Let me explain. So I wrote a Steam review recently, and someone came by and wrote something toxic. Calling me an idiot and other worse things, because I didn’t like their favourite game.
But here’s the great part: I didn’t even have to fully read their vitriol. I just clicked the trash icon and it’s gone forever. It felt empowering and amazing ~ just the ability to remove toxicity at-will. No waiting 7 business days for a mod to maybe think about removing it; no additional trolls seeing the toxicity and taking it as an invitation.
It was a stark contrast to most other social media, where you’re practically powerless. Sure, you can block the aggressor; but their comment is still there for everyone else, like a giant turd you kicked under the living room carpet. It attracts other pests, and it still affects anyone else who comes by.
Of course, it would probably be immediately abused for all the wrong reasons if implemented here ~ but it would be cool if it wasn’t. What do you guys think? Maybe there’s a middle ground that gives users more control over their posts?
Personally I try really hard not to remove comments on a post I made. I run a few communities between this instance and another (and a few still on reddit). I’m not saying I won’t delete them and that I haven’t, I have. But I try not to.
For communities where I have co mods, I tag them in if I’m not sure. I don’t want to get in a bad habit of deleting things that hurt my feelings. Did I enjoy someone telling me the other day that my community was stupid and pointless? No. But, I let it sit there anyways.
Now had that same person started spewing hate at me directly or going off on a tangent completely unrelated, I would’ve considered deleting the comment. And if I did, I would’ve made a comment as to why. I believe in holding myself accountable for my modding actions. It’s a slippery slope to becoming “one of those mods” and I don’t want my communities to function like that.