Irony Alert: I got an alert & hide in the Hillary Clinton group for talking about the alert stalking

[stevenleser]

111. Skinner responds to my point about long term alert stalking and here are my followup comments

I received a PM alerting me to the following exchange

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12598759

A generalized question about "alert stalking"

I know the admins have looked at various samples on given days and given statistics. In this short subthread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=621369

Stevenleser and I discussed the long term trends and whether or not you guys had checked them. So, without making you dig through a mountain of data, have you been keeping tabs on the alert situation over time, say a period of months, in order to determine whether or not there was a problem or imbalance? Steven's point was that the problem may not show on any given individual day or two, but that the alleged problem would be revealed in the longer term trends.

Skinner (60,695 posts)
1. Yes, we have looked at the numbers in many different ways, including long-term trends.

And we do not believe there is a problem. (Except for the obvious perception problem, but that's kind of a different thing.)

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Here is what I have to say about that:

There is a lot of wiggle room in "We do not believe there is a problem".

Here's my problem. I have a room full of Hillary supporters who have received timeouts, most of them people of color or women. Many more than that, including me, who have received hides for non-hideworthy posts.

If there is no problem, show us the stats. How many Bernie supporters have received timeouts. And I mean beyond those who have been receiving timeouts long before the primaries were in question. How many Bernie supporters have received hidden posts?

For every Hillary supporter who has received a hide or timeout, four Bernie supporters should have received the same, as there is around a 4-1 ratio. Assuming the members of the site have been fair. Do the stats support that? I doubt it. That would mean 40-60 Bernie supporters would have received timeouts. (ON EDIT: I apologize, around 20 Hillary supporters have received timeouts, that means around 80 Bernie supporters should have received timeouts. I think we can say FOR SURE that has not happened.) Have the same ratio of Bernie supporters received questionable hides? Again, I doubt it. That would mean well over a hundred Bernie supporters will have received questionable hides.

The site would be in an uproar.

When you look at it that way, it's pretty clear there is a huge problem.