The system you propose is the present system, which I described in the blog post. I also wrote about why it is bad.
On the bright side, the new moderation system seems to be working pretty well, though. About 150 members were given moderation rights, and their combined efforts have successfully categorized about 75% of the ~9000 photos on this site, in less than a week! I think that is pretty amazing, and shows a huge community support for the new system.
Thanks for everyone who has participated!
Please, write your further comments to the blog post, not here.
The resposne to this seems to be a deafening silence. Perhaps not an issue for site users? People use this site for different resaons - many connected with sex and they like to mix it with wrestle like I do. Indeed, the way the site is set up encourages that - likes and dislikes etc. Other guys simply want to hone their wrestling skills with another (gay/bi) guy and feel comfortable and perhaps not risk homophobia. So comments about "manly" men reflect Neanderthal views on what counts as properly masculine and the barbed comments about "dating site" comes across as Polyanna-ish barely masking quite a dictatorial and paternalistic intent.
Quite simply, rather than this over-elaborate system of censorship being proposed - and we are all grown-ups on this site by the way - and if crotch shots still offend, issue a warning upfront and if that is ignored then you have every right to say that the perssn has infringed the terms/conditions of site membership. On the other hand, relax, take a chill pill, you could just leave it be and let people make their own minds up. Nobody is going to be traumatsied. As a compromise, and like the Recon site (which has a Fighting group) and the Caffmoss community site (for older gay guys) why not have a hidden gallery for more explicit photos and where anyone who wants to view them might ask for a password from the profilee who also has the right to withhold access/viewing. The point is there is a way round this that is simpler, fairer and better than the asinine one being proposed. Sorry but I hate any whiff of paternalism or reduction of the service to the whims of one person when people use this site for different reasons. But thank you organisers for making this a community site and I do really like and appreciate it!
Before I go into what I have in mind here, let me share a little background information.
As you might have noticed, the photos on AllFighters are moderated. There are multiple reasons for this; first and foremost complying with local laws, that are rather pointlessly try to make the internet "family friendly". Second, it is a matter of choice and direction where I want to take this site; I want a site more about the physical aspect of manly combat than a fantasy realm or simply a dating site. If you want a dating site for guys, I'm sure you know where to find one; this one here is a personals site specialized for fighting.
Simply put, I simply do not want a bunch of pornographic photo thumbnails to appear in the member ticker every time someone opens the site.
Unfortunately, this has lead photo moderation to become the worst point of friction between site administration and a segment of membership. While most of the photos are OK, there are some that are not, and once they are uploaded, we need to deal with them. Dealing with them involves sending a warning to the member, which is not a good experience for either party. And then this goes back and forth and it would seem that some guys just have to upload their extreme crotch closeup photos, no matter the price.
Personally I think the site is being misused because it can be misused; a perfect system is one that doesn't offer a bad option. So, I started thinking about a system that both promotes the site's original goals, mitigates the problems of the previous system, gives people more of what they want AND reduces my daily workload.
=== So, Where Do We Go From Here? ===
Here's my latest idea for dealing with photo moderation, modeled after the movie classification system that most people would be familiar with:
The process starts when a member uploads a photo.
The freshly uploaded photo is "UNCATEGORIZED".
A number of veteran members are given the right to categorize photos. They can see the list of "UNCATEGORIZED" photos, and quickly categorize them.
The proposed classifications are:
"XXX" (Nudity, obvious sexual act, cock/ball grabbing or S&M.)
"Softcore" (A photo that shows a closeup of the crotch, ass, or otherwise lets you make an educated guess as to the endowment of the depicted person. Also photos that depict something that resemble mating more than fighting.)
"Clean" (General audience; no nudity or explicit content.)
"G with face" (Same as above, but also shows the face of the person)
"Gallery" (Drawing, closeup of shirt that shows no personal traits. Also, a photo that shows more than one people where it is unclear which is the profile owner. Also, a photo that is obviously not the profile owner because of a difference in age or build. Also, any photo bearing a logo of a video production company.)
"Softcore Gallery" (Both "Gallery" and "Softcore" apply.)
"Offtopic" (Sceneries, blank photos, pets, etc.)
In turn, photos with a given classification can be used in different ways:
U
X
S
C
C+F
G
O
Can be attached to message
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Can be shown to members in profile
-
-
+
+
+
(1)
-
Can be shown to unregistered visitors in profile
-
-
-
+
+
(1)
-
Can be primary photo
-
-
+
+
+
-
-
Allows you to send messages or chat
-
-
+
+
+
-
-
Can appear in member ticker
-
-
-
+
+
-
-
(1) can only be shown in gallery
Private photos behave as if they were UNCATegorized
Softcore Callery is same as Gallery, except only registered members can see them.
There are some benefits to the new system:
The new "Softcore" category is a middle ground between "moderated" photos and "Clean" photos.
More people can get involved in photo moderation.
No more administrator warnings for photo uploads!
Unfortunately the system will have some drawbacks as well:
A freshly uploaded photo might take a while to be properly categorized, forcing new members to wait a few hours before they can make full use of our site.
Admin
10/9/2010 9:52On the bright side, the new moderation system seems to be working pretty well, though. About 150 members were given moderation rights, and their combined efforts have successfully categorized about 75% of the ~9000 photos on this site, in less than a week! I think that is pretty amazing, and shows a huge community support for the new system.
Thanks for everyone who has participated!
Please, write your further comments to the blog post, not here.
MancsMonkey (0)
07/9/2010 11:10The resposne to this seems to be a deafening silence. Perhaps not an issue for site users? People use this site for different resaons - many connected with sex and they like to mix it with wrestle like I do. Indeed, the way the site is set up encourages that - likes and dislikes etc. Other guys simply want to hone their wrestling skills with another (gay/bi) guy and feel comfortable and perhaps not risk homophobia. So comments about "manly" men reflect Neanderthal views on what counts as properly masculine and the barbed comments about "dating site" comes across as Polyanna-ish barely masking quite a dictatorial and paternalistic intent.
Quite simply, rather than this over-elaborate system of censorship being proposed - and we are all grown-ups on this site by the way - and if crotch shots still offend, issue a warning upfront and if that is ignored then you have every right to say that the perssn has infringed the terms/conditions of site membership. On the other hand, relax, take a chill pill, you could just leave it be and let people make their own minds up. Nobody is going to be traumatsied. As a compromise, and like the Recon site (which has a Fighting group) and the Caffmoss community site (for older gay guys) why not have a hidden gallery for more explicit photos and where anyone who wants to view them might ask for a password from the profilee who also has the right to withhold access/viewing. The point is there is a way round this that is simpler, fairer and better than the asinine one being proposed. Sorry but I hate any whiff of paternalism or reduction of the service to the whims of one person when people use this site for different reasons. But thank you organisers for making this a community site and I do really like and appreciate it!
Admin
02/9/2010 8:21I need feedback on this proposal! Please do not post to this forum topic, instead enter your comments here!
Admin
02/9/2010 8:20Before I go into what I have in mind here, let me share a little background information.
As you might have noticed, the photos on AllFighters are moderated. There are multiple reasons for this; first and foremost complying with local laws, that are rather pointlessly try to make the internet "family friendly". Second, it is a matter of choice and direction where I want to take this site; I want a site more about the physical aspect of manly combat than a fantasy realm or simply a dating site. If you want a dating site for guys, I'm sure you know where to find one; this one here is a personals site specialized for fighting.
Simply put, I simply do not want a bunch of pornographic photo thumbnails to appear in the member ticker every time someone opens the site.
Unfortunately, this has lead photo moderation to become the worst point of friction between site administration and a segment of membership. While most of the photos are OK, there are some that are not, and once they are uploaded, we need to deal with them. Dealing with them involves sending a warning to the member, which is not a good experience for either party. And then this goes back and forth and it would seem that some guys just have to upload their extreme crotch closeup photos, no matter the price.
Personally I think the site is being misused because it can be misused; a perfect system is one that doesn't offer a bad option. So, I started thinking about a system that both promotes the site's original goals, mitigates the problems of the previous system, gives people more of what they want AND reduces my daily workload.
=== So, Where Do We Go From Here? ===
Here's my latest idea for dealing with photo moderation, modeled after the movie classification system that most people would be familiar with:
The proposed classifications are:
In turn, photos with a given classification can be used in different ways:
There are some benefits to the new system:
Unfortunately the system will have some drawbacks as well:
So, what do you think?