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DISPUTE and RESOLUTION on the Scope forum.

WhatThe

How to manage dispute and resolution here on Scope?

I'm disappointed to keep seeing members leave following a 'lively' discussion on the forum. These are members who seem like decent people with plenty to say but who find themselves being criticised and followed by others popping out of the woodwork to add fuel to the fire.

My daughter was taught dispute and resolution at primary school and this no doubt helped her to manage my unreasonable behaviour before I got my autism diagnosis, once again because of her remarkable insight.

It wasn't in featured my upbringing or education. I've certainly improved my reactions here but only through practice. Scope warnings were deeply shocking and upsetting to me as a new member!

So, Scope, I would like to understand something better - are warnings dependent on the number of reports made about a member's comment?

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Comments

Albus_Alumni

Hi @WhatThe just to let you know if there's no reply for a bit, we're not ignoring this. We'll get back to you asap. 😊

Dendoo

it would be boring if we all thought the same . I think

Problem is can’t tell

Persons tone there’s a lot of misunderstanding been going on. Lot of jumping at people none of us are mind readers. I don’t agree with people been suppressed can debate without fear of been attacked we’re all grown ups . Respect each other and look at something else it’s that easy. I never went back to

A post the other day cos it was getting ridiculous. No one knows me to judge me nor I them . So I never went back to the post. X

jac1poppy2

Well I just had my tax refund back for car 295£ tax £150 check sent back

Welli

It is always respectful to be dignified in whatever format that may be, online, phone, email, real life etc. Everyone is different and as Scope members of whom all of us have some kind of disability, should be respectful of each others disability.

Not being respectful regarding someone's disability is within the same remit as not being respectful of someone's ethnicity, gender, religion, socialtile beliefs etc.

So let's draw a line, dust ourselves down and try to see more clearly that we are all people.

Thanks for your time. :)

Albus_Alumni

Unfortunately, as with all forums, there will be times when tensions run high, whether between individuals or across the community as a whole. For example, with current political uncertainties, many members are likely feeling more reactive, making arguments more likely. As much as possible, we strive to keep all conversations civil. We’ve always maintained that members are welcome to disagree, provided they follow our house rules—for example, no swearing or personal attacks. When small disagreements arise and involve many people, we do our best to steer the conversation back on track through gentle reminders. However, if it goes beyond simple disagreements and there are clear breaches of the house rules, we will step in with strikes. Cautions, warnings, and any other actions we take do not rely on reports in any way. Reports help us understand how members feel about a situation and are an effective way of flagging issues for our attention. For example, we might be focused on researching an answer for a housing-related post and may not notice another discussion escalating. A report can alert the team to this. Reports, however, do not determine outcomes; we treat everyone the same, in line with our house rules.

A lot of our moderation actions occur behind the scenes and because we avoid discussing members with other members it may not always be obvious what has taken place, but everyone is held to the same standards in order to keep a safe and supportive community.

We try to be mindful of ongoing circumstances and the wider situation, especially if we feel someone may have been provoked or is going through a difficult time. However, the house rules are there for a reason, and we apply them consistently to everyone

WhatThe

Albus, I'm referring mainly to new members leaving.

You wouldn't ignore several reports aimed at one member in a thread, would you? That's what I'm asking about. It strikes me as an effective way of silencing people.

I was pretty upset about the way a recent dispute was handled with no input from you regular mods on here because you were all away. First of all, a thread was censored before being closed. It was announced as a done deal with no warning. That particular thread demonstrated how dispute and resolution is possible and wasn't rude or offensive but is now lost as an example.

Then an inappropriate opinion from one experienced member led to a pile-on from others not otherwise engaged in that discussion. The new member - a vulnerable person - left the forum.

Then we were all warned not talk about it again or Scope would take action…

We need to be able to discuss this freely and not be afraid of Scope, thank you!!

Albus_Alumni

Sorry @WhatThe I'm afraid I'm not sure of the disputes or discussions you're talking about? Could you be a bit more specific? If you're not wanting to name publicly, feel free to message @Community_Scope

WhatThe

Because you were away? I will try to trace the details and message Community_Scope.

WhatThe

As this discussion is mostly out of date we have made the decision to close it.

This was the announcement I had in mind but on a different thread "So is this it…?"

michael57

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934116#Comment_934116

people will come and go in life but the person in the mirror will be there forever

chiarieds

OK, so I'm trying to be diplomatic. Albus has been at pains to say that a report just draws their (the moderator's) attention to a (potentially) difficult situation, & helps them understand how such a reporting member(s) feel about such a situation.

He has stressed that a report(s) does not influence any decision they may/may not make, as their moderation is based on the House Rules, which as members of this forum we all need to abide by. Therefore I can't see that x number of reports would influence their decision. Why would you want this to be a way to 'silence' people @WhatThe ? If someone is 'silenced' they may as well not be a member of the forum.

Rightly, I personally feel, that if a member chooses to leave the forum, then that's their decision, & should be respected. The Scope team won't discuss a former member, & they may not know why such a member has left either. It will however leave a gap for those who considered them a friend, &, understandably, why such a friend left them?

As has been said by @eeL I think, the Scope team are aware that misunderstandings happen due to just having the written word available, & they do try to resolve this. Swearing will just give someone a gentle reminder; neither the Scope team nor other members would consider any 'malice' was ever involved.

I've reported (rarely) comments which I felt were unfair; sometimes I've heard back from the Scope team, others times not. Overall I think they do a very difficult job of moderation as fairly as they can, & keep everyone safe in the community.

Morgan_Alumni

Good morning @WhatThe and thank you for the feedback.

Since we cannot discuss individual members, I believe that questions regarding moderation decisions should come directly from the member involved and might be better via PM. While I can't speak for the team, I’m always happy to explain the decisions I make, and I’m sure my colleagues feel the same way. Although we work remotely, the team collaborates closely, discussing all actions together.

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934060#Comment_934060

I think this highlights @Albus_Scope's point that our actions may not always be obvious, which can lead to confusion or misinformation spread about our moderation choices.

The quote you've used is from one of my comments and the other conversation you mention I believe to be this one: Labour if you claim you can work from home doing what exactly?

I apologise if my comment in the first discussion felt like it was shutting down the conversation as that was not the intention, and the rest of that comment was “All new speculative discussion regarding welfare reforms will be merged with and take place in this discussion on benefit reforms.”. The decision was made to merge speculative posts on the same topic to maintain a welcoming community space for everyone, while allowing for important discussions about proposed changes to continue.

Regarding the second conversation, 62 comments were removed because they contained content inappropriate for the community or were responses to such content. I would be keen to hear more as to why you feel this decision was targeted or biased against one member, as 15 different members had comments removed. You mentioned there had been no warnings, but the community team posted gentle reminders to keep the discussion on track before the comments were removed.

I truly value your feedback and your membership of the community. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out, I'm here to help.

WhatThe

Hello Morgan 😃 phew I can't read those again just yet but will come back to you, thanks and happy November!

Morgan_Alumni

Happy November to you too @WhatThe 🙂

whistles

People do come and go. Just because someone leaves, doesn't mean they won't come back at some stage.

This forum is actively busy and some might find that a little daunting.

I joined back in 2018, but I do recall some issues where people left, some deactivated their account. The subjects we discuss can be emotive.