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I’m
angry
Abusive behavior/language should not be tolerated in the community.
Where a person is guilty of vilifying members on the forums for their sexual orientation they should have their membership revoked permanently. In my country this type of abuse is illegal. Is this the policy of Quirky?
Promoted
Responses
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CHAMP
3This is what SlickDeals.net uses for warning and potential banning. Warning points are given a set lifespan and drop off after that is met.
Warning limit before being banned: 10 points. Initial banning period: 7 days.
So if you rack up enough warning points in a given time then you are banned (temporarily at first). There are some offenses that are grounds for automatic banning lower on the list.
Here is a sampling of those warnings for you:
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4Moderators need to monitor the forums (at least during your working hours...one dedicated person to monitor forums is the key to controlling your site policies..if you come up with policies, yet no one is monitoring, that's a problem.
* Have a "report this post as inappropriate" next to every post...this is what other sites do and it works well. It goes to the moderator.
* The experience on any site is as good as the communication and the control of your forums, saying "its open and you can say whatever you want" is not being in control of your company forum. COMMUNICATE often with us, jump into the forums (that dedicated person can be an intern, but someone who is fair and diplomatic would be best). -
3From the forums
I didn't out anyone, or accuse anyone or name anyone - they did that all by themselves here and on Get Satisfaction where it will stay in perpetuity as evidence of the disgusting way that person behaves.
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Do you really think that any retailer or for that matter the Quirky brand would want to have their name associated with anyone who can behave like such a Neanderthal, and for anyone else who takes to personal abuse heed this warning, you are wasting your time here.
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Quirky are hardly going to put a poster of YOU above the BBB display are they, now after everything you have said and done. If you are so brilliant and wise as you would like us to believe then why would you have damaged your own personal brand that way (and yes we already know about the other accounts you have - have you heard of IP addresses?).
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It is a pity than when you went to war you didn't realize you were fighting for the freedom of all the people in America even the gay. Also a pity they didn't teach you not to shoot yourself in the foot. -
I’m
mad
4I agree with you Michelle. There should be zero tolerance for such bullying behavior. They should also have a moderator for the forums. -
3Guys, I agree there's a problem here. We're figuring out what can be done in a consistent, sustainable manner, since we don't have someone working 24/7. At least, not officially!
I'm really sorry if this detracted from people's experience of Quirky. The goal is always to get everyone engaged in a collaborative endeavor. Anything that takes away from that will not be tolerated.
On the to-do list for fixing this long-term:
1. Posting and enforcing a code of conduct.
2. Increased moderation by staff.
3. Potential moderation tools for community members.
Post your ideas here. I know you're all active members in different communities. Tell me about the tools and features that you love for controlling your social experience. I can't promise that all of those features will be right for Quirky to implement, but we'll definitely consider it all.
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I’m
mad
4I agree with you Michelle. There should be zero tolerance for such bullying behavior. They should also have a moderator for the forums.Comment
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I’m
not afraid.
Well I'm sure if the tables were turned none of us would still be here.
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1I am in agreement, we all come here to have fair policies and quirky can change those policies if they wanted to. What I got when I was there about other issues I had, all I got was "its an open forum, we don't want to regulate it for fear of a lawsuit", this is just crazy. It's your site, your rules...enough said...harassment of ANY kind (racial, sexual orientation, etc should always be top concern for any company) and it will turn people away unless it's monitored and dealt with swiftly and permanently!
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I’m
Speaking the truth
Should members choose to make their sexual orientation part of their online personality then it's their fault! Nice try but it's a lame excuse ten fold!
Here is the problem! If I as a man started posting pictures, videos and comments about my love for Jennifer Lopez ass, you women would be up in arms with all kinds of abuse stories! So why is it that some who is gay gets a pass? Why do I as a man who likes women need to know what another man dose in his bedroom?
Leave your sexual preference too yourself and you won't get your feeling hurt! Quirky is not the gay spot nor is it a place for me to leave my comments about what I did to my wife last night!
And last if you pick a fight with someone you had damn better be ready to get you ass kicked in return! It's not throw a punch and run hide because I'm gay you can't hit me back! And that is universal to all counties civilized or not! -
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2Whoa ... Deon ... Its time to chill out a bit. You're right about excessive sharing of personal life, but who made you judge? File a complaint with Q or simply send a private message to the offender. But more importantly, no person should have to hide his-her sexual orientation ... Anywhere, any time ... Not for you, not for me, not for anyone.
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I'm not judging anyone the judge is the one who made this post not me.
So ike why don't you tell us about your sex life? lets hear it? No? why not?
I'm chill buddy! But you should not take sides when your being lied too! -
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3From the forums
I didn't out anyone, or accuse anyone or name anyone - they did that all by themselves here and on Get Satisfaction where it will stay in perpetuity as evidence of the disgusting way that person behaves.
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Do you really think that any retailer or for that matter the Quirky brand would want to have their name associated with anyone who can behave like such a Neanderthal, and for anyone else who takes to personal abuse heed this warning, you are wasting your time here.
.
Quirky are hardly going to put a poster of YOU above the BBB display are they, now after everything you have said and done. If you are so brilliant and wise as you would like us to believe then why would you have damaged your own personal brand that way (and yes we already know about the other accounts you have - have you heard of IP addresses?).
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It is a pity than when you went to war you didn't realize you were fighting for the freedom of all the people in America even the gay. Also a pity they didn't teach you not to shoot yourself in the foot. -
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2I'm prone to quietly ignore all the bickering, but I felt like I needed to share my thoughts on this. Here's what I added to the forum discussion.
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@Heather: Quirky is like a big, online family. Every family has the members it's proud of and a few they'd prefer to keep hidden away, the uncle in jail, and the loud mouth. I'd love if everyone here were an adult, but the atmosphere is one that breeds all kinds of discussion.
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I didn't see what took place, but I can make a guess... There have been one or two members who run around the forums posting anything from polite jokes to lewd innuendo, both hetero and homosexual in nature. Personally, I don't care about preferences and I've been online since before you could see pictures, so I've seen everything by now. I do, however, think that Quirky needs a business code of conduct that stipulates two things:
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1. There should be some hard line that is not crossed in public areas of the Quirky site like on the forums.
2. Keep the games, jokes, etc in the forums and leave the projects (and comments in them) for business only.
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This code of conduct would have put both parties under a microscope for potential banning if I'm understanding what happened here.
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Someone also whipped out the "free speech" card, which I completely disagree with. I've run forums of my own with millions of posts and the fact is that it's a site owned by a company, provided for free with the hope that everyone can play nicely. Quirky has every right to identify and enforce a code of conduct here. Sadly, there is a point in any community with open communication like this that the a critical mass brings fighting, inappropriate behavior and worse. It's not long before you see people embedding all kinds of images and videos just to troll the forums.
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Looking back at the Ts&Cs, I see the code of conduct exists and includes provisions for this stuff:
(iv) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any User Content as determined by Quirky at its sole discretion that is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, causes tort, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
(x) "stalk", abuse or attempt to abuse, or otherwise harass another user;
Any violation by you of the terms of the foregoing may result in immediate and permanent suspension or cancellation of your account and the forfeiture of any accrued Influence and any amounts otherwise due to you from the Company.
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Now is the time for Quirky to take a very close look at this situation and maybe even make examples of a couple people. Again, I don't know all the details, but I do know that everyone was given opportunity to read the Ts&Cs before agreeing to them and, regardless, everyone should be responsible for how they act in public. -
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1I agree any type of personal attach or bullying should not be tolerated in the forum or anywhere on Quirky. BTW, I don't think it is. I am glad this code of conduct exists (thanks Joe).
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1Sharing your sexual orientation in the forum does not justify abuse anymore than a woman dressing a certain way justifies rape.
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1@Deon ... I do NOT know anything about what transpired before this topic was posted. I was responding wholly in regards to your prior post to this topic, and I read it shortly before reacting with my two cents.
You know, Deon, what you are really saying is that gays should have enough 'shame' to keep it to themselves. Well, there was a time in the US when the conservative majority use to think that black folks should have enough 'shame' to not drink from certain water fountains and to ride in the back of the bus.
As for your inquiries about MY sexual orientation ... I don't see what that has to do with the matter. If you want to guess my skin color, religion, level of education, political affiliation, age group, employment status, and marital status, you are welcome to do that, too. I don't usually share such things because I'm a private person, but for you, Deon, I'll be happy to tell you which you got right and wrong. I think you'll be surprised at how wrong you are.
I DO, however, find it interesting that someone who claims he doesn't want sexual orientation "thrown into his face" also finds it necessary to ask me about my sex life.
@Joe ... well said! Abuse can go both ways. Again, I don't know what transpired before this topic started. -
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3Guys, I agree there's a problem here. We're figuring out what can be done in a consistent, sustainable manner, since we don't have someone working 24/7. At least, not officially!
I'm really sorry if this detracted from people's experience of Quirky. The goal is always to get everyone engaged in a collaborative endeavor. Anything that takes away from that will not be tolerated.
On the to-do list for fixing this long-term:
1. Posting and enforcing a code of conduct.
2. Increased moderation by staff.
3. Potential moderation tools for community members.
Post your ideas here. I know you're all active members in different communities. Tell me about the tools and features that you love for controlling your social experience. I can't promise that all of those features will be right for Quirky to implement, but we'll definitely consider it all. -
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4Moderators need to monitor the forums (at least during your working hours...one dedicated person to monitor forums is the key to controlling your site policies..if you come up with policies, yet no one is monitoring, that's a problem.
* Have a "report this post as inappropriate" next to every post...this is what other sites do and it works well. It goes to the moderator.
* The experience on any site is as good as the communication and the control of your forums, saying "its open and you can say whatever you want" is not being in control of your company forum. COMMUNICATE often with us, jump into the forums (that dedicated person can be an intern, but someone who is fair and diplomatic would be best). -
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CHAMP
3This is what SlickDeals.net uses for warning and potential banning. Warning points are given a set lifespan and drop off after that is met.
Warning limit before being banned: 10 points. Initial banning period: 7 days.
So if you rack up enough warning points in a given time then you are banned (temporarily at first). There are some offenses that are grounds for automatic banning lower on the list.
Here is a sampling of those warnings for you:
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I totally agree with suspensions being put into practice. Quirky's response was only a hope that it would prevent further problems. It didn't. When it continued, quirky should have pulled the plug. Tough love!
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It strikes me that the person should not be banned from the site entirely, just banned from commenting. I also think that we, as adults, should police ourselves. A "report abuse" button will allow us to call attention to problematic behavior without Q becoming a nanny state.
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I’m
disgusted
2A report button needs to be added to the forums, and maybe even in the comments on submissions. Obviously its a little unreasonable to expect the site to be moderated 24/7, but allowing the community to report posts for staff to review should make it easier for Quirky to handle these situations in a timely manner.
If there is continued abuse from a community member in the forums, there should be a point in which they are blocked from commenting, either a temporary time-out or a permanent ban from the forums, depending on the severity of their actions.
There is a section in the Terms of Conditions that details prohibited conduct on the site in which abusive behavior is covered. The section ends with the statement "Any violation by you of the terms of the foregoing may result in immediate and permanent suspension or cancellation of your account and the forfeiture of any accrued Influence and any amounts otherwise due to you from the Company." Please make it clear that Quirky will follow through with that in instances where it is necessary, and that its not just there for show.-
Great Idea, I Agree. Possible if a 'flag' could go up to the staff if a person is reported five or ten times on a specific instance. The community would 'police' itself and if there is a problem, 'report' it to the proper authorities, which could then look into the matter and handle it as you stated in the Terms of Conditions.
Something should be put in place as the community becomes more popular it's only natural that the number of bad apples will increase. -
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I’m
:|
1Verbal and lewd attacks against other community members should not be tolerated. Period.
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1WHOA...
I see the tone in the forums has gone from bad to... beyond bad.
It's a real shame.
When I first joined Quirky.com... the forums was the first place I looked to know if this place was for real, and if it was worth my time.
Damn shame.
btw... I just payed the forum a visit, and noticed that I can't flag a comment or thread topic as 'Abusive' or 'Inappropriate' (like you could here in GS!) Is it worth asking... Why the heck not?! -
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I think of this like Facebook. There's no way staff can monitor every post made, so they implemented a way of allowing users to report violations. I'd love to see that done here. Really, just take a look at what comes up on Facebook if you hit "report" on a post or user and modify to Quirky's needs.
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Have an "inappropriate flag" - just like on this Get Satisfaction forum when you hoover over a comment you can flag it. Then it goes to Quirky staff for quick review.
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2Thanks for the ideas, all. Changes of this nature will be a longer term project for us, so we can take the time to figure out the right solution for Quirky. Keep feeding me features that you like, so I can give a great list of suggestions to the tech & UX (user experience) teams to consider/test.
In the meantime, I really want to applaud the response of the community. Everyone really rallied to make sure we knew what was going on and that this was not ok. You all really owned the space. -
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I’m
keeping it real
Thanks for taking this so seriously Shirley -
A couple of notes
It is not a matter of forming new policy it is working out how Q will implement the existing policy. 24 / 7
It is not a matter of punishing people - nothing you could do would change some peoples ignorance, it is a matter of making Quirky a safe and enjoyable place for all people, staff and members included. I wonder how many gay people saw the rants and will chose to stay away from Quirky so as to not risk being persecuted and vilified.
Please remember that this type of bigotry is actually illegal in many countries, had your hosting been in Australia that person and quirky would have been in a fair amount of legal trouble which makes keeping the forums free from hate crimes a priority. -
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I applaud Deon for his heartfelt post under the Community forum.
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I’m
frustrated
1I really wish it was a cleaner site as well. I heard of Quirky's TV episodes, and decided to record them for viewing with my children (as they are always hearing of my crazy ideas, and seem to be interested in invention). On the first episode, we sat down to watch and one of the first words out of the founder's mouth was F***! Really turned us off. Wish it was a primetime show, however, the language will need to change. Better than Sharktank otherwise.
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I agree Couvie.
I'm till waiting for Quirky to embrace diversity. -
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1Well said, Couvie.
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Yahoo has a nice system with their Yahoo Finance comment system. Users "vote" with thumbs up/down and the comments go into hiding mode when rating of a comment drops below some threshold. Perhaps a similar system that alerts a moderator. -
