Hi, I was just wondering what people can do about the abuse of mass flagging and getting posts deleted? I have had this recently happen to me. If they cannot have an argument they just get together and mass flag your posts. This is abuse is it not? What can be done to counter this?
Not. They’re ( We are allowed to flag a post if we believe it in violation. A Forum Mod will look in to the report(s) and deal with it appropriately.
Deletion requires a moderator.
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Mass flagging doesn’t get a post deleted, but it may put a temporary lock on the thread or temporarily hide the post for review. The thread isn’t deleted unless the moderator agrees that it violates policy.
As for abuse, the following was posted yesterday in the General Discussion forum:
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Using the tools that Blizzard gave them? No, it’s not abuse. If they continuously report stuff that isn’t against the rules, Blizzard may tell them to knock it off. But that’s between them, and it’s at Blizzard’s discretion.
Quite frankly? Don’t violate the CoC. Posts aren’t deleted unless Blizzard staff investigates and agrees that the post is not needed. So the way to guard against getting deleted is to follow the rules.
I know that people trolling can be frustrating, but ignore them. As in, don’t respond to them. Engage with people who are being polite, and when the trolls stop getting attention, they will move on.
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I don’t think posts are deleted just because they are flagged, even if they are ‘mass’ flagged. Flagging a post just brings it to the attention of a moderator, who makes the determination whether it warrants deletion or not.
Having multiple people flag your post does not constitute abuse of the feature or of you.
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Speaking of reporting? It would be in your best interest to report your own name of your posting toon.
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the message I got said the post was removed.
"Hello,
This is an automated message from World of Warcraft Forums to let you know that your post was removed.
Your post was flagged as inappropriate : the community thinks it is offensive, abusive, or a violation of [our code of conduct]
This post was flagged by the community and a staff member opted to remove it.
Please review our [community guidelines]"
Ok, I understand if some people feel it was inappropriate. However I cannot see the post that was removed, or have any idea what the context was that was inappropriate. Additionally the message sent did not contain a place to contest this via ticket. So I do not know what was said or done and no way to contest this. Kind of weird not knowing what was said.
You’re not listening. If the post was removed and moderator did it which means it was found in violation.
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Yes, it was reported by the community a staff member, also known as a moderator, agreed that it violated policy and removed it.
The message is automated, in that it sends automatically when the action is taken.
The message is supposed to contain a copy of the post, so that is strange.
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Please understand, I understand if people find it offensive or what not. But I do not even know what was said. No way to open a ticket on it to contest it. I do understand the use of the flag button but I also see a lot of abuse of it. I am not trying to flame anyone just wanted to know what a person could do if they are getting targeted by a certain group.
I understand that, but where can I find a way to see what I posted? I went to support and could not find a support feature for the forums, just in game, account, or what not. Can you give me a link to open a support ticket to the forum support please.
Well, if you have so many inappropriate posts that you don’t know which one got removed, that is symptomatic of a larger issue.
To be un-snarky for a moment, I’m sure you can think back to when a thread devolved into an argument, or name calling, or maybe even cursing. Even if you don’t know the exact message, I’m sure you can extrapolate that you may need to take a step back and respond kinder to your fellow players.
You can appeal it by contacting the forum moderation team. There used to be an e-mail, but I imagine that has been retired.
You are always allowed to appeal, and that will get a second member to look at it, and possibly overturn it. However, it also my be that the deleted message may not be able to be recovered/regenerated. So since there was not an account action, it’s probably best to just let it go and move on.
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yes, that is what I was thinking. It did have a link but it just took me to the thread, and not the post. I could not see the post.
Actually, you can submit an appeal ticket. (https://us.battle.net/support/en/help/product/services/665) though since it was merely deleted and they did not take action against your forum account, there might not be a record.
If I had to guess, assuming you posted with this or another similarly named character, I’d say it is your choice in naming that required the removal of the post. Especially your Dwarf Deathknight.
Can you post the URL here? I can see the post if it was removed and I can let you know if it was the name or the post.
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Seems to be a trend
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Well, yeah. The post had been deleted. But you know which topic it was, so I’m sure you can understand the general nature of the conversation, and how you responded.
Maybe give a suggestion in the Website Feedback Forum that moderated messages should be included in the e-mail. I think that’s pretty reasonable.
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thank you for the link, You posted it while I was typing. I will use this.
Yes, my main concern was just not knowing what happened. In these threads I see people getting flagged and hidden for really no reason that I could see. So when that happens what can a person do?
Not much. A moderator will look at the post and either delete it if it’s found to violate the rules or leave it be if there’s nothing to be done.
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I would rather not. I would like to do that in private, because I think I am being targeted. I am using a different character to post this for this very reason. The link has my name in it.