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26 changes: 26 additions & 0 deletions hubs-discord-moderator-guidelines.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -71,3 +71,29 @@ _(All moderators are free to propose changes)_
* **Off topic messages in the general channel**
- Reply to the user that the general channel isn’t the best place for their messages and direct them to the proper channel.
- Share the message link in the #mods channel and let the other moderators know that you’ve taken care of it.

New rule suggestion for the Hubs Discord server:
Make posts relevant to Hubs
Any post that does not directly address the subject of Hubs needs to be contextualized by the member posting.

As implemented by the moderators, this rule should primarily apply to the original/solo post or the first post in a thread in a channel by a member. Does the post have an obvious connection (not stated) or an obvious stated connection/relevance to Hubs or the Hubs Community?

Examples of posts that are OK:

“I am a front end engineer looking for a job, I have 3 years experience with Hubs. Here is my LinkedIn account.” Post is relevant to Hubs and appropriate for the job-board channel.

Link to tech updates to Reticulum new article. Post is fine. No context is made, but post is related to Hubs. Probably best for random or the dev channels.

Examples of post that are not OK:

Link only to site for a cannot-be-safely-determined purpose. No obvious connection to Hubs. No added context to Hubs.

Introduction posts, generally, should NOT be held to this rule if the OP is simply an introduction; a hello from a brand new member. Leeway should be granted as folks might arrive in the Discord server *truly not knowing what Hubs is or is about* and they are not required to make introductions to be Hubs relevant. However, if the member provides a link to something in their introduction that blatantly does not appear to be Hubs-relevant, this rule DOES apply. See the Moderators delete guidance below.

Reply posts, generally, should NOT be held to this rule. However, reply posts need to adhere, of course, to all of the Discord server rules. For example, if an original post asks for software recommendations to accomplish X, replies might not necessarily recommend Hubs, and that is fine.

**Moderators are responsible for doing some research about a post to see if it is related to Hubs**; they should try out links in a safe manner. The onus of proof is not entirely upon the original poster.
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It might be helpful to include this link down here as well (it's from the malicious content section).

Suggested change
**Moderators are responsible for doing some research about a post to see if it is related to Hubs**; they should try out links in a safe manner. The onus of proof is not entirely upon the original poster.
**Moderators are responsible for doing some research about a post to see if it is related to Hubs**; they should try out links in a safe manner (https://urlscan.io/ can be used to check shortened links). The onus of proof is not entirely upon the original poster.

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I incorporated this, thank you.


Moderators could delete posts, then directly message the member that the original poster is welcome to re-post if they add context about connection to Hubs. If the member refuses, the original post stays deleted. If a member posts repeatedly, is messaged about relevance, and does not re-post, the Moderators could take this as a reason to remove the member from the server. All this could be documented in the admin private channel.
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All this could be documented in the admin private channel.

Here is the correct place to document all this, although I would probably say the repeated spam guidelines apply to the member posting repeatedly.

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Modified this text out of the commit and into the PR, with notation that this text was discussed.


The random (and off-topic?) channel should have a wide leeway for posts not related to Hubs. Still, all Discord server rules apply. Most of the posts we’ve seen that have been deleted are blatant server violations. When in doubt, it is safest to take a post out of public view while it is being discussed with other Mods.
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When in doubt, it is safest to take a post out of public view while it is being discussed with other Mods.

While I agree that's the safest thing to do, as far as I know we can't put posts back, so I think I would only remove a post while it was being discussed in an extreme case.

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I possibly disagree; I think extreme is not the only use case. I think Moderators could be truly confused and they should also have the leeway to delete the post.

I don't think the consequences of removing a post are severe here. If a Moderator removes a post (and fully documents why) and then the result turns out to be that the the post was OK, the Moderator can do one of two things:

  1. Directly inform the community member that they can re-post, of course, with an apology, and give them a copy of their post text, if need be.
  2. Offer to re-post for the community member if they cannot re-post or give a reason why they cannot (like, I'm traveling and cannot do it, can you please?).

Since I've seen both of these behaviors happen in other communities to no deleterious effect, I think it's fine to lean towards deleting. It does send a signal to the community that questionable posts are removed...even if their final status is not yet determined.

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After discussion, it was agreed that both examples: extreme cases and confused moderator cases would be rare and writing rules for rare situations is not a good use of rules; it might create far too much granularity for a moderator to know what to do. Therefore, the advice to delete pre-emptively is dropped and instead the moderators can follow the rest of the existing guidelines.