The mobile site has received a slew of updates recently, including:
- The ability to view original filenames and truncated names/subjects (tap the file size or inline expand the image; tap truncated text to expand).
- Support for infinite scroll (tap “Load More” at the bottom of board indexes, or check “Always use infinite scroll” in Settings).
- A dark theme (Tomorrow) for nighttime browsing, enabled in Settings under “Miscellaneous.”
- Top navigation now auto-hides upon scrolling down to free up vertical space for reading threads. Scroll up to have it reappear.
- Support for Thread Stats, with more native extension features to be enabled in the future.
- Minor usability tweaks and visual polish.
In addition to the mobile updates, we’ve also added the ability for janitors to submit warning requests as opposed to only ban requests, with the hope that it will reduce the number of bans issued for minor or borderline rule infractions. You can read the e-mail sent to janitors and moderators notifying them of the change below:
You’ll notice the Ban Request panel now has a checkbox to reduce the ban request to a warning. When “Warn” is checked, the post will still be deleted, but the poster will not be temporarily muted, and if the request is approved by a moderator a warning will be issued instead of a ban.
Many of the minor infractions we regularly issue bans for simply aren’t worth blocking someone from posting for 24 to 72 hours. Granted, these are the most lenient ban lengths we’ve had in all of our 11 years – not to mention you once couldn’t browse while banned! – but banning for trivial infractions frustrates the userbase and ultimately discourages rule adherence, encourages ban evasion, and breeds ill will. Posters, lurkers, volunteers, and the site as a whole are harmed in the process.
That said, we do not want warnings to be used as a replacement for regular deletions. Think of a warn request as a step down from a ban, and not a step up from a deletion.
Here are some examples where you may want to request warnings instead of bans:
- “Quality of Posts” and “Garbage Outside of /b/” issues (ex. “holds up spork my name is katy but u can call me t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m!”), ASCII macros, huge lists of quoted post numbers, etc.
- People using avatars or signatures.
- Recommendation threads on /a/.
Note that not all ban request templates can be downgraded to a warn request (ex. Global Rule 1), and the checkbox will be greyed out and unusable in such cases.
We strive for 4chan’s moderation to be fair and consistent, and hope that posters will choose to respect the rules instead of deliberately breaking them in response to what is sometimes perceived as disproportionate punishment for minor or borderline infractions. Warnings and bans should only be used in cases where a rule has clearly been broken. Keep in mind that we publicly display a sampling of recently issued warnings/bans, and ideally the reasoning behind everything displayed should be easily understood by the person viewing it. If the text of the rule clearly fits the associated warned/banned post as it should, then there won’t be confusion as to why action was taken.
Janitors and moderators have always had the challenging task of walking a fine line and pleasing the insatiable masses. In a given month, more than 20 million people will browse 4chan, and upwards of 2 million will post. While catering to the individual tastes and opinions of millions of people isn’t feasible, we owe it to ourselves as users to enforce the rules as objectively and consistently as possible in order to preserve the best possible site experience for all.
Thanks as always for your volunteering and continued service.
—moot
