This would work just like the other two "special PM tags", by hiding (a portion of) a node's text content until the viewer clicks on a link, labeled "(...ignorable...)" or something to that effect, to see the whole node. I'm thinking this could be better than using <strike> when a monk wants to update his node by removing a large section that was later found to be "off the mark" in some way.
Given such a tag (and a "div" class to go with it), I would also propose another enhancement, though this might require some alteration to the database that holds the nodes and their attributes, as well as some additions to the code that renders nodes in a thread display. (It might also affect how the Newest Nodes and/or Recent Threads displays work, but probably not.)
The idea would be that a monk with special permissions (presumably NodeReaper) would have the ability to designate certain posts as "ignorable". Node ownership and content would not be changed at all, but the standard thread display logic would show such nodes with just the heading (title, author, date), and the "(...ignorable...)" link, rather than showing the node text.
The node owner could still update the node content, but would not be able to change the "ignorable" attribute once it has been set by "The Final Authority". (Obviously, the gods could undo the setting at will, given justifiable cause.)
Naturally, such action (designating a node as "ignorable") would only be taken upon due consideration by other monks having a rank of at least "Friar". Let's say four consideration votes to "ignore" a node, together with a net XP voting score of -8, would suffice to allow setting the "ignorable" attribute on a node (though in effect, final discretion rests with janitors, gods and the Hooded One). This kind of consideration would be a form of "editing" the node, so no change would be needed in the "consideration nodelet", just the adoption of a new convention for edit requests.
In terms of handling posts that detract from the overall quality of the site, this provides a sort of "middle ground" between reaping and just leaving warts on full display.
Reaping should only apply to specific, well-defined cases, and I admire the monks who have shown the restraint needed to maintain rigorous standards of conduct for applying this tool. But I think there is a need for some less drastic measure that will make it easier for the sincere users to read PM threads without the annoyance and distractions that are thrown at us by the immature or maladjusted.
I think flagging nodes as "ignorable" can provide that service while preserving the things we value most:
I won't try to speculate on what sorts of response this strategy might elicit from trolls, but I don't think it'll bring anything worse than the responses we are eliciting now, and it might yield some overall net benefit. If nothing else, the rest of us will be less inclined to waste our votes feeding their appetite for negative XP.
There might be some worries about the potential load placed on the janitors as these extra edit requests come in, but the nature of the "edit" would be a lot less work than, say, adding code tags -- just update a field in a table row for the given node. Does this seem worth a try?
In reply to Requesting a new tag for PM posts by graff
| For: | Use: | ||
| & | & | ||
| < | < | ||
| > | > | ||
| [ | [ | ||
| ] | ] |