Skorgu2 comments on Whither OB? - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 17 November 2008 07:38PM

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Comment author: Skorgu2 18 November 2008 12:14:47AM 0 points [-]

I've never seen an automated moderation system that Really Works. At best they trim the very worst of the spammers and trolls, but even then they're prone to mob rule, idiot memes and general tyranny of the masses.

You need moderators. Qualified, intelligent, human beings who can take a statement and judge it if necessary. Note that a good writer is not a good mod, a good blogger is not a good mod, and a good person may not be a good mod.

See how Metafilter does it: three (and a half) mods, some automated reporting of both good and bad, and a publicly visible third space for meta discussions about the site itself (metatalk). It's survived years and still has higher post quality than any automated site I'm familiar with.