Moderation on comments.

[PastMaster]

I'm driven to ask, what moderation is done on comments?

The reason I ask is that whenever comment, the comment takes some hours to get posted and I get a message to say that it will be posted once it has been reviewed. I struggle though, to see how, any moderator would allow some of the comments that have been posted where readers end up rowing with each other and hurling really nasty insults at one another, and at the author too.

Is it simply a pattern matching software looking for URL's and the like ?

 

[gordo12]

There is zero moderation on the comments beyond the author's delete button. The delay is for the site to scan for scam/sales links. They got to be quite a problem a few years ago. The comments used to post instantly in those days. I miss that.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

There is zero moderation on the comments beyond the author's delete button. The delay is for the site to scan for scam/sales links. They got to be quite a problem a few years ago. The comments used to post instantly in those days. I miss that.

If that is so, what's with the delay? The OP assumption kinda makes sense then, as I don't see any reason to delay the posting of comments for so long, unless it is just to make sure there are no URL's in them.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

This started, as Gordo notes, a couple of years ago. The site was suddenly flooded with spam “I earned $25,000 last month working from home!” That has stopped now, but the delay is part of the screening.

Comments following a story may be deleted by the author and one can report any comment to the mods, who have indeed removed some comments.

 

[onehitwanda]

If that is so, what's with the delay? The OP assumption kinda makes sense then, as I don't see any reason to delay the posting of comments for so long, unless it is just to make sure there are no URL's in them.

The process that does the scanning is unlikely to be very well thought out or optimised in any way, it probably has a flat list of prior scam sites and scans each comment against all of them. Slow and brute-force.

 

[MrPixel]

There is zero moderation on the comments...

Not true, albeit there is very little. I've had comments on my stories removed by moderators after-the-fact. They let a lot of trash through for you to delete yourself, but if the insult amounts to advocating violence against the author (or similar threats), the comment gets zapped.

 

[gordo12]

If that is so, what's with the delay?

Like a lot of sites, the program only runs in batches, not continuously. Sames thing with favs, follows etc.

It also scans your stories for paid/affiliate/scam links and removes them. You can use Lit links, like your other stories or author page but outside links will be deleted or modified. I used Src: Wikipedia with success, but no link.

For instance, in my Fido story, a reference to the wife "surviving to Tinder another day" was modified to make the nonsense sentence about her "surviving to a dating app another day" It wasn't even a link they just replaced any words like that. Frustrating but not worth going to the wall over.

 

[gordo12]

Not true, albeit there is very little. I've had comments on my stories removed by moderators after-the-fact. They let a lot of trash through for you to delete yourself, but if the insult amounts to advocating violence against the author (or similar threats), the comment gets zapped.

Not exactly. When a comment is removed it's an indication the reader was removed and all comments were removed along with them.

 

[KeithD]

If that is so, what's with the delay? The OP assumption kinda makes sense then, as I don't see any reason to delay the posting of comments for so long, unless it is just to make sure there are no URL's in them.

As Gordon posted it's because they scan for spam--manually--when they get around to it. With one person doing it all, I think we can understand why it doesn't happen that fast. I too miss the day of instant posting, though.

 

[PastMaster]

For instance, in my Fido story, a reference to the wife "surviving to Tinder another day" was modified to make the nonsense sentence about her "surviving to a dating app another day"

That's kind of clumsy - so I guess if you were to write -

"I searched around in the forest collecting tinder for the fire"

that would be changed too?

 

[gordo12]

That's kind of clumsy - so I guess if you were to write -

"I searched around in the forest collecting tinder for the fire"

that would be changed too?

Well, I'd like to think it wouldn't be, but my example was complete nonsense and made it through. There was also one other example of the Tinder word, but I can't recall exactly where. I do recall it made some sense though.

I do note that mine was capitalized as the name of the company vs tinder for firewood using the small t. Honestly, I'm just guessing.

 

[gordo12]

As Gordon posted it's because they scan for spam--manually--when they get around to it. With one person doing it all, I think we can understand why it doesn't happen that fast. I too miss the day of instant posting, though.

I'm not so sure it's manual Keith. My impression is it runs at certain times of day and I think Manu is capable of coding such a simple script.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Not exactly. When a comment is removed it's an indication the reader was removed and all comments were removed along with them.

The site also back scans for hate content, i think, based on various posts I've seen over time. Although that could be from account removals, as you say, where the site bans an account and removes their scum comments - which are of course, linked events.

 

[ElectricBlue]

For instance, in my Fido story, a reference to the wife "surviving to Tinder another day" was modified to make the nonsense sentence about her "surviving to a dating app another day" It wasn't even a link they just replaced any words like that. Frustrating but not worth going to the wall over.

Interesting. I had a story bounced back some years ago because it had a reference to Tumblr. An easy fix - but it sounds like they've sped up the process by doing a word replace fix themselves.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Would it be from the site's scanning after the comments are posted (why would they do that after, and not before posting the comments? Already they do take their time), or could it be that readers are reporting those comments?

Could be - I've just got a sense that the site does a regular word scan looking for hate content, quite separate from the initial comments scan, which is to remove spam links. Two separate trawls - but it's a hunch, based on comments read over the years, nothing concrete.

 

[PastMaster]

Could be - I've just got a sense that the site does a regular word scan looking for hate content, quite separate from the initial comments scan, which is to remove spam links. Two separate trawls - but it's a hunch, based on comments read over the years, nothing concrete.

It can't be that regular judging by some of the comments that are still on a couple lf my LW stories even months after posting. There is nothing quite so divisive as a LW story - and to see the commentators hurl insults at each other is an entertainment in itself

 

[ElectricBlue]

It can't be that regular judging by some of the comments that are still on a couple lf my LW stories even months after posting. There is nothing quite so divisive as a LW story - and to see the commentators hurl insults at each other is an entertainment in itself

There's possibly a LW exemption rule, to save the poor word bot from seeing the worst humanity has to offer. Any of my speculation excludes that category. You're on your own there, I reckon!

 

[blackrandl1958]

There was never a "flood" of spam. There was SOME spam, all from the same "Horny Russian women seeking mature men" site. I got maybe five a week, easy to delete, and I get as many comments as anyone (averaging 88 per story).

The site introduced a captcha system for anonymous comments to stop the spam. Did that not work? If not, why is it still in place? If it did, why comment "moderation?"

The number one issue writers of my acquaintance have, and I have a wide acquaintance, with Literotica is the comment moderation. Maybe that doesn't matter to people who don't get comments. For those of us who do, it's the number one priority we believe the site should address. We don't get a lot of payback for posting stories. Comments are the coin of the realm. We want real-time commenting. It is an obvious grievance writers have.

I have suggested implementing a nice/naughty list policy. All registered users are placed on the nice list. If they are known trolls, report their asses and put them on the naughty list with the anonymous commenters. It is absurd that I would have to wait 24 hours or more to see a comment I made on my own story.

There is now a new issue of comments on stories not appearing on the stories for two hours or more after we have been notified in our control panels that we have new comments.

I have seen nothing suggesting the site is moving toward real-time commenting, other than a vague promise with no time frame. There is no reason it should take years to correct a simple spam issue. I am not interested in a single other site improvement until comment moderation is addressed. I love Literotica, and I never complain about anything else, but this... When are we going to get real-time commenting?

 

[Voboy]

There is now a new issue of comments on stories not appearing on the stories for two hours or more after we have been notified in our control panels that we have new comments.

There are three ways to "see" newly posted comments: clicking there from the alert on the "my home" tab, opening the story and then scrolling to the end, and going to that story on your "works" page and then clicking on the comments icon.

When the first two don't work, the third usually does. I've noticed this too.

As for the rest of your post, it's a useful reminder (to me) that all of us posting here have VERY different ideas about what the site's #1 priority "should be" in a perfect world where Laurel and Manu were willing to snap their fingers and make it happen. For myself, as a guy who gets very few comments, I can't say the "moderation delay" affects me at all.

Not that I have a clue why it's there.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

There is now a new issue of comments on stories not appearing on the stories for two hours or more after we have been notified in our control panels that we have new comments.

That one is, I think, easy enough to explain. Various parts of the site update at different rates. It’s a touch annoying but one can always see the comment via one’s Work page by clicking on the comment bubble.

 

[PastMaster]

There was never a "flood" of spam. There was SOME spam, all from the same "Horny Russian women seeking mature men" site. I got maybe five a week, easy to delete, and I get as many comments as anyone (averaging 88 per story).

The site introduced a captcha system for anonymous comments to stop the spam. Did that not work? If not, why is it still in place? If it did, why comment "moderation?"

The number one issue writers of my acquaintance have, and I have a wide acquaintance, with Literotica is the comment moderation. Maybe that doesn't matter to people who don't get comments. For those of us who do, it's the number one priority we believe the site should address. We don't get a lot of payback for posting stories. Comments are the coin of the realm. We want real-time commenting. It is an obvious grievance writers have.

I have suggested implementing a nice/naughty list policy. All registered users are placed on the nice list. If they are known trolls, report their asses and put them on the naughty list with the anonymous commenters. It is absurd that I would have to wait 24 hours or more to see a comment I made on my own story.

There is now a new issue of comments on stories not appearing on the stories for two hours or more after we have been notified in our control panels that we have new comments.

I have seen nothing suggesting the site is moving toward real-time commenting, other than a vague promise with no time frame. There is no reason it should take years to correct a simple spam issue. I am not interested in a single other site improvement until comment moderation is addressed. I love Literotica, and I never complain about anything else, but this... When are we going to get real-time commenting?

I kind of agree - but not sure about the naughty and nice list.
It sounds like a lot of work for the mods to vet every report that is made about a troll - which means that in reality what will happen is that anyone who gets reported will be put on the naughty list.
What you don't say is what happens to those on the naughty list. Are they prevented from commenting? if nothing then what is the point and if they get prevented from commenting then there woudl be scope for an author to stop anyone that doesnt like their stories from commenting. thus basically censoring their audience.

(i know most of the LW commentators should be censored but lets ignore those guys for now)

If we accept - as seems to be the case - that there are very few people actually running the site, where will the payoff be for this. Are we going to end up having to wait weeks for story submissions because Laurel is too busy mod'ing comments? or are we going to end up getting drowned in spam because what little auto moderation is gone.

Perhaps, as an author, you could have a choice. In the same way as you can choose not to have comments or ratings, perhaps you can choose not to have your comments moderated. If you make that choice then you accept that you may get spammed. If you dont then you accept the delay in comment posting.
Just an idea.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have suggested implementing a nice/naughty list policy. All registered users are placed on the nice list. If they are known trolls, report their asses and put them on the naughty list with the anonymous commenters. It is absurd that I would have to wait 24 hours or more to see a comment I made on my own story.

That's a good idea, as a place to start.

But what percentage of your commentary traffic is from anons? In my experience (but not with high commentary counts like yours) it's probably 50/50. But then, I rarely get hostile traffic, other than one anti-Semitic rant years ago, which had nothing to do with the story, just some random drive-by.

 

[blackrandl1958]

My comment ratio of commenters with IDs vs anonymous it about 65% to 35%, with the 65% being those with IDs. I am not saying my suggestion is the right course, just there needs to be some course. To address Pastmaster, put the naughty ones and anonymous ones in the moderation path. There would be no more work in doing that than there is now. Less, in fact, because nice commenters with an ID would be whitelisted.

 

[KeithD]

The spamming attack that led to the delayed posting of comments on stories was irritating. But I don't think it was worse than the "solution" has been.

 

[stev2244]

I agree with Randi and have to say that the whole comment section has totally lost its appeal, as any kind of dialogue is impossible now. If the occasional spam back then was the true reason for introducing the moderation, it looks like a huge and quite destructive overreaction to a very small problem.