars. Mojo is lost in a number of ways which are purposefully not clearly defined, but include losing pie fights, getting hidden, and long-term inactivity. There is a minimum amount of mojo necessary to achieve and maintain TU status.
On a user's DK account profile page, on the left side there is a panel with account information which includes any avatar a user has selected. Immediately below this and above the date of the account's registration the users mojo is displayed. Normally it displays as 'power bars' reminiscent of a cell phone signal power display. There are up to five bars; the granularity of the display, and even its accuracy, is not publicly known. Having zero mojo (displayed as lack of any mojo bars) it typically indicates a special circumstance. A Kossack can continue to contribute indefinitely with no mojo, posting diaries, writing comments, and recommending comments.
Bony Mojo - When an account has been disabled, a skull and crossbones icon appears in place of the mojo bars normally displayed. Thus, 'bony mojo' indicates an account has been terminated and the user has been banned. Note that an account suspension or administrative action less than banning will not appear as bony mojo.
Zombie - A user who re-registers on DK after being banned, usually repetitively
Sock puppet - A second account on DK. A sock puppet may be a separate account used to pose as a separate user, but more often identifies an account that was previously
Sock Puppet - An unacknowledged second account under which a Kossack or zombie will contribute, usually in "support" of a primary account. Also used casually to mean "supporter", though in truth it is an accusation of a banning offense.
Pie Fight - A uniquely DK version of a flame war, a staple of online communications which is essentially an escalating series of insults initiated by a logical schism. What turns a flame war into a pie fight is when pastry (HRs) get thrown back and forth, covering everyone involved (and often onlookers) in "frosting and sprinkles" (HRs which do not cause a comment to be hidden). Pie fights are signified by HRs being marked on both sides of the issue, retaliatory HRs, and the inevitable result of everyone involved looking silly.
Trivial - the only recurring pie fight category to have a 'special code', the trivial pie fight (and most references to other things being 'trivial' in The Hiddens) refers to the most vociferous "critics" of the President and their "criticisms", and the recurring contention it causes.
There are tons more, I'm sure, but I want to post this up so people can get at the "walkthrough" part. Let me know in comments if you have suggestions for additions or clarifications, or additional questions on The Hiddens or on DK nomenclature in general.
