Site Question / Help Reply post flagged as Hidden?

[Sexismygod 1,762]

What exactly causes a post to be hidden?  I replied to a message (Pee buddy thread by awn_84) and my post came up in red and flagged as hidden.  I'm at a complete loss as to what rule I might have broken unless the very presence of the three letter combination k-I-k immediately triggered some kind of lockdown.

Would appreciate a simple explanation so as to avoid this in the future.

Note that I removed the possibly offensive letters but the post remains hidden and apparently unacceptable.  I find this sledgehammer approach highly off putting so I'm just going to come back later when I get a response.  Suddenly don't feel like being here.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Sexismygod

[Sophie 23,032]

14 minutes ago, Sexismygod said:

What exactly causes a post to be hidden?  I replied to a message (Pee buddy thread by awn_84) and my post came up in red and flagged as hidden.  I'm at a complete loss as to what rule I might have broken unless the very presence of the three letter combination k-I-k immediately triggered some kind of lockdown.

Would appreciate a simple explanation so as to avoid this in the future.

Note that I removed the possibly offensive letters but the post remains hidden and apparently unacceptable.  I find this sledgehammer approach highly off putting so I'm just going to come back later when I get a response.  Suddenly don't feel like being here.

"Kik" is part of the spam filter and any post containing the word is immediately hidden, pending moderator approval. All members of staff are notified of this. I have approved the post. 

As for the rule, you can find it here. I'm not saying you have broken the rule, just explaining what happened. 

 

[Sexismygod 1,762]

I knew the rule ... guess I thought there was a more nuanced method to ensure compliance.  My post in no way solicited or offered convection via the offending app so I didn't expect the block.  If the method used is just a simple filter, I will ensure I don't name such things in the future. 

[Kupar 12,360]

14 minutes ago, Sexismygod said:

I knew the rule ... guess I thought there was a more nuanced method to ensure compliance.  My post in no way solicited or offered convection via the offending app so I didn't expect the block.  If the method used is just a simple filter, I will ensure I don't name such things in the future. 

I think the filtered hidden posts are all reviewed pretty quickly and unhidden quickly post-review. The mods are in the site a lot 🙂. But I guess knowing what would be auto-filtered would be good. Mods, is there a list we can look at?

[gldenwetgoose 20,242]

I must admit we as mods don't have access to the list - it's implemented at a site 'infrastructure level' and we're just users, albeit with some privileges that allow us to do extra things.

And to compound the question, additional terms have been added with time - for example when we were having a run of spammy links to 'top porn sites' and the likes, a few site names got mentioned.

 

Very simply though - where the published rules make mention to topics or words which are banned then it doesn't really matter if it's an auto filter, or a manual search - those phrases shouldn't need to be used on the site.  In the example of the Rule 8 addition which states "We no longer allow reference to kiks, snapchats, skypes, or similar meetup/chat sites..." then using one of those words is likely to be removed whether it be by an automatic filter, by a mod spotting it or by another member reporting it. 

Now, I'm assuming in this instance that the thing that got flagged wasn't anything like the 'contact me via my address *** ", but was more just a passing comment of "I have chatted on other sites like *** " and in that instance we most likely wouldn't really have had a problem approving the comment.

Contrary to occasional opinion, we are not constantly trying to enforce punishments, we are not constantly trying to trip people up.  Ninety-five times out of 100 a post which contains such a phrase is either approved or removed with no further action.

But clearly we want to avoid the situation where every newcomer is just trying to draw members away to their own chat circle with no commitment to furthering our community.  In those cases the rule and the filtering works well.  In the case where an established valued member uses the term innocently in a conversation we apologise the filter can work against them, but we hope people accept why the filter is in place.   

Edited September 25, 2022 by gldenwetgoose