Question

I possibly believe OpenStudy should do something about the usernames and profile pictures... I've seen many and they can be a very big disturbance to the community and can cause confusion. This needs to stop. Many of these people come in with these inappropriate names and pictures to get attention and to troll the site and It's really not funny.

If someone creates an OS account, they're should be a warning stating that if you're username or profile picture is unacceptable, you will be temporarily suspended or banned from the site.

Answer 1

I've been also seeing users here in the Feedback section and the chats asking does anyone go to Connections Academy in the 8th grade. tbh, I've seen atleast like 20 people ask that question. Why?? I go to Connections but not the 8th grade. And it's also weird because everytime they ask that question, the majority spell the word "grade" incorrect. They always spell is "rgade". I'm starting to think this is a troll or something.

Answer 2

We can't do anything about the names and pictures except for kicking them off the site once spotted. Usually they're kids using proxies to create a troll account.

For the second one, it's obvious. Those are the cheaters. They specifically ask for someone in the same school, same grade and same course so they can give them the answers of tests. It's a daily occurrence, they won't tell they're cheating of course, and most likely they'll tell you they need help on a practice test and need guidance from someone who did the same test, but 90% of them are just cheaters. Report those people immediately, we suspend them on sight

Answer 3

I also have one more thing to say. I think the ambassadors should talk more often in the chats because a few of the chats are getting worse and they need to handled. I'm not trying to spoil the fun, but for example, in the Mathematics chat, people are being VERY rude to each other and arguments and fights(online lol) break out. Guys and girls are being very mean and disrespectful to one another. The spamming is also VERY ANNOYING. But when the ambassadors are they're talking to one another, the chat gets positive and clean and everyone stays pretty quiet. But some people think think the ambi's or mods shouldn't be able to talk in the chats because they believe they ruin everything and they act like cry babies. They're not doing anything wrong, they're just having fun, talking to each other and making sure the chat is on track. I think Ambassadors should always be in the chats and if something get's out of hand, they should report it immediately to the Mods.

Answer 4

@sleepyhead314 @sleepyhead314 @pooja195 @sammixboo @TheSmartOne @k_lynn

Answer 5

They do, most of the times. But there are no enough ambassadors to cover all the chats the entire time. I proposed to give some ambassador chat moderation tools, but they still didn't have time to consider that. If trusted ambi's could remove chat messages and lock people out of the chat for some time this site would be a better place.

Answer 6

I agree!

Answer 7

As for the username and profile pictures, what we can do is to warn and suspend. It has been suggested to add a button for mod to reset the profile pics in order to solve the problem, but nothing has been done on that, sadly.

For the second one, one possible reason is, as thomaster has said, they needed help in certain quizzes and tests. In a post I saw in the Feedback group, the OP said he/she needed to find groupmates to work on a project, which I cannot verify. Though, as amistre64 said in that post, it would be better if the OP post a question or said in the chat that he/she needs to find a groupmate to work on the project instead of asking who is from where and in which grade.

Last but not least, for the chat, it would be great if everyone uses the chat properly instead of having someone to bring positive effects. That reminds me of that old days when chat was rather "clean".

By the way, it would be great if the ambassadors can introduce OS to the new users through PMs!

Answer 8

Nice Callisto :)

Answer 9

It seems like a lot of it has already been said, but here is my input:

First suggestion feedback:

As Callisto said, moderators have asked for the ability to reset a profile picture back to the normal owl and also to be able to reset the profile bios. They unfortunately never got to it. It would very much help the moderators to keep the site user friendly and appropriate for people of all ages. We all know that sometimes people put up inappropriate profile pictures and their profile is filled with horrible language.

The only solution to that is to tell E.mccormick and he compiles a list of things needed to be done to certain user accounts, and then he sends it off to the devs/admins to make changes in the database especially for resetting profile pictures.

As for your second suggestion, the users who keeps asking, "Who is in 8th grade Connections", is most likely the same user. They are obviously asking that same question, making posts in every subjects, ditching the account and creating a new one to ask the same question. This can be very annoying for users to see the same question again and again in the chats and in the forum board.

Another thing is that, people who usually ask these types of questions want to cheat. They are looking for people who are in the same class and who they can easily get answers for tests, quizzes from. Over these past few months, just looking at old questions asked of random people, I have seen posts where people trade each other answers and help each other with different assignments. They don't seem to care that OpenStudy has an anti-cheating policy OR even that we have moderators from various online schools.

Finally, your last suggestion. There are way to many chats and not that many active ambassadors. Also another suggestion for keeping the chats calm would be to have more moderators. The more moderators we have, the more quickly they can get to reports and suspend the offenders to keep peace. Most of the arguments in the chats are because of a lack of communication. If people took the time to understand what the other party said, there would be a lot less miscommunication and a lot less fights with inappropriate language, etc.

But, great suggestions overall! Keep up the great work (:

Answer 10

OMG, I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO WRITE A NOVEL!! X'DDD

Answer 11

XDDD TSO and his novels :P

Answer 12

Well written Max... lol

Answer 13

:)

Answer 14

For the first one I think the suggestion for a mod to remove pictures would be nice. And any inappropriate username should not be allowed when people first signup to OpenStudy.

Answer 15

Well... there actually is a method to changing their picture we have discovered, however i dont think it will be approved of... sadly.

Answer 16

@TheSmartOne They are not really suggestions, just some facts and opinion.

Yeah, in the old days, we'd tell admins about the inappropriate usernames and profile pics and wait until they take actions, which they did after some time, but that's not efficient. Mind you, we had more admins in the past than now.

For the second point, I understand that most of those are cheaters, as I've seen many in the past few years. Though, my principle is ignorance until proven guilty. I don't want to assume that they are cheaters at the first point. What if what he wanted was really just to find some groupmates? It would not be good if we didn't give him a chance. If he has the right purpose but has expressed in a misleading way, just tell him how to make it (sound) better, like amistre64 did. If he shows no improvement, it is reasonable to suspect that he wants to cheat and actions can be taken.

As for the chat, I didn't really suggest anything about it. I was actively engaged in the chat 3 to 4 years ago where I made many good friends on OS and had a great time. That's when we had clean and good conversation and less monitoring work was needed to be done at that time. Self-discipline is the key. We really shouldn't rely on mods to take actions. Mods can suspend if needed, but that can't really solve the problem, that is the misunderstanding part. What may be even worse is when they are not satisfied with the suspension, they may come back with a new account and start the fight again, which happened before.

If the high number of chats is the reason why it is hard to monitor, then the admins should really re-consider the suggestion to reduce the number of chats. Or in the most extreme case, to remove the chat function if it can't be monitored.

To be honest, many suggestions have been made to improve OS. Some have been made years ago, but still, not many have been taken and implemented. Perhaps admins should really take some time and look into the existing problems rather than just focus on introducing the new features.

Answer 17

just do what I do when some ones trolling me, scream BANANNAS ! It works, the troller never responds.

Answer 18

LOL

Answer 19

Haha, let me try this trick next time!

Answer 20

Screaming "ban hammer" instead of "banana" is more efficient.

Answer 21

and if that dosent work, just say " SPLURGE " that confuses them, or you can talk in a diffrent language intill he/she goes away.

Answer 22

Wouldn't work if they are arguing though!

Answer 23

Sometimes I speak French in the chat :P

Answer 24

Maybe I should speak Chinese then lol!

Answer 25

hmmmm, at this moment I would just ignore them intill he/she says bad stuff about me, then ill report them

Answer 26

lol, do that! When the math chat gets out of hand, I start speaking french with this one girl and everyone just stops and get's confused :P It's funny

Answer 27

konnichiwa c:

Answer 28

Though, it is not suggested to speak languages other than English in the chat as it makes it difficult to monitor!

Answer 29

konnichiwa means HI in japanees

Answer 30

I know that lol

Answer 31

SQWIRRLE! >.>

Answer 32

Whats that suppose to mean? XP

Answer 33

I saw a sqwirrle .... but it turned out to be a dog...

Answer 34

lol

Answer 35

._. anyway... the trick is effieciant and takes a 2 minutes tops to change a picture... But like i said... the trick is not going to be approved LOL

Answer 36

so .... @Jaynator495 how did it go with my boss @DARTHVADER2900 ?

Answer 37

Sorry :( I meant to say "innocent until proven guilty", but then, "ignorance is no defence" popped up and I mixed up the two T_T
Anyway, you guys know what I mean.

Answer 38

No worries Callisto :)

Answer 39

have you ever been kinda trolled by yourself... I know it sounds weird , but I have done it... I was confused.

Answer 40

Well i smashed him to peices LOL

Answer 41

\(\color{blue}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @Jaynator495
Well... there actually is a method to changing their picture we have discovered, however i dont think it will be approved of... sadly.
\(\color{blue}{\text{End of Quote}}\)
I have experienced that firsthand, I am not willing to see it again...

Answer 42

I absolutely agree that some specific users should have tools in case there are the times where mods are not online (which is when some chats explode with inappropriate topics).

Answer 43

LOL @Jaynator495

Answer 44

ok. sorry

Answer 45

I agree b.c some people have inappropriate usernames and imagine when new people come OS and the first thing they see is the inappropriate username.
We should have a like a bot or something that when u apply or something it wont let you put those names. And like some kind of bot that goes around finding those people. Thats probably to much.
@Preetha

Answer 46

\(\color{blue}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @EclipsedStar
\(\color{blue}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @Jaynator495
Well... there actually is a method to changing their picture we have discovered, however i dont think it will be approved of... sadly.
\(\color{blue}{\text{End of Quote}}\)
I have experienced that firsthand, I am not willing to see it again...
\(\color{blue}{\text{End of Quote}}\)
yes, but this could be quite helpful for users with bad pictures...

Answer 47

^

Answer 48

It would be very useful.

Answer 49

I just realized Callisto replied to one of my posts. *-*

Answer 50

I just realized you replied to an old post.

Answer 51

Lol

Answer 52

lol

Answer 53

lol

Answer 54

lol