Mechanism for reporting moderator abuse?

  • Thread starter Thread starter wbeaty
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AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the lack of a clear mechanism for reporting moderator abuse on the site, particularly regarding a moderator named "Integral" who deleted a user's objection to his behavior. New users express frustration over the absence of a complaint form or direct contact with site ownership. It is suggested that users can report issues using the "Report this post to a mentor" link, although there are concerns about the reliability of this feature. Additionally, users are encouraged to contact the site owner, Greg Bernhardt, via private message or email for unresolved issues. Overall, the conversation highlights the need for clearer reporting procedures for moderator misconduct.
wbeaty
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Is there a web form for "Complaint about moderator behavior" somewhere? Your moderator "Integral", rather than apologizing for a personal insult, declared my strongly-worded objection to his behavior as "off topic" and deleted it. Hmmmm. I'm a new user. Is this site moderated by flamers? Aren't there any checks and balances? Apparently not. I can't find them.

What should I do next? I've found no form for "complaint about moderator misbehavior" anywhere on this site, nor any way to contact a site owner.


Thread in question:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10509
 
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No, it's not moderated by flamers. It's moderated by people who attempt to keep discussions civil and on-topic.

The owner of the site is Greg Bernhardt. His profile is https://www.physicsforums.com/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=1.

You can PM him, email him, or even catch him on AIM for a chat.

Don't be terribly surprised if he agrees with the actions taken by his moderators.

- Warren
 
Use the "Report this post to a mentor" link. For some reason sometimes mentors don't receive the message, but I will receive it so use it anyway.
 
Originally posted by Greg Bernhardt
Use the "Report this post to a mentor" link. For some reason sometimes mentors don't receive the message, but I will receive it so use it anyway.
It's not a bug, it's a feature, right?

- Warren
 
Originally posted by chroot
It's not a bug, it's a feature, right?

- Warren

Well the feature it, but there seems to be a bug where sometimes the mentor doesn't get the alert, however I always get a copy.
 
Originally posted by Greg Bernhardt
Use the "Report this post to a mentor" link. For some reason sometimes mentors don't receive the message, but I will receive it so use it anyway.

DOH!

I assumed that such messages would go to the moderator on the thread where the offending message appeared: to "Integral," the very person whose behavior I was complaining about.

Since he earlier censored the complaint I posted to that thread, I had no doubt at all that my message to "report this post" would vanish for very non-mysterious reasons if they were sent to him.
 
Steps you can take...
(1) PM/email the mentor with whom you disagree
(2) "report this post to the mentor link"
(3) PM/email Greg (site owner)
(4) state your concern in a new topic in this "feedback" forum if you want to make it public to all PF members (starting a sidebar disagreement in an ongoing topic can be seen as getting off-topic...you could start a topic here in feedback, provide a link to the topic in question...and then state your concern about the mentor action)

In general, it works best to first approach the mentor via PM. If that does not satisfy you, then take it to Greg or this feedback forum.
 
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