Topic: Wondering about avoiding accidental 'abuse' of report tool.

Posted under Off Topic

So I've been using this site for some time but only recently bothered using the report option on comments that feel abusive or purposely needless as per Code of Conduct. There's an obvious grey line between what -I- think something should be reported versus what the moderators/administrators think, and that part I'm not debating.
I'm concerned about having my own account being permanently banned because of reporting comments and more or less wasting moderator time, a lesson I learned with comments that are three or more months old. My intentions are good and (hopefully) just, but I want to avoid getting myself in trouble while pointing out trouble elsewhere.

Updated by NotMeNotYou

I am not an admin, so I do not actually know what the notice means, but I do have a speculation:

Intentionally using the report tool to perform negative actions, as I've noticed can be pretty any other rule-breaking action, will get you a record. These reports, unless they are against users or are about DMails, are not private, so breaking a rule in a report is like breaking a rule regularly.

This is because I have not noticed a user getting a record for abusing the report tool. It may be called abuse of site tools, or the ticket may be used as a reminder for another action you've done (I.E., reporting someone for racial slurs, when you used racial slurs as well). An admin can offer more clarity...

Updated by anonymous

The issue is pretty simple: If you file the ticket in good faith that something is wrong we may chide you (which has happened) but we won't ban you for it. Period.
If you purposefully create pointless tickets with the express desire to annoy staff you will be (eventually) banned for it.

We're pretty good at deciding in which category your ticket falls in, so if it's in the first one we will simply tell you to watch what you're doing a bit better, and if it's the latter one you will receive a record for it on your account.

TL;DR: As long as we don't deem your actions worth a record on your account you are in no risk of getting banned any time soon.

Updated by anonymous

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