Moderation: Wiping the Slate Clean

In recent months we've witnessed a concerning rise in moderation complaints, so we took a step back and checked ourselves.

• Often for good reasons, BeerAdvocate has a reputation for heavy-handed moderation.
• Moderators ("mods") are dealing with a lot of new users who aren't familiar with forums and accustomed to being moderated.
  
• Our current system of anonymous alerts and lack of reference has created a lot of frustration. And as moderation relies heavily on reports from users, there's a perception of inconsistency with certain rules and actions; creating even more frustration.
• We all make mistakes, but it's how we collectively react to them that matters.

We've been discussing these core issues since, and I'm pleased to finally announce that as of yesterday we've begun to apply some solutions.

• Clean Slate. We've wiped all past warnings for all users, and lifted bans for anyone who was banned for "Trolling (off-site)." Other bans remain in place, but we're open to reviewing appeals from those who believe they were unfairly banned.
• Moderation = Customer Service. Self-explanatory, but we'll be ensuring that the mod team keeps this in mind when dealing with users.
  
• Don't Sweat the Small Shit. We all have our bad days and react accordingly, but we'll do our best to loosen up moderation a bit with the small shit, ask serial reporters to do the same and reinforce that only content that blatantly breaks our terms should be reported; not content or users that you simply don't agree with.
• Less Deleting. More Explaining. Unless it breaks our terms, we'll do our best to leave posts up, but lock threads with a note if they get carried away. But if a mod does need to remove posts without issuing a warning we'll require them to provide a clear reason in the alert so the user has some indication as to why their content was removed.
• Warnings with Context. This week we're ditching the anonymous alerts. Warnings will now be sent as a Conversation from the mod and contain the offending content for reference.
  
• Beer Trading. By trying to define and enforce too many rules we've only created more problems. And while the core rules are still in play, being specific is no longer required. We're no longer concerning ourselves with vagueness (ISO: "Sours" or "Tree House"), open-offers (lists), ratios not being listed or auctions (people holding out for the best offer). It's your trade, and others can decide if they want to trade with you or not. See: Beer Trading Rules & Tips for adjustments.

We have several other solutions that we're exploring too. In the meantime, we urge everyone to revisit our Terms of Service (no changes have been made at this time) and do your best to follow them.

We'd also like to publicly thank our mod team for volunteering their time and doing the best they can with the tools and direction that we've provided them, and thank everyone in advance for your patience and understanding as we begin to take these steps in the right direction.