Should RallyPoint add a feature to report posts or comments without going to a person's profile?

SPC Angela Burnham — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 20:57:54 -0400

Right now as things stand, you cannot report specific comments to moderators. The most you are allowed to do is go to the person's profile and "flag" it for one of several reasons. My issues with this are as follows:
1) When you click on a person's profile, it will identify you to that person. If they just said something totally out of line and you called them out on it publicly, then view their profile to flag it, it essentially says "this person just reported you", allowing that person to retaliate if they want to.

2) It's inconvienient. You have to load a whole additional webpage just to report them? The option should be right there on the post, like it is when you block a person by hovering over their name and clicking "block" on the menu that pops up.

3) When you flag the profile, and not the content, it leaves mods guessing as to why exactly you're flagging them, unless you submit some sort of detailed report along with your flag. Also, it's not even clear how to do this. I had to google it just to learn there even WAS a way to report somebody on this site. New users will not be able to find it that easily.

Finally, the rules really need updating. There aren't even any hard lines drawn yet, just a bunch of vague "guidelines" like "act professional" and "If you wouldn't say it to your NCO...". We need hard rules against advocating for violence against innocent people, doxxing fellow RP members, and overt intentional racist language. It feels like the wild west right now, something needs to change if this site is going to go more mainstream.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 13 at 2019 9:03 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:03:36 -0400

I've seen posts on RP with which I disagree. I know full well that some have disagreed with me. I've seen a few that annoyed me and I know that I've annoyed a few. But I've never seen any that I felt a need to report to RP Administrators. Thus, I vote no on the proposal to add a "Report" button. That may change but I doubt it. If I haven't seen any among the hundreds and thousands I've read over the past few years, I don't expect others to appear

Response by Cpl Andrew Tucker made Aug 13 at 2019 9:09 PM

Cpl Andrew Tucker — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:09:12 -0400

We are military. If you don't like what someone says, oh well. You should have thicker skin than that.

Response by CPL Douglas Chrysler made Aug 13 at 2019 9:10 PM

CPL Douglas Chrysler — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:10:37 -0400

So, lots of people view my profile. Does that mean I'm getting complaints?

Response by SSG Brian G. made Aug 13 at 2019 9:17 PM

SSG Brian G. — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:17:50 -0400

No. Not needed. This is a community of adults and professionals or is supposed to be. Most of what is posted here is professional with a little off the cuff. If a post crosses that line and I mean something that is beyond just being blunt, rude or insulting ie directly threatening, supporting of things that plainly would not be tolerated in the military etc, then I simply tag in one of the moderators.

Let's be real a person can figure out fairly easy who might have flagged them based on their interactions so even an anonymous flag option would not be that great. Own it if you want to report someone.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Aug 13 at 2019 9:41 PM

Cpl Jeff N. — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:41:45 -0400

I've had people come at me pretty hard and I've returned fire. As an NCO in the Marine Corps I learned to have pretty thick skin and if I don't like someone or something, I can move on or engage, the choice is mine. Making it easy to report people you don't like or disagree with will turn this into Romper Room in about a week.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Aug 13 at 2019 9:45 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:45:46 -0400

Let’s not turn this place into the next Twitter. We come from a world where “be professional” is defined in our culture. We all have been trained in the subject and know what it means. If incidents occur contact an administrator.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Aug 13 at 2019 9:47 PM

CSM Charles Hayden — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:47:04 -0400

Using my iPad to take a screen-shot of offending posts allows me to send a photo of the disturbing post to an administrator.

I understand they would prefer a URL of the offending post - a URL is non/available on the iPad.

Screen shots are my choice of reporting offensive posts. SPC Angela Burnham

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Aug 13 at 2019 10:01 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 22:01:38 -0400

SPC Angela Burnham, there’s always going to be disagreement on this forum, especially when it pertains to religion and politics. I’ve won some arguments and I’ve lost some arguments. I’ve been right and I’ve been wrong. I’ve corrected others and others have corrected me. It happens.
I think you pretty much should run with that with the exception of ad hominem attacks. I don’t think anyone should tolerate or accept them. You don’t need a report button though. If such an attack occurs, simply tell the person it’s an ad hominem attack in a follow up comment and then tag one or two admins. They’re very responsive, vigilant and intolerant of such behavior.

Response by SPC Erich Guenther made Aug 13 at 2019 10:07 PM

SPC Erich Guenther — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 22:07:32 -0400

Generally I think the expectation on this privately run website is that posters will act with maturity and not launch into personal attacks. Likewise on the receiving end of the insult......the readers will have thick skins. Personally, I would not want to see the Moderators evolve into helicopter Parents here and I don't think they want that evolution either.

Response by Sgt John Steinmeier made Aug 13 at 2019 10:19 PM

Sgt John Steinmeier — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 22:19:29 -0400

No. If you are going to report someone, own it. Why hide behind an anonymous button that can and will be misused. People cannot even use the down vote correctly.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Aug 13 at 2019 10:31 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 22:31:48 -0400

You can report a post without viewing a person's profile. To do this just click on the 3 dots on the bottom right of a post and report it as spam. These are then sent to the help desk and we will review the post and take the appropriate action. Or you can tag or message any admin with a link to the post. SSG(P) James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSG Carlos Madden

Response by SPC Kevin Ford made Aug 14 at 2019 12:20 AM

SPC Kevin Ford — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:20:42 -0400

I don't think we need a report button. Once in a while someone who disagrees with me will finally get sick of me and put me on ignore. No problem, I've got a pretty thick skin. Besides, just because I disagree with someone on politics I usually find that I agree with them on other things.

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made Aug 14 at 2019 9:53 AM

SSG Carlos Madden — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 09:53:04 -0400

You already can. Click the three little dots on any post and select "Flag this user." If the check box options don't apply, you may write whatever you wish in the text box. These are anonymously done so the member does not know they've been reported or by whom.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2019 12:48 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 12:48:57 -0400

We spend way too much mental and emotional energy in today's society worrying about what people think online and what they think of a given post or comment. The mods already do a good job of dealing with overt and agregious comments.

These things have shelf lives of days, if not hours in my experience

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2019 11:12 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 11:12:43 -0400

Nah. I’d rather just engage them in debate and give them every opportunity to show the community how foolish they are

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Sep 13 at 2019 2:16 PM

CSM Richard StCyr — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:16:50 -0400

All you have to do is contact one of the admins via the messenger option and they will look into any issues.