Can we have a feature where room owners can add users to block/black list so that they cannot chat in the chat rooms?

Yes, I am aware that the chat rooms are open to anyone, and they should be, if somebody is pissed off, they can surely add the user to the ignore list, but what if the things go out of hand sometimes?

I came up with this question because since yesterday we have a user in HTML/CSS/WebDesign room called Illaya (No personal grudges anyways), pings random users for no good reason, and the most annoying thing is that he flags the posts which are not even spammy or offensive... I would attach a screenshot here..

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And then he says that he clicked them by mistake. Now the case is edgy, doesn't happen often but would be better if owners got rights to block users, wouldn't this help with the current issue, will also result into less mod intervention, because generally, new users do such stuff.

Anyways we have rooms which can be switched to gallery mode, with owners deciding whom they can provide access, but switching general discussion rooms into gallery is not a good option as many users drop in for help.

If not the block list than can we have a feature where we can disable a particular user to write, or flag or any kind of similar options rather than switching entire room to gallery mode and accepting too many write access?

Any of the below would suffice

  • Provide a block list for owners who can add users who are under certain reputation, say < 100 points.
  • Increase the reputation required to chat for users
  • Disable few functionalities which can be used by users who have low reputation just like Zach recommended.
  • 3
    I recommend disabling someone's flagging ability – Zach Saucier Mar 19 '14 at 17:26
  • If a user is being persistently disruptive in chat, moderators can ban him (chat-wide). – Monica Cellio Mar 19 '14 at 17:54
  • @MonicaCellio yap, confirmed with @Bolt while ago... – Mr. Alien Mar 19 '14 at 17:56
  • 5
    Since the flags in the screenshot are about me, I'll add some more background info: This specific user was constantly pinging me, asking for my private information (Facebook, email) even after I specifically told him "no". As it was becoming borderline harassment, several people in our room started flagging him for moderator attention. The moderators negated the flags and the user was not banned, so his spam went on for 2 days. After I added him to my personal ignore list he started flagging all of my posts as seen above. – Praxis Ashelin Mar 20 '14 at 8:32
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    The current flagging system certainly needs to be changed, if you see that a user like this is able to continue spamming/harassing in the same room for 2 days in a row. – Praxis Ashelin Mar 20 '14 at 8:34
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    He is back right now and flagging my posts again. Could we get any mod to permban him? – Praxis Ashelin Mar 20 '14 at 16:42

If a user misbehaves in such a way in one chat room, odds are that he'll misbehave the same way in other chat rooms as well. So locking him out of one room is unlikely to achieve much. You're only solving the problem for your own room, and not for the other rooms the user might go if he can't enter your room anymore.

The correct solution is to suspend the user from chat, so just flag for moderator attention and explain the problem.

There is another issue, and that is that room owners are appointed in a rather random fashion. I'm not entirely comfortable to give almost random users the power to block individual users from a chat room.

  • They won't be random, I used the word Room Owners so I assume room owners are well versed with the topics discussed in their rooms :) – Mr. Alien Mar 19 '14 at 18:14
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    @Mr.Alien My point is that there is no real process to determining room owners. Moderators are either appointed or elected, you can become a room owner just by being the user that talked the most in that room (if the system determines that a room owner is needed). – Disappointed in SE Mar 19 '14 at 18:21

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