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Possible Duplicate:
Moderators should see the post as I flagged it, not the edited version
Allow moderators to reverse and/or nullify flag decisions

My flag weight went down from 725 to 705 today, that's a big drop. One in particular annoyed me. I flagged the following post as 'not an answer':

Ive tried both of those tips but I still have the same problem, anyone find a solution?

My flag was declined:

not an answer – 3 hours ago: declined - a moderator reviewed your flag, but found no evidence to support it

Perplexed, I went back to find the original answer had been edited. Clearly the mod that checked it didn't realise this and hit decline instead of dispute. A similar thing happened with the other flag that was declined. As a result I've lost days worth of flag weight. :-(

Is it possible to report bad flag decisions?

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  • @cwallenpoole The answer on that question seems to suggest that the mod control panel is not the issue (in which case I'm even more annoyed about my large weight drop).
    – fredley
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:25
  • It's not a "bug", somebody manually handled your flag incorrectly. At best it's a request that the system make it easier to avoid that, in which case it's a duplicate
    – Michael Mrozek
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:27
  • 2
    @fredley Questions like this have come up multiple times and the general rule is that they get answered the same way. For my part, I agree, this should be something which should be fixed somehow, even if it is by notifying the flaggers and giving them a chance to retract.
    – cwallenpoole
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:28
  • 3
    @MichaelMrozek Is there any way of reporting mis-handled flags? It seems that this mod has ignored the advice of "Only declining when there is compelling evidence that the flagger wasn't trying to be helpful." It's going to take hundreds of flags to regain that weight.
    – fredley
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:29
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    @fredley Personally I favor the not caring about it approach, since mods can't really fix it after the fact, but if you want to say something meta is probably the right place. It's a support question though, not a bug fix
    – Michael Mrozek
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:30
  • @MichaelMrozek retagged.
    – fredley
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:32
  • [support] is for support questions, I'm not exactly sure what the question here is - there is a lack of actual inquiry here and much more statement of what passed.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 15:01
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    @GraceNote Well, there's an implied "fix my flag weight" I think
    – Michael Mrozek
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 15:05
  • @GraceNote I'm bringing it up because it makes trying to get the Marshal badge a complete lottery, it only takes one or two mis-handled flags to set you back days or even weeks. There ought to be a system for formally dealing with issues like this.
    – fredley
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 15:06
  • @fredley Oh. You should really completely rewrite this then
    – Michael Mrozek
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 15:11
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    @MichaelMrozek I'm not sure why people are disagreeing with this. People sit around reporting things and being part of the community and it's clearly a shame when people are wrongly pulled back!?
    – Luke
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 15:50
  • Please see the discussion here, @fredley. I believe it covers at a general level the sort of situation you're concerned about.
    – Shog9
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 21:35

1 Answer 1

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The primary reward for reporting things should be the knowledge that you've contributed to the community. Requiring a review for any declined flag would negatively impact the moderator's ability to contribute to that same community.

Flag weight is just a tool to:

  1. Sort the mod queue for efficient processing.
  2. Help the user know whether they're doing well. That is still a resounding "YES!" at 705.

Both of these are measures that help the community.

Don't treat flag weight as a status symbol or a game, it's a tool. Any gamification of that tool is secondary to its utility. We shouldn't implement features that detract from it's utility to make it more like a game.

An occasional "Why was this dismissed?" question about a flag dismissal that you don't understand or that could be controversial is useful because it helps the community understand moderator decisions better. Reporting and disputing flag dismissals that were innocent mistakes is not useful.

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