Flag Anonymous Messages as Inappropriate

Reaping the tremendous value of anonymity we risk being offended, trolled and what not.

One of the basic tools to mitigate that risk, employed by Twitter and other social networks, is the means to flag messages as inappropriate.

We are happy to introduce the ability to flag anonymous messages, replies and polls within AnonymityBot for Slack! Starting today, any anonymous message, reply or poll will have a 🚩 Flag as Inappropriate action.

It looks like this:

Once a user clicks on the 🚩 Flag as Inappropriate action a dialog opens:

The inappropriate message is removed once a threshold of reports is reached (3 by default).

We require the flag reporter to classify the message (e.g. spam, toxic or unsubstantial) and to allow us to mention her as one of flag reporters. Only when a threshold of reports is reached (3 by default) we remove the offending message and name the flag reporters. The named mention enforces accountability and helps us to avoid flag trolls (e.g. if flag reports were anonymous, members could gang up and silence others without any repercussion). It looks like this:

Changing the Threshold of Flag Reports

By default, we require 3 flag reports in order to remove a message. However, teams vary in sizes and therefore what works for a team of 100 members might not be beneficial for a team of 5000. That's why we added the ability to change the threshold to fit your needs. To do so, simply sign in to app.opensay.co and change it under General Settings.

Comments and Thoughts

We're constantly striving to improve AnonymityBot and would very much appreciate your feedback. What could be better? Which feature is missing?

We welcome comments and thoughts on the tweet below, and kindly ask for a like, retweet or a follow to help us spread the word. Thank you!

Teams can now self-regulate anonymous messages within Slack!https://t.co/m2qSSkg6Fl@SlackHQ #Slack $WORK pic.twitter.com/blCqMzMkfj

— OpenSay (@OpenSayHQ) March 6, 2021