Lately, I have seen numerous comments on scratch, mostly on well-known user's profiles, usually asking the scratcher to follow them, typing the word “F4F”, writing a mean message, or simply pasting a link to their project. I know this can be annoying to the user, as it builds up spam. So, this leads to my question- When is it Valid to Report a Comment? And is it valid grounds to report a comment that advertises their projects posted on another user's profile?


I think the Scratch Team should do something about the rude comments ( that mainly new scratchers leave) which are not appropriate for Scratch, which is a website for all ages. Maybe Scratch should try something like Khan Academy. In the comments there, I have rarely seen off-topic posts, and users don't abuse the right they have to comment. Which leads me to ask- Will Scratch 3.0 have any strict rules about commenting, or will it stay the same?

I believe that Scratch could be a better place for users of all ages. This can only happen when users are nice and respectful to each other. So, when is it a right time to report a comment?

Thank you in advance for reading this post. I hope you will take the time to answer it.



The Platinum Rule: Treat Others the Way They Want to be Treated

The general rule is that if the comments go against the Community Guidelines (or if you feel that it does), then it should be reported.

In your case here, F4F itself is fine. However, if a user repeatedly posts the same thing on someone's profile, then it would be considered spamming and should be reported. Simply pasting a link to one's own project can also be considered spam. Mean messages aren't respectful or constructive, which means they should be reported.

I do agree that a big part of Scratch being a safe and friendly environment requires users to be respectful to each other. However, the Community Guidelines also states to “Help Keep the Site Friendly”. This means that users should report inappropriate content whenever they see it. Most of the time, the Scratch Team won't know about inappropriate content unless its reported. So everyone needs to do their part (by being respectful AND helping to keep the site friendly) in order for Scratch to be a safe and friendly place for everyone.

bump need more info

kritav wrote:

Lately, I have seen numerous comments on scratch, mostly on well-known user's profiles, usually asking the scratcher to follow them, typing the word “F4F”, writing a mean message, or simply pasting a link to their project. I know this can be annoying to the user, as it builds up spam. So, this leads to my question- When is it valid to report a comment? And is it valid grounds to report a comment that advertises their projects posted on another user's profile?

Asking for F4F is fine on its own, provided that it's done in a respectful way (For example… User1: “Hi! Do you want to F4F?” / User2: “Sure!” / Both users follow each other; or… User1: “Hi! Do you want to F4F?” / User2: “Sorry, but I don't do F4F.” / User1: “It's okay!” / The conversation ends there). If F4F requests are commented repeatedly or User1 continues to request it despite User2's refusal, then it can qualify as spam and should be reported.

Any mean comments should be reported immediately. Do not try to step in; if you do, despite good intentions, you'll probably only make it worse and get lumped in as collateral damage. Instead, quietly report it and let the Scratch Team deal with it.

Advertising is a bit of a gray area - it is largely frowned upon, but whether to report it isn't really a black or white “yes” or “no”. Of course, if the advertisement is clearly disrespectful or spammy (e.g. “CHECK OUT MEH PROJEKT NOW OR ELSE”), then it should be reported. However, in some cases, like when the advertisement is done politely and it's clear that the user just doesn't know that their behavior is disapproved of, it's sometimes better to instead give them a gentle warning (like “Hi! For future reference, please don't advertise randomly on other people's profiles - it's usually frowned upon and can sometimes be seen as spammy or annoying. If you want others to see your project, try advertising it in the Show and Tell forums instead! There's nothing wrong with wanting more attention for your project, but please do so the right way. Thanks!”) instead of outright reporting the comment. You might also want to check with the user whose profile is being advertised upon - some users are fine with polite advertising on their profiles, and some even encourage it.

I think the Scratch Team should do something about the rude comments ( that mainly new scratchers leave) which are not appropriate for Scratch, which is a website for all ages. Maybe Scratch should try something like Khan Academy. In the comments there, I have rarely seen off-topic posts, and users don't abuse the right they have to comment. Which leads me to ask- Will Scratch 3.0 have any strict rules about commenting, or will it stay the same?

I believe that Scratch could be a better place for users of all ages. This can only happen when users are nice and respectful to each other. So, when is it a right time to report a comment?

They are already doing all they can. The Scratch Team is a small group of much less than a hundred people; they can't moderate the entire website with all its 34 million users, 36 million projects, and 179 million comments by themselves. They depend greatly on the eyes of the community to help them do so. They are humans, too. They can't control the actions of the people who use this website. That's why it's so important to report any inappropriate, mean, or spammy comments that you come across. By doing so, you're helping them make this website a better place.

If you have a suggestion for the improvement of Scratch, try posting it in the Suggestions forum.

kritav wrote:

Lately, I have seen numerous comments on scratch, mostly on well-known user's profiles, usually asking the scratcher to follow them, typing the word “F4F”, writing a mean message, or simply pasting a link to their project. I know this can be annoying to the user, as it builds up spam. So, this leads to my question- When is it Valid to Report a Comment? And is it valid grounds to report a comment that advertises their projects posted on another user's profile?

It's okay to ask for F4F, as long as you aren't repetidly asking for it, which is spam, and is reportable. Here is a good way to accept or decline F4F:

Accepting F4F
User 1: F4F?
User 2: Sure thing!
*Both users follow each other and everything goes fine after*

A polite way to decline F4F
User 1: Hey, want to F4F?
User 2: Sorry, I don't do F4F.
User 1: Oh, that's okay, want to be friends though?
User 2: Sure thing!

See that's an acceptable way to accept or decline F4F, but here's a rude way to decline and could be possibly reported:

User 1: Want to F4F?
User 2: Sorry, I don't do F4F.
User 1: You musssssssssttttttttt follllloooowwww meeeeeee!!!!?1!!1?1!!1??1?!1!11
User 2: No
User 1: Ill report you to the scratch team if you don't follow me!!!!!!1!!1!1!!1!1
User 2: No, I won't can you please stop?
User 1: Neeevbvvverrr!!!
User 1: f4f? F4f? F4f? F4f?????
User 2: No, now stop.

See, that's a case where you can report it. Because a user has asked multiple times and has been repetidly been told to stop (spam).
As for mean/unconstructive comments, those can be reported as well, since those go against the communtity guidelines.
For advertising, you can only report those if they aren't constructive, like just posting a link or saying, “check out my project (insert link)!
If someone says, ”hey, you have a really good game, I think it's super good! It inspired me to make my own version (insert link)," I've heard that that is fine and should not be reported.

kritav wrote:

I think the Scratch Team should do something about the rude comments ( that mainly new scratchers leave) which are not appropriate for Scratch, which is a website for all ages. Maybe Scratch should try something like Khan Academy. In the comments there, I have rarely seen off-topic posts, and users don't abuse the right they have to comment. Which leads me to ask- Will Scratch 3.0 have any strict rules about commenting, or will it stay the same?

The Scratch Team is trying their hardest to monitor the site and keep it safe for all ages. You can also do your part by reporting anything bad you see. As for your question on 3.0, as far as I've heard, nothing about commenting will changed. I could be wrong though.

Hope I helped!

Ok, thanks everyone for taking your time to answer. It helped a lot.

kritav wrote:

Ok, thanks everyone for taking your time to answer. It helped a lot.

It's no problem, glad that I got to help you out!
Oh no, not the 60-second rule again…

YubNubEwok wrote:

kritav wrote:

Lately, I have seen numerous comments on scratch, mostly on well-known user's profiles, usually asking the scratcher to follow them, typing the word “F4F”, writing a mean message, or simply pasting a link to their project. I know this can be annoying to the user, as it builds up spam. So, this leads to my question- When is it Valid to Report a Comment? And is it valid grounds to report a comment that advertises their projects posted on another user's profile?

It's okay to ask for F4F, as long as you aren't repetidly asking for it, which is spam, and is reportable. Here is a good way to accept or decline F4F:

Accepting F4F
User 1: F4F?
User 2: Sure thing!
*Both users follow each other and everything goes fine after*

A polite way to decline F4F
User 1: Hey, want to F4F?
User 2: Sorry, I don't do F4F.
User 1: Oh, that's okay, want to be friends though?
User 2: Sure thing!

See that's an acceptable way to accept or decline F4F, but here's a rude way to decline and could be possibly reported:

User 1: Want to F4F?
User 2: Sorry, I don't do F4F.
User 1: You musssssssssttttttttt follllloooowwww meeeeeee!!!!?1!!1?1!!1??1?!1!11
User 2: No
User 1: Ill report you to the scratch team if you don't follow me!!!!!!1!!1!1!!1!1
User 2: No, I won't can you please stop?
User 1: Neeevbvvverrr!!!
User 1: f4f? F4f? F4f? F4f?????
User 2: No, now stop.

See, that's a case where you can report it. Because a user has asked multiple times and has been repetidly been told to stop (spam).
As for mean/unconstructive comments, those can be reported as well, since those go against the communtity guidelines.
For advertising, you can only report those if they aren't constructive, like just posting a link or saying, “check out my project (insert link)!
If someone says, ”hey, you have a really good game, I think it's super good! It inspired me to make my own version (insert link)," I've heard that that is fine and should not be reported.

kritav wrote:

I think the Scratch Team should do something about the rude comments ( that mainly new scratchers leave) which are not appropriate for Scratch, which is a website for all ages. Maybe Scratch should try something like Khan Academy. In the comments there, I have rarely seen off-topic posts, and users don't abuse the right they have to comment. Which leads me to ask- Will Scratch 3.0 have any strict rules about commenting, or will it stay the same?

The Scratch Team is trying their hardest to monitor the site and keep it safe for all ages. You can also do your part by reporting anything bad you see. As for your question on 3.0, as far as I've heard, nothing about commenting will changed. I could be wrong though.

Hope I helped!

Cool! Thanks for letting me know! I wasn't sure either!

Have a good day! @-DancerRJV-

-DancerRJV- wrote:

YubNubEwok wrote:

-snip-

Cool! Thanks for letting me know! I wasn't sure either!

Have a good day! @-DancerRJV-

Sure thing! Have a good day as well!

kritav wrote:

Lately, I have seen numerous comments on scratch, mostly on well-known user's profiles, usually asking the scratcher to follow them, typing the word “F4F”, writing a mean message, or simply pasting a link to their project. I know this can be annoying to the user, as it builds up spam. So, this leads to my question- When is it Valid to Report a Comment? And is it valid grounds to report a comment that advertises their projects posted on another user's profile?


I think the Scratch Team should do something about the rude comments ( that mainly new scratchers leave) which are not appropriate for Scratch, which is a website for all ages. Maybe Scratch should try something like Khan Academy. In the comments there, I have rarely seen off-topic posts, and users don't abuse the right they have to comment. Which leads me to ask- Will Scratch 3.0 have any strict rules about commenting, or will it stay the same?

I believe that Scratch could be a better place for users of all ages. This can only happen when users are nice and respectful to each other. So, when is it a right time to report a comment?

Thank you in advance for reading this post. I hope you will take the time to answer it.



The Platinum Rule: Treat Others the Way They Want to be Treated

Hello there! I'm sure you've already had an answer, but this comes from experience.

The ‘F4F’ comment alone complies with Scratch's rules and such, albeit highly annoying. However, the rude comments don't, and I'm pretty sure spam is against the guidelines (although you might want to fact check) too. I had a situation where someone I knew personally was telling someone I hated their artwork (I didn't) and I ended up reporting them both to Scratch, and they both got a warning. There were offensive comments going on there, and that's why I believe Scratch gave them warnings. So, yes. Go ahead and report the mean comments.

We do have to wait until 3.0 to see how Scratch work around the rude comments, but it's the internet, you're always going to find someone trying to ruin someone else's day.

Tea.

The ST is switching the useless bad word detector with AI:
just wanted to say that they are replacing the BaD WoRd DeTeCtoR from scratch with AI. The bad word detector fails to detect bad words you would have thought they'd have put in there but no… It gets triggered by words like “terribal”. It also can be easily bypassed by putting a dash between syllables…etc.

kritav wrote:

The ST is switching the useless bad word detector with AI:
just wanted to say that they are replacing the BaD WoRd DeTeCtoR from scratch with AI. The bad word detector fails to detect bad words you would have thought they'd have put in there but no… It gets triggered by words like “terribal”. It also can be easily bypassed by putting a dash between syllables…etc.

Yeah, a really long time ago, I said the word, “shoot” in the sense of, “shoot! I forgot to put the project up!” But I typed too fast and out went a bad word (a quite bad one) and the bad word detector didn't even stop me. I was shocked! But I quickly deleted the comment and reposted it.

Is f4f good or bad?

Is f4f good or bad?