Clarification on rules and moderation

[kozna]

self-moderate and grow a skin should be the first 2 rules

 

[Arishok]

You say this: ,,In regards to scanlation groups, this point must be made abundantly clear: MangaDex has been, and always will be, neutral when it comes to internal group dynamics or when groups feud for whatever reason."
But then you say this crap to negate it:,,. It also means that we will not interfere when groups talk about other groups (negatively or otherwise) in credit pages, TL notes, extra pages, etc., etc."
Clearly your mod team didn't work that hard.

 

[Enteryallowance]

What has been said is not misleading and is very concise. Being neutral entails NOT interfering in any petty feuds, exactly like a platform should work by premise. Tag the "problematic" chapter(s), and the issue should be dealt with by the appropriate lads in just a jiffy. Unless, of course, you are trying to stir up nonsense, but I will withhold my vitriol for now.

 

[Cidolfas]

I'm happy with the site staying neutral in scene drama. I'm also happy with how you are active in removing low-quality releases from groups trying to snipe by being super low-effort.

I like the tools you all have given me to ignore people whose comments I don't like. I also like that the only times I've been slurs being tossed around mods were quick at muting those posts and explaining the rules violations. I'm happy with how that solution sits in the middle between "anything goes" and "nothing goes, no explanation, straight to ban". Hardcore edgelords can opt into it without making every thread a toxic wasteland.

I appreciate the current setup and the job the current mod and admin team have been doing.

 

[IAmTheFed]

By a person who is just here to read some manga, keep up the good work staff in providing this amazing platform.

 

[mbaruh]

This is ridiculous.
Strictly defined rules? loopholes?
This isn't state law. Your rules have a clear intention behind them, and members should use their common sense to decide when their behavior doesn't follow that intention. You shouldn't have to get a law degree to write rules for your site.
It's not like the people who got warnings read the rules first, said "aha, so with the exact wording of this rule I can do this and that because of its loopholes". No, they did whatever they wanted, and when they were accused of violating some rule, they read it carefully and started nitpicking the wording because they didn't want to admit they were wrong.

I'll tell you a secret: most people who use this site didn't read the rules. I myself only briefly skimmed them. And yet, most people aren't violating any rules. How is that? well that's because they have common sense, which tells them what's ok and not ok to do on ANY platform.
Also, your moderators should be able to ask anyone to stop doing anything that seems wrong to them, even if it's not a part of the rules, and be able to use disciplinary actions if the perpetrators aren't listening. They are your moderators because you trust them.

At the end of the day, you're dealing with people here. There will always be violators, and others who will simply be unsatisfied with your work. But if there's anything to learn from this poll, is that you're doing just fine.

 

[Porg]

More rules is more problems.

Stricter rules actually create loopholes, placing limits on mods means they can't slap someone breaking the spirit of the rules.

 

[Holo]

Our rules used to basically say "be nice to each other" lol.

Sadly it wasn't enough.

 

[sedition]

This is why forums are stupid.

 

[Tiihokatti]

After reading what the drama was really all about... thank god Meraki isn't scanlating anything decent anymore so I can simply ignore them as a whole.

Really, getting offended from being criticized and then pulling all their chapters as a punishment for the criticism?
I wouldn't be surprised if their patreon/donations plummeted because of this stupid stunt.
Oh well, there is a good Finnish proverb that suits the situation (Said by a guy named Jouko):
"Tyhmyys kasvaa joukossa" - "Stupidity grows in a group"

As far as I see Mangadex has done a fine job in moderation. Some people just want to get offended for the smallest of reasons and use it to start up some drama.

 

[Pokari]

I'm struck by how the votes seem to show a result of "what we have now is good," leaning slightly towards "maybe a little stricter," (that is, 1 and 2), but by reading the attached forum posts you'd think the opinion was split between "what we have now is good" and "this is too strict already" (that is, 2 and 3).

Is it a vocal minority issue, is it that the underdogs in the results feel the need to defend their position more strongly—or am I just misinterpreting the tone of peoples posts? Hmm.

Well, doesn't matter, I guess. Just an errant thought.

 

[definitionofinsanity]

This isn't a daycare and Mangadex shouldn't have to babysit scanlation groups. And I think groups throw shade and attempting bullshit drama nonsense in credits pages would be pretty damn stupid and just end up pissing off readers and cutting into their donation/Patreon money or getting volunteers to otherwise walk away from them. So if any group wants to start shit that will just be a gigantic gunshot wound to their own feet... Uh... Knock yourselves out, but you shouldn't be trying to get MD involved with your horseshit .

If any groups start dragging MD into it, I could see telling said group(s) to knock it off and take it offsite/privately. But I don't see this being such a huge concern that it warrants rules and moderation policies. Afterall, any group that isn't delusional should be faaaar more concerned with angering readers across the entire internet with antics than angering moderators. A scanlation group can survive just fine from not being on a site or two. Pissing off a large segment of the community with bad actors and actions? Nope. Pla0y stupid games, win stupid prizes.

And, while it might not be the most popular of opinions, perhaps not emulating some of the shittier aspects that plagued and infested Bato isn't the worst idea in the world.

 

[UndeadAI]

I voted for the first option, but I think forum moderation is fine. Its manga moderation that I find too lax. Things like using credit pages to harass people/groups or scanlators, who despite being reported, get to upload multiple troll chapters for a series with no action taken despite the fact rule 2.3.5 already exsists to stop this stuff (I'm not talking like a release with poor grammar or spelling but scanlators who are intentionally destroying an artist's work. I won't call them out but its extremely obvious the translation is a troll/joke translation). Scanlators should have to be civil and follow the rules just like users do.

 

[Captaininvictus]

I've seen some pretty fucked up comments by commenters detailing why, say, a woman character should be murdered/raped(usually for committing the sin of not being a yamato nadeshiko/not being a virgin/being kind of a brat or dramatic) without moderation, it's pretty heinous at times. Lotta real awful chan posters making terrible meme posts and scanlators making rape/racist/misogynistic jokes in their credits pages, too. Cracking down on that sort of thing would be cool.

Also remember these sites are not democracies. Having a simple line saying "moderation is at the discretion of the moderators" should be enough in regards to the rules, and if someone has an issue with a decision, to bring it up in a complaint forum for that.

 

[DiMuRie]

If only some people could remember that everyone else here is human, and they should be treated with respect.
I voted 2.

 

[huynguyen7994]

I voted 2. You can't police people's behavior, nor it's even wise to attempt so. Only act on rules that are universally accepted. Stay to the core principals. People's anger will subside, but what had been done can't never be taken back.
Similar things have happened to my another favorite site, SCP, leading to the disappearance of many heritage articles. It was a great loss, but the site moved on.

 

[traveling_chef]

@Captaininvictus I second this, one too many people on here can be seen referring to women as "used goods" "whore" "slut" or other colourful terms and stating their "ideas" on what to do with said women.

 

[strat_five]

@Captaininvictus

Agreed. Too many /a/nons shitting up the website.

 

[Kaarme]

@Captaininvictus What would you crack down on next, after that? There will always be some 13 years old boys in their teenage tantrums spouting out bullshit, but it's not really a thing to moderate by the site. They are just making fools of themselves. As long as they aren't attacking other living people by their comments, only the characters in the manga, it shouldn't break any rules. Just place them on ignore systematically and you can forget them.

Saying you want to control the scanlators' credit pages is a bit much. That's purely up to the scanlators. Most of them are doing scanlations for fun and/or practice, so telling them they can't even make their own credits pages would be unreasonable. As long as it's not CP or something, of course.

 

[Captaininvictus]

@Kaarme Slippery slope argument doesn't really apply to someone being a fuckin' weirdo about women, which this site has a LOT of. 13 year old kids need to be shot the fuck down or else they never learn to check themselves and then you end up with a gaggle of miniature ben shapiros parading around. Letting someone shout ineffectually into the wind still doesn't tell them "hey, knock it the hell off".

There's a lot that the site should do things about, but the rampant misogyny, bigotry and racism is probably a good start. Maybe get around to the loud-and-proud pedophiles at some later point, too.

edit: also, as for scanlator pages, the same rules should apply as to comments sections. Racism, bigotry, and misogyny should be a no go zone in the credits pages.