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I have flagged a few times a user (won't name it assuming this is the correct behaviour) that comments on many posts, almost directly spamming the posts.

The definition of spammy is:

  • Unrelated-to-post comment
  • Making fun in a way that's really off-topic
  • Utter nonsense

I'm concerned because knowledgeable users interested in answering or discussing will be put off by a thread of nonsense. Wouldn't them ?

I'm including the post here, to draw some attention hopefully.

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  • Trolling and bullying are not the same. Trolling is making fun of someone by misleading them or something along those lines, when they are not actually aware of it as an extent. There are some forms of trolling which are acceptable and some which aren't. Bullying is repeated harassment and by definition should not be allowed.
    – sket
    Commented Jan 17 at 17:27

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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First off, they are moderated if the comments in question are flagged consistently. The system keeps track of the posts and comments flagged, too, so please flag the comments in question, not their parent posts.

Us moderators are basically users who volunteered for a tad more privileges than we used to have anyway to help the community, doing this beside all the other stuff life throws at us.

Therefore, we cannot possibly read all comment threads. We depend on flags bringing our attention to such things.

Also, at least for me it is undue abuse of power if I decide without any community reaction that I want to do something about a certain behaviour (as long as it's not a clear violation of basic rules) as I feel StackExchange should, before anything else, be managed by the powers and initiative of the community as far as possible.

Moderators, as I understand it, are failsaves who should only interfere if something goes terribly wrong and/or the powers of the community members do not suffice to deal with something disrupting their experience.

That is why I love this post and hate the lack of votes and reactions on meta in general.

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  • Thanks, it's interesting to know this, and it does make sense to me. I'm writing another meta post, but it may not be on topic.
    – user66861
    Commented Jan 5 at 8:12
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I have had one (and only one, thankfully) experience on this site of being the target of what I found to be quite disturbing comments. I flagged them and they were dealt with by the mods with amazing promptness, for which I was extremely grateful.

That said, I would only flag what I considered to be exceptional cases. I think it is better for the mods to be lenient by default and hard on the exceptions than vice versa.

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I think you mean troll? (Meaning 2)

Spam may seem similar in being annoying and distracting but is really quite different. To wit:

  • Spam usually sells something
  • It's often automated ie the one on the other side is a bot
  • So Stackexchange has specific speedier, methods for spam that carry heavier penalties.

Obligatory troll example

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  • Indeed I said spammy because I thought it was not a person but a bot (that's my reason in the 'flagging reason'), although it seems that it was a person (it's got a solid profile in other SE stites, for example). The comments were loosely related and clearly unhelpful, but not insulting or attacking me or the content. But trolling or bullying even may have been better terms !
    – user66861
    Commented Jan 5 at 12:59
  • Thank, but am not sure if this is an answer or a comment ? Are they moderated ?
    – user66861
    Commented Jan 5 at 13:20
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    it is ok for me, it's helpful
    – user66861
    Commented Jan 5 at 14:29

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