"No comment"

[StillStunned]

I'm wondering if there is something going on with comments at the moment, similar to the pending-purgatory story-side i.e. comments getting stuck in moderation.

No real evidence, just a hunch.

By the evidence of my new story that's been up for a little over 24 hours:


Half those comments are my replies, but that still leaves 14 reader comments. If there's a shortage of comments being published, I don't think it's to do with the site.

 

[RocketGrunt]

How do you know these things? I've never seen posts to this effect from Manu or Laurel.

The two-tiered comment system is obvious. When your comments stop "waiting moderation" and start "posting successfully" as soon as you hit the submit button, you know you've made the nice list.

 

[LargoKitt]

The two-tiered comment system is obvious. When your comments stop "waiting moderation" and start "posting successfully" as soon as you hit the submit button, you know you've made the nice list.

RG, Ah, guess I was not paying that much attention. I guess I assumed that the need for moderation depended on key words in the comment. Never assumed that M & L knew who the hell I was in the morass of story posters, even though I've been posting here for about 20 years.

 

[LargoKitt]

From direct experience. She’s one of the more prolific commenters around here, and there are many others who can attest you don’t get moderated anymore after a certain threshold.

Interesting. And the scales for weighing comments on stories and comments in the Forum don't seem to use the same weights; even though snark is snark, flame is flame, and troll is troll. I won't mention sexism or racism.

 

[StillStunned]

By the evidence of my new story that's been up for a little over 24 hours:

View attachment 2584625
Half those comments are my replies, but that still leaves 14 reader comments. If there's a shortage of comments being published, I don't think it's to do with the site.

As an addendum to this post: in the meantime the story is up to 17 reader comments - but not a single one is anonymous. Does that mean there's a problem with anonymous commenting at the moment? Or are readers in Non-Erotic less likely to feel the need for anonymity?

 

[RocketGrunt]

As an addendum to this post: in the meantime the story is up to 17 reader comments - but not a single one is anonymous. Does that mean there's a problem with anonymous commenting at the moment? Or are readers in Non-Erotic less likely to feel the need for anonymity?

One hundred percent of the anonymous comments have to wait for moderation. Since anonymous posts are not logged in, they can't be on the white list. Depending on how taxed the moderators are, sometimes that backlog can take days. It's not unusual to get a grip of anonymous comments two to four days after the other comments come in, and it might be longer at the moment.

 

[StillStunned]

One hundred percent of the anonymous comments have to wait for moderation. Since anonymous posts are not logged in, they can't be on the white list. Depending on how taxed the moderators are, sometimes that backlog can take days. It's not unusual to get a grip of anonymous comments two to four days after the other comments come in, and it might be longer at the moment.

That's what I meant. A few months ago, the moderated comments would generally be processed at least the same day.

But also, some of the named comments have clearly been moderated, based on where they appear in the comments list in my dashboard. So the moderation is still working more or less as before. I just thought it was strange that there were no anonymous comments at all.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's what I meant. A few months ago, the moderated comments would generally be processed at least the same day.

But also, some of the named comments have clearly been moderated, based on where they appear in the comments list in my dashboard. So the moderation is still working more or less as before. I just thought it was strange that there were no anonymous comments at all.

Are people aware that the moderation process is for spam and html, not content? The batch system was introduced five or six years ago (maybe more), when the site nearly ground to a halt from multiple spam attacks, coming in through the Comments mechanism. At first the site held everything for a daily batch cleanse, then the system was refined to allow more frequent batches, during the day. After a year or so, trusted accounts began to process immediately.

There's been no suggestion from anyone that content itself gets moderated, as evidenced by people reporting horrible content. There's evidence that the site does run a hate speak bot every now again - many people have reported content they've seen subsequently disappearing - but it's always been once comments have been posted.

I think the site relies on authors policing their own commentary, deleting the worst when it's obvious trolling, or nothing to do with the story. Some people refuse to do that, either through some kind of heroism, thinking it's the site's job, or because they really don't care, one way or another. It's those folk who have reported comments disappearing.

 

[Off_base]

By the evidence of my new story that's been up for a little over 24 hours:

View attachment 2584625
Half those comments are my replies, but that still leaves 14 reader comments. If there's a shortage of comments being published, I don't think it's to do with the site.

I think it is something with the site, in this case. My story comments had always been approved within 24 hours, up until the last few months. THBGato's story went a full 4-5 days with one or two comments trickling in each day, then had an onslaught of 15+ comments drop on day 4 or 5, after the story was published.
My comment on Onehitwanda's most recent story, took almost a week to appear.
My posts used to take 24 hours in moderation, so something has changed with that system, or it's randomly backlogged like some stories seem to be.

Edit: I've never left a negative comment on any story, so it's not that I've given any reason for a longer moderation period.

 

[Off_base]

There's been no suggestion from anyone that content itself gets moderated

I've had the content of one of my story comments edited.
I was defending the behavior of one of my characters, and stated that "the truth is, people often make poor decisions when they're drinking, and get behind the wheel, especially when under emotional stress".
When it posted, the words "when they're drinking" had been removed,

 

[StillStunned]

Are people aware that the moderation process is for spam and html, not content? The batch system was introduced five or six years ago (maybe more), when the site nearly ground to a halt from multiple spam attacks, coming in through the Comments mechanism. At first the site held everything for a daily batch cleanse, then the system was refined to allow more frequent batches, during the day. After a year or so, trusted accounts began to process immediately.

I was going to reply with "Interesting bit of worldbuilding, but hardly relevant to the current plot point." But then I realised that my post was open to misinterpretation:

But also, some of the named comments have clearly been moderated, based on where they appear in the comments list in my dashboard.

What I meant was that they'd been held back and gone through the moderation process, not that their contents had been edited.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I've had the content of one of my story comments edited.
I was defending the behavior of one of my characters, and stated that "the truth is, people often make poor decisions when they're drinking, and get behind the wheel, especially when under emotional stress".
When it posted, the words "when they're drinking" had been removed,

Interesting, thank you, and noted. You're the first person I've seen who has confirmed there is active moderation of comments. I stand corrected, and pleased to be.

What is interesting is the nature of the change, which is essentially saying, drinking is no excuse.

 

[Off_base]

Interesting, thank you, and noted. You're the first person I've seen who has confirmed there is active moderation of comments. I stand corrected, and pleased to be.

What is interesting is the nature of the change, which is essentially saying, drinking is no excuse.

I figured it was just part of their process, and didn't think any more of it.

 

[Purechicanery]

It feels like it was probably a (misguided, imo) attempt at removing references to 'illegal activity' or something like that.