up vote 9 down vote favorite

Pretty disappointing that someone would use this site in this fashion. Is there a way to block this type of activity:

Problem with congruence relations

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"Is there a way to block this type of activity[?]" Do you have in mind something like not allowing certain language in posts? Generally there is no way for the system to detect worthless answers before they are posted. – Jonas Meyer Jan 21 at 22:07
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Unfortunately I don't, but if users are aware of Qiaochu's directive, as I am now, this stuff would be gone quickly with minimal harm. This actually was not a worthless answer. It was offensive racist diatribe. – Andrew Jan 21 at 23:07
Sorry, I understated, let's say offensive posts. The question title makes me wonder about a complementary one, "How would a user/answer not get access?" Unless there is some automatic block of certain words (which I'm sure is possible, although I don't know if it would be effective or good), I don't know of a way. I agree that deleting as soon as possible afterward is good. – Jonas Meyer Jan 22 at 1:57
This question is somewhat confusing in retrospect. – Ben Millwood Feb 3 at 0:39

1 Answer

up vote 18 down vote accepted

Flag the moderators. The post has been deleted and the account has been destroyed.

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Thanks. When I went back, saw it was done. – Andrew Jan 21 at 21:43
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Qiaochu, why don't you please edit the answer anyway so 10K+ people don't have to suffer it? – Andres Caicedo Jan 21 at 22:30
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@AndresCaicedo I just edited the answer before seeing your comment. Hope it is fine. – user17762 Jan 21 at 22:35
@Marvis Thank you! – Andres Caicedo Jan 21 at 22:39
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This makes me wonder: since the destruction of users is something intended for spammers and other such worthless people, should not it result in actual (hard) deletion of their content, as opposed to the usual soft deletion? – user53153 Jan 21 at 23:06
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@5PM: there's no such thing as hard deletion. Besides, "intents" aside, any tool can be misused. I know y'all trust us moderators and all, but it strikes me as a bad idea to voluntarily give up checks and balances. – Willie Wong♦ Jan 22 at 9:01
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@Willie Account destruction has a pretty low reputation cap (500?). Also, in the hypothetical scenario of a site's mod destroying my account against my will, I think I'd prefer it if my content was gone too. The alternative, of the site kicking me out but keeping my contributions, feels more disagreeable to me. – user53153 Jan 22 at 12:50
@5PM: the contents are soft-deleted. I don't see how it can be used to boost traffic, as google bots certainly don't have 10K on MSE. Besides, you've agreed to a CC license the minute you started posting to the site, so if you really would feel bummed about the policy, well, caveat emptor. – Willie Wong♦ Jan 22 at 12:53
@Willie Good point, I was editing out that part right as you answered. Moot point anyway. – user53153 Jan 22 at 12:55
@5PM Accounts can be reconstructed almost completely, as the posts are not lost. It is a lot of work for an SE employee though, and you lose some badges and all profile information. And no moderator will use the destroy option on anything other than a spammer, or at least they won't stay a mod much longer after that. – Mad Scientist Jan 22 at 15:54
@MadScientist I just upvoted your suggestion in the thread Ability for mods to hard-delete a question or revisions. As the number of 10K+ user keeps growing, soft-delete will become increasingly inadequate; some 10K+ SO users already complained about having to live with the trash they can't take out. – user53153 Jan 22 at 22:58

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