Quote Originally Posted by CDNSushi View Post
Any rules, be they online forum rules or real-life laws may not always have the desired effect or consequence as the reason for which they were first conceived.

I would say, if there truly IS a problem with an excessive number of inane reports being sent by these mysterious "super-sensitive" individuals (and I'm not sold on the fact that there are, necessarily)... then perhaps an adjustment of the "EVERY reported post gets actioned" rule would be best amended. Again, I know of no other online forum that takes it upon itself to treat each and every report with equal importance, especially if it is perceived to be vacuous. But that's up to the mods to say, whether or not they are dealing with dozens of silly reports every day. And if they are indeed doing so, ARE they okay with having to deal with each one in such a manner? Not being a mod, I really can't comment on these things.

From a user's perspective, it IS comforting to know that EVERY single report gets addressed and actioned, but I would also fully understand and be alright with if it weren't done that way.
Well, there's always the possibility of a quota system. I used to moderate and metamoderate Slashdot from time to time. When it was my turn, I had 5 points I could use within 24 hours. I would recieve the option of moderating more often if I didn't use all 5 points every time. I could only moderate a post once, and I couldn't moderate in a thread I was participating in. If I moderated in a thread, then commented, my moderation was nullified, and I would be out the moderation point. The purpose was to bring the best posts to the top. I could moderate any post up or down 1 point by specifying any of about half a dozen reasons. I would metamoderate (evaluate the initial moderations) almost daily. The system would select 10 random moderations from the previous day, and I would indicate that it was either right or wrong. It wouldn't show usernames when doing this, and it was best to do it without looking at the threads, though, I saw that as impossible in the case of certain moderation flags, such as -1 Offtopic.

Another system I've used, and kinda like (wouldn't be surprised from some of these comments if others here would like it as well) is what's used on Wrong Planet. Instead of a report button next to each post, there is a thread on the site discussion subforum called "MODERATOR ATTENTION: How to get help when you need it". It is stickied, and in the first post lists different moderators that can be PMed. If you have a problem such as a new user spamming the board with threads, or PMs, you post that problem in the thread. All moderators follow that thread. It really makes it quick to have action taken against spammers. Also, everything is kept public. Generally, after an issue is resolved, posts about the issue are deleted, so as not to clog the thread.