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[KittyTac]

Hypothetical: 4chan/Something Awful/some other forum is raiding my forum. I have 2 moderators, but one is overloaded with homework and the other panics too easily. Is it worth giving all users the ability to ban users registered for less than 5 days and delete threads newer than 15 minutes, then close down registration for a while?

[George_Chickens]

That question is lacking so many variables that it cannot really be successfully answered. It all depends on what exactly the community is like, how much unity in purpose it has and how many interpersonal feuds there are .

If someone wants to abuse such a power to make only their opinions seen or to make their circlejerk the highest one, they absolutely will, and it will be a detriment to the forum as a whole. Could you imagine, for example, Reddit if too many downvotes lead to a ban?

You could get a greater effect by restricting registration until things clear up.

[KittyTac]

What if it's a community that's slightly dirtier than Bay12 that has been ruled by the moderation group with an iron fist and so the users don't really have interpersonal feuds? Would this work to clean the infestation as fast as possible in this case?

Oh, and once the raid clears, I will go through the ban logs and readd/unban threads/users that have been unfairly banned.

[wierd]

A better question to ask is if there are any people willing to act as temporary mod staff.

Think about it-- If you give every user mod powers, you are just ASKING for trouble, as the 4chan plague will inevitably end up with it.

Extend mod powers only to trusted subordinates. 

[KittyTac]

A better question to ask is if there are any people willing to act as temporary mod staff.

Think about it-- If you give every user mod powers, you are just ASKING for trouble, as the 4chan plague will inevitably end up with it.

Extend mod powers only to trusted subordinates.

What if I give it ONLY to users registered before the raid? And since the mod powers are limited to banning new users or deleting new threads, the 4channies won't be able to do much damage. But since there're new, they'll be banned first.

[wierd]

This can lead to feelings of nepotism, and entitlement in your user base, and can also become a force to drive the community apart.

If you want to promote users to janitorial positions, you need to promote users that meet the following criteria:

1) The other users respect them and their judgements
2) They are reliable. (they will actually do janitorial thread cleanup regularly/are regularly on the forum to do the function.)
3) They understand that it is more obligation than perk.
4) They understand that it is temporary. (EG, they wont suddenly think they are better than other users.)



There are benefits to getting an outside moderator support crew though.

1) They are not entangled in any long-standing interpersonal grudges/interactions the forum members may have, as there has been zero prior interaction.
2) They act with the global mod's approval. (If the global mod is well respected, this carries a great deal of weight)
3) Due to 1, nobody will be sad to see them go if they either fail to perform their duties, abuse their powers, or when their temporary appointment ends.


Managing the hidden feelings of your regulars is also a part of effective moderation.  There can be long-lasting consequences to internal community promotion.  Just be mindful of that.

[Caz]

What if I give it ONLY to users registered before the raid?

Surely the raid came from someone who was there 'before the raid' otherwise the raid wouldn't know to target you.

Bad idea imo.

[Cathar]

If the question is really hypothetical, I will urge you to never piss off 4chan. If you did piss off 4chan, you will have a hard time no matter what. If that already happened, laying low until they find another target is your best bet. Muscling in against 4chan is just asking for trouble for no possible reward

[KittyTac]

Say, the raid is over and registration is closed down. Do I ban everyone related to 4chan who was there before the raid? Everyone is a potential raid source...

This is a little tyrannical, but it should prevent future raids, right?

[wierd]

as the global mod, it is your responsibility to verify and and act.

If a user was involved in the raid, but is trying to remain incognito, the odds of them doing the smart thing and staying offline the entire time of the raid is low.

Troll through your logs. See who was consistently lurking during the raid periods, and more damning, those that had "impeccable timing" in being voyeurs. Thread view history would also be good.  Legit users would want to avoid the damage being caused by the chan plague.

Look for users that have identical IP addresses as well. (Alt accounts) Especially if any were involved in the raid.  Dispense punishment as you see fit.

[Cathar]

This is a little tyrannical, but it should prevent future raids, right?

That will just throw fuel on the fire. I don't know about something aweful or other sites, but the only reason for sustained fuck him up raids I ever witnessed was people being dicks in their response to some trolling.

Do as usual. Ban people breaking the ToS, and that's all. Also don't don't be a dick, because nothing incites 4chan to really destroy someone more than when they are morally justified.

That said, this is hypothetical, of course. In the event of a 4chan raid, maintain course, be polite, and don't try to fight /b/ using /b/ methods because boy you will lose.

[George_Chickens]

On that topic, you're several years too late to actually be raided by /b/, so you should be pretty safe.