Help the moderators out - use descriptive flags

[Joe_Ross]

As CD is about to get busy, it really helps the moderators if when you flag a post, you make sure the flag is both descriptive and actionable.

For example, rather then “split thread”, something better would be “split thread starting with this post, but excluding posts 56, and 62, into new thread called “xyz””. Moderators may not be as much of an expert as you are on the topic and sometimes it can be hard to tell what is on-topic and what should be split. It can also be hard to determine what a good thread title is if you don’t know much about the topic.

Similarly, rather then “duplicate thread”, include the link of the thread to combine it with. Sometimes they can be hard to find.

Sometimes it’s immediately obvious what is inappropriate, but other times where culture moves faster then some of us moderators, it’s helpful to provide more context. For example, rather then flagging a picture as inappropriate, give a description of what is inappropriate. For example “contains abc hand sign which the anti-defamation league has listed as symbol of hate”. Someone who isn’t familiar with that sign might see an inappropriate flag and ignore it if they don’t see anything they’re familiar with as being inappropriate.

If you’re flagging a DM between an adult and a student for YPP compliance, please say YPP compliance. There’s been some creative wording to flags that make it hard to determine if it’s solely for YPP compliance or if there’s an issue that moderators need to look at further.

[SLAB-Mr.Thomas]

@Joe_Ross

it’s helpful to provide more context

A truism for life that we too often forget to do well assuming others know what we are talking about.

Another Example

At my township office I noticed a sign on a staff person’s desk that was identical to the words used by one of the political parties; words that everybody can agree with but one party was using them. I knew what party the clerk was promoting and would they count my votes for the other party?

I sent an email to the supervisor and he checked it out but saw nothing wrong and my words on the phone with him were not compelling.

I sent another email with a picture of a political sign with the unarguable words. 45 seconds later he called and said “Come on in to the office; you’ll notice the sign is gone! It is completely unacceptable for that sort of thing to happen in this office.”