zlacker

>mostly for abuse

The comments are deleted so nobody can verify that it was "abuse". You're basically saying "source: trust me bro".

Back in the day, forums used to put a big fat USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST sticker on bad posts, but keep it around for posterity so people could see for themselves what the fuss was about. I don't like the secrecy of how moderation is done nowadays.

>>_dain_+(OP)
A explanation is visible to users on each comment and story, mod actions show up in a public log, and the site's source is available for any remaining questions on how things happened. There are users who store everything as it comes in via RSS or mailing list mode and call out mod mistakes as they see them. More broadly, modern moderation systems have evolved in response to the failures of the systems you describe. It's not about secrecy or power, it's about how leaving up abuse had a lot of bad effects that contributed significantly to the decline of platforms like Usenet.

>>pushcx+bo
>A explanation is visible to users on each comment and story, mod actions show up in a public log, and the site's source is available for any remaining questions on how things happened. There are users who store everything as it comes in via RSS or mailing list mode and call out mod mistakes as they see them.

None of that means anything if I can't see for myself what the purported infraction was. The most important piece of the puzzle is missing! "It's in the RSS feed" -- oh that's so helpful, I'll be sure to look for that in the locked filing cabinet in the disused lavatory, the one with the sign on the door saying "beware of the leopard".

It's a hallmark of a free and democratic society that criminal and civil proceedings are generally public, when someone is punished, we can easily look up what they were punished for. Obviously software forum arguments aren't as important or dramatic as legal disputes, but we imitate in the small what we admire in the large. It is disturbing to me that one side of this culture war calls itself "democratic", but acts like a Star Chamber.