Would you like to know what my sister told me?

Question

My sister has a pen pal on Yahoo , and he happened to have a young looking avatar. Well, some high school kids asked him to join in their "wolf pack" to report and delete other people's accounts. (They were doing it "just for fun")

What is their common denominator? They all seemed to be on level 1 or level 2 and not care if they were deleted; cause they didn't have many points to lose. They could simply sign back up under another name.

So, it seems if we could get Yahoo to not allow anyone in level 1 or 2 to report violations, then we could eliminate a lot of problems.

PS: anyone can have two accounts, so some "just mean" folks can sign up an extra account to be used for reporting others, get 100 points and report everyone the don't like, then if that person loses that account, she or he can simply sign up under a different name and do it again. (The person would not lose their main account, just the account they were using to hurt other people.)

Both of these types of "meanness" can be reduced if level 1 and level 2 participants are not allowed to "report violations".

Any serious (nice) person who is on level 1 or 2 will soon be on level 3. -- So this system would not permanently restrict nice people.

In a nutshell _ We the undersigned, request that level 1 and level 2 participants not be allowed to use the "report abuse" icon.

What do you suggest?

"Nijg" is working on a plan to legally inform Yahoo of our feelings about this.

Please E-mail me for more information.

Dear "para" - human moderators would mean that a human would have access to all our personal information. But, even that would be better than, leaving our Yahoo fate in the hands of the unknown - whoevers, and whatevers?

Dear "master" I agree with you, but I am afraid that would be very expensive.

Dear Adam, When I went into hiding, I had to change - whoops .. some "not nice" person may be listening.

e-mail me and I will tell you another way to partially avoid those "wolf packs".

Answer 1

Great idea, honestly...

Answer 2

Human moderators.
>Edit<
The problem with limiting the people that can report violations, is I believe anyone should have the right to make a violation report, should someone post pornography or images of violence on the site.

I agree, it is a problem people harassing people for fun. The other flaw with human moderators, is they themselves are human and may also dislike some of the views they read. I don't know how a problem like this can easily be fixed maybe the way the Violation report is addressed should relate to level.

For example if a 1 gets many violation reports ban straight away, If a level say 3 or above get loads then a Human moderator should intervene, and rather than banning the account immediately as seems the fashion.

Answer 3

Well, here is my personal opinion:

To prevent this, we should block anyone suspicious, and set our Q&A to private.

I think lvl 1 should not be able to report. I issued a suggestion to Yahoo (on the suggestion board) to have daily limits on reporting or only allow those lvl 2+ to report. Yet, Yahoo ignored it. This was about 3 months ago. I doubt yahoo will pay attention, yet if we tell them about the "Wolf packs" they MAY listen.

Maybe we should post "Wolf pack" baiting questions, to see if any of them answer, then we can all block that user.

Answer 4

I'd say that if the staff here would actually use a little common sense, and disregard abuse reports when it's obvious the person making the report is doing it for personal reasons, the problem wouldn't exist.

But since I don't see that ever happening, I have to agree with your idea. It makes sense, to require that people get some experience and demonstrate that they take the place seriously, before allowing them to influence it to such an extent.

Answer 5

I don't know if they should totally stop the reporting for Levels 1 and 2 or just limit the amount like they do for questions. Let's face it, some people do deserve to be reported occasionally (for profanity and vulgarity because of children, not honest opinions) and the lower levels should have that right too, just not as often IMO.

God Bless.

Answer 6

I saw on the suggestion board a request not to let levl one and 2's to be able to report. The suggestion is old and it states the YA team has taken it under consideration. Who knows if they will ever really consider it.

Maybe if enough people suggested it...or if you were to pass on something like this it may help.

Answer 7

sounds like a good idea... it's too easy for a trouble maker, once booted to get another account and start again, they even make mention of that is their posts... requiring folks to be a higher level to 'report for abuse' should really cut down on attacks, as it would take a fair amount of time to get to that level again.

Answer 8

That has already been suggested to yahoo staffers and hopefully they will take the suggestion seriously. It is a great one and will greatly reduce trolls and stalkers. I am even hesitant to put anyone in my contacts who is under level 2.

Answer 9

Pooty good idea. Seems like an honest newbie who asks a question about knitting should be able to report the person who tells them to cook socks in Hell, though.

Answer 10

I thought about this just the other day. I figure a lot of the reporting goes on by people who have not been here long enough to see we treat each other like crap every day, lol. =)

Answer 11

Your sister's pal needs to do t he conversing. she would be in a position to take your sister alongside for help. Your sister needs to motivate her pal to talk to a counselor. it truly is frightening. lots can ensue and the pal could be very afraid that she could ought to 'flow back' into the placement. talk on your mom. your sister's pal desires a secure place to flow. A hiding place from her mom. per danger it is your place.