2 votes - RFC system and account deletions

CLICK HERE TO VOTE ON ACCOUNT DELETIONS AND RFC PROCESS

2 separate votes (single post so they can both be bannered):

First vote is on the following proposed rule (Single rule with multiple parts. Discussion here):

  1. Users may request to have accounts anonymized. Users must undergo a two-week cooling-off period before their account will be anonymized. Declining after the cooling-off period then asking again to be anonymized will restart the clock on the two-week cooling-off period.
  2. No account shall be anonymized without the request of the user.
  3. Users requests to have accounts deleted shall not be fulfilled as the default policy.
  4. If 60% of current moderators agree that there is a good reason to delete an account, they may start a thread in About Unstuck. The first post shall contain the argument for deletion and a binding public poll on whether the account shall be deleted. The poll shall be open for 7 days and a 60% vote shall be required to allow deletion.
  5. Care shall be taken to preserve threads that would be lost if deletion of an account is approved.
Do you agree with the proposed rule regarding account deletions
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Second vote is on the following question (Discussion here):

Shall the RFC system be repealed?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Both polls close at 11:59pm on Saturday 7/23. This is your thread to advocate for/against on either topic.

can someone explain this to me? why would I ask for this, and what would the practical effect be?

Account deletion is an administrative task, not a moderator one. I don’t care what some idiotic RFC says or why some narcissistic toddler feels entitled to one. If an admin doesn’t want to do it, then it doesn’t happen and that’s the end of the story.

This perpetual Jerry Springer bullshit is bad enough without dragging the admins into it. This forum likely dies if Spidercrab or olink ever steps down, because nobody else wants the job. I’m sure as fuck never doing it again. Leave the admins alone. Nobody has any right to demand a damn thing from them.

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I know someone who would kill for the job

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My proposal is a reaction to MEb anonymizing accounts while moderator. I don’t think he would have done it with this rule in place.

I am skeptical of the idea of just trusting mods to use their own judgement. I would like to have explicit boundaries on what we think moderators should be allowed to do.

Wtf is the RFC system?

2 Likes

I would like to hear opinions from @spidercrab and @olink before I vote on the account deletion poll, if possible.

Putting them on the spot like that is exactly the sort of situation I think we should all be trying very hard to avoid. They are volunteers who they are absolutely essential to keeping this place going. If neither of them chooses to make a statement on this issue then we should respect that and not try to drag them into it.

2 Likes

We have a formal process for making decisions on this site. RFC stands for Request for Comments and is modeled after RFCs used to establish Internet Standards, with the idea that there should discussion before formulating a rule.

Voting to abolish RFCs would result in having no formal process for determining how the site is run.

Sure, if they don’t want to offer their opinions I’ll just vote for what I think is best. I’m just trying to figure out if you are speaking for them or not. Perhaps they have no issue with occasionally dealing with this?

Of course I am not speaking for them. They can say and do whatever they want.

But I am asking that unwilling participants not be dragged into this. Please. I’m really asking here.

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Welcome to the forums @Big_Up!

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The problem with trying to get rid of the RFC process via RFC is that a lot of the posters who think that the RFC process is stupid as shit and should be trashed aren’t going to bother to vote in an RFC because they think it’s stupid as shit and should be trashed.

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Seems to be working as intended

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Much like American “democracy,” yes.

I do have opinions, but they’re not strongly held. And I stay out of things on purpose. I don’t need the time sink from forum drama and staying aloof makes it easier for me to just keep the lights on.

Otoh, a couple of things – anonymizing is there for compliance with EU right to be forgotten, not as a moderation tool. Doing it without request is a banworthy dick move, and not doing it upon request might be illegal if we were hosted in the EU.

Given that context and recent history, and the comparatively small size of the community, I think I’m in favor of it being an admin task, not mod. Admin (me atm) will have to anonymize anyone on their request and only on their request. For moderation there are more appropriate tools.

Not even sure that’s on the ballot but there you go.

2 Likes

It should be easy to remove anonymization from mod powers in the software, right?

I haven’t looked into it but yeah should be super easy.

I believe the only moderator controls that can be toggled are:
Allow moderators to manage categories and groups
Allow moderators to change post ownership
Allow moderators to view user emails
Allow moderators to delete user notes