Cleaning up r/Evernote

[mackid1993 1,478]

Recently a kind Redditor, u/SeanAky was able to make a Reddit Request and after many tries, gain control of r/Evernote with the intent of not making it like the wild west anymore. I offered to help him and suggested he offer mod positions to u/IceReasonable7615 who is an Evernote Expert and creator of r/EvernotePositive as well as @Jon/t.

Together we are going to do our best to keep the community civil and ensure people treat each other with respect. No more name calling or personal attacks will be tolerated like in the past. We've already instituted a Feedback/Suggestions megathread to direct any constructive criticism of Evernote so that Bending Spoons can see all feedback in one place while at the same time doing our best to remove individual threads that are overly angry and directing those users to the feedback thread. Moreover we've added a dedicated megathread to discuss Alternative apps as we found nearly every other thread was asking about alternatives to Evernote which drowns out real discussion.

Regardless if anyone has been avoiding Reddit because of the way it was in the past, we are hoping it will be better going forward. I've already reached out to Bending Spoons to hopefully coordinate with their social media team while keeping moderation of the sub in the hands of the community to ensure impartiality.

[Grant837 154]

Good move. I am there.

Dont be too quickly too hard on the bad eggs - if only to avoid being seen as (too) autocratic.

[mackid1993 1,478]

We are going to (actually) enforce the rules. People will be given plenty of warnings before anyone gets banned.

[ForestD 1,554]

Just curious if it was the previous mods that gave control to u/SeanAky or if it was the Reddit admins? The previous mods were AWOL for at least the last 2 years. Prior to that though there was one notorious troll that at least got shadow-banned by them and he didn't figure it out for at least a year or more. I'd go stalk his profile every once in a while to see if he was still trolling Evernote users without any feedback (cause he was shadow-banned) and he was! Dozens of troll posts with no feedback and he kept at it. It was a troll that didn't need any food to keep trolling. Kind of crazy.

Good luck with it.

[mackid1993 1,478]

1 hour ago, ForestD said:

Just curious if it was the previous mods that gave control to u/SeanAky or if it was the Reddit admins? The previous mods were AWOL for at least the last 2 years. Prior to that though there was one notorious troll that at least got shadowbanned by them and he didn't figure it out for at least a year or more. I'd go stalk his profile every once in a while to see if he was still trolling Evernote users without any feedback and he was! Dozens of troll posts with no feedback and he kept at it. It was a troll that didn't need any food to keep trolling. Kind of crazy.

Good luck with it.

It was Reddit Admins.

[mackid1993 1,478]

5 hours ago, ForestD said:

Just curious if it was the previous mods that gave control to u/SeanAky or if it was the Reddit admins? The previous mods were AWOL for at least the last 2 years. Prior to that though there was one notorious troll that at least got shadowbanned by them and he didn't figure it out for at least a year or more. I'd go stalk his profile every once in a while to see if he was still trolling Evernote users without any feedback and he was! Dozens of troll posts with no feedback and he kept at it. It was a troll that didn't need any food to keep trolling. Kind of crazy.

Good luck with it.

Oh speaking of trolls, there was this guy "luckysilva" who is a mod on an Obsidian subreddit. He would come in and just harass anyone he could. He didn't make it a day with us. He's gone for good now, just watching out for his alt account which we know about. If you've been on the sub recently you'll be glad to hear this. His only goal was to harass anyone who wanted to simply use Evernote. He wasn't able to stop himself.

There was another redditor who decided to tell me to "go f*ck myself" and he got a 7 day ban. He then realized he got banned and edited that post to something like "MODS GO F*CK YOURSELVES" then edited that because it was too harsh and called us "a** clowns" and told us to "take a break." He got a permaban. We are fine with dissenting opinions and will be directing any complaints to a feedback thread to make things more organized for the Evernote team so people can express their frustration without every post being eVeRNoTE sUcKs but we won't stand for obvious trolling and blatant nastiness. Months ago I was called a "bending spoons bootlicker." That type of stuff isn't going to be tolerated any longer. Those types of users will be given a warning, then a temp ban for 7 days, then a permaban if they don't stop.

I've personally noticed a huge downtick in negativity since we've taken over. We've had to redirect a few posts, but most conversation is about how to deal with issues or new features, wishlist items etc. It's been super calm in there so far, much less work than I've expected.

[Cristiano478 269]

Great News. I follow Reddit a bit and if you can give the Evernote team direct access to people's complaints/suggestions that would be great. I hope you do a good job.

[mackid1993 1,478]

Things have been extremely calm on Reddit. Bending Spoons is fully on board with our team being independant of them. We are focused on keeping conversations civil and stopping instigators. Our Rule #1: 

Quote

Remember the Human (Rudeness or Hate Speech)
This is a community where people come to discuss Evernote, seek assistance, and find tips. There is no place for rudeness or hate speech. Please be excellent to your fellow users. This means no targeted attacks or disparaging comments towards others regardless of whether you agree with them or not. Remember that behind every single post and comment is another human being with feelings. Treat them the way you would want to be treated. Think before posting. 

is being taken seriously and we aren't allowing anyone to be disrespectful or condescending. I honestly hope down the line the same practices can be implemented here. The entire Evernote community needs to be less toxic and more welcoming. It'll be better for the product as a whole.

[AKARJLUK 42]

The interpretation of what constitutes "disrespectful" or "condescending" behavior can often lead to misunderstandings or conflicts due to its subjective nature.

For instance, if a user experiences unresolved technical issues with EN for several months and shares their frustration on platforms like Reddit by stating that EN's support is lacking, would that be considered disrespectful? Or is it a legitimate expression of dissatisfaction?

Additionally, will individuals be reprimanded simply for voicing dissenting opinions or challenging the perceived consensus, whatever that might be?

In my view, this approach may discourage meaningful contributions on Reddit. Over time, more users may choose to silently browse rather than engage, which I personally find myself doing here increasingly often.

[PinkElephant 9,010]

Oh, it does stop contributions. I dropped the r/evernote subscription yesterday. The smallest common denominator can be too small to make any sense, in the end.

[mackid1993 1,478]

6 hours ago, AKARJLUK said:

The interpretation of what constitutes "disrespectful" or "condescending" behavior can often lead to misunderstandings or conflicts due to its subjective nature.

For instance, if a user experiences unresolved technical issues with EN for several months and shares their frustration on platforms like Reddit by stating that EN's support is lacking, would that be considered disrespectful? Or is it a legitimate expression of dissatisfaction?

Additionally, will individuals be reprimanded simply for voicing dissenting opinions or challenging the perceived consensus, whatever that might be?

In my view, this approach may discourage meaningful contributions on Reddit. Over time, more users may choose to silently browse rather than engage, which I personally find myself doing here increasingly often.

Legitimate criticism is fine. We draw the line at being rude to others. If Evernote broke something and people complain they are more than welcome to voice their dissatisfaction. We aren't allowing rudeness or nastiness. 

[mackid1993 1,478]

Now that I'm at a computer I can give a better response. We aren't looking to censor anyone. Especially if something major happens like a price increase or huge bug we plan on being extra lenient. We will probably move to organize large events like that into a single megathread to keep the conversation organized and flowing which is better for everyone and especially Bending Spoons so they can see feedback in one place. That's why we are redirecting feedback and criticism to a megathread as well as alternative app discussion, Bending Spoons will have an easier time tracking user feedback if they only have one place to look which benefits everyone. If someone wants to move off Evernote, there is one pinned thread that will have many use cases covered.

What will always be removed is mean spirited comments. We won't stand for nastiness.

[SeanAKY 5]

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Oh, it does stop contributions. I dropped the r/evernote subscription yesterday. The smallest common denominator can be too small to make any sense, in the end.

I'm sorry to hear that was the solution you chose. You are welcome back at any time; we ask that you follow the community's rules. 

[gazumped 12,222]

Lumping topics and issues into one thread is a great idea if you/we can do it - there were  various tries here,  but I know to my cost have it on good authority that merging threads can go very wrong in this particular forum software,  and there's usually too much traffic here to make it work consistently anyway.  It always used to be a rule to 'search before you post' in my former tech fora so that users would do their own grouping - but again the search function here is not the best,  and new users tend to jump in with both feet regardless.

There was also an attempt to publish solutions so that users could find their own work arounds and fixes directly,  but again whilst a good idea it needs a lot of work.  And (all due respect) Evernote are re-siting the goalposts on a regular basis so some solutions only last a matter of days!

[mackid1993 1,478]

6 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Lumping topics and issues into one thread is a great idea if you/we can do it - there were  various tries here,  but I know to my cost have it on good authority that merging threads can go very wrong in this particular forum software,  and there's usually too much traffic here to make it work consistently anyway.  It always used to be a rule to 'search before you post' in my former tech fora so that users would do their own grouping - but again the search function here is not the best,  and new users tend to jump in with both feet regardless.

There was also an attempt to publish solutions so that users could find their own work arounds and fixes directly,  but again whilst a good idea it needs a lot of work.  And (all due respect) Evernote are re-siting the goalposts on a regular basis so some solutions only last a matter of days!

Well you need to be able to pin posts. BS should give mods here some more abilities.

[mackid1993 1,478]

@SeanAKY our lead mod tried to post this in response to @PinkElephant but was stopped by the spam filter so I am posting on his behalf.

[s2sailor 2,507]

15 minutes ago, mackid1993 said:

but was stopped by the spam filter

?  I don't see why that post would have been blocked.

[mackid1993 1,478]

Just now, s2sailor said:

?  I don't see why that post would have been blocked.

He's never posted here before.

[s2sailor 2,507]

Just now, mackid1993 said:

He's never posted here before.

Unless something has changed, you are allowed 5 posts on the first day.

[mackid1993 1,478]

Just now, s2sailor said:

Unless something has changed, you are allowed 5 posts on the first day.

I'm not sure, I was talking to @gazumped about it and he said there is some sort of cooling off period with an initial post before it can be approved. Unless you have some way of approving his post that Gaz doesn't.

[s2sailor 2,507]

I'm only aware of the five initial posts restriction.  We don't approve new posters, and if it is their first post, what would we review them against?  I would be interested to know what actual message he received when trying to post.

[gazumped 12,222]

I think  we're both right - new users get up to 5 posts when they first join,  but those posts are held up  for a while.  Both measures help avoid someone spamming the forums - 5 is too few to bother with and a 3+day delay stops an immediate follow-up.

[mackid1993 1,478]

Sean only saw what is in the screenshot. No other info at all.

[gazumped 12,222]

Some bloke called myzzlpk (one of my test accounts) just posted here 6 times (!) and all you see is "your post has to be approved..."  I'll delete 'em to tidy up when they appear.  Couldn't be bothered to try any more.

I did think I'd set up a quick new fake account and post here,  but I kept on getting my password turned down because it had been leaked online,  up to and including "discombobulated" which was how I was feeling by then.  discombobulated999 got me in though - and then the new 'free' account wants my payment details... ???

Plus.  Every. single. time. I got presented with the 'matching pairs' captcha,  and I'm starting to think I'm a bot,  because I can't tell the difference sometimes...

So I used a test account;  it was easier.

[SeanAKY 5]

Thanks for the troubleshooting guys.

[PinkElephant 9,010]

5 hours ago, mackid1993 said:

@SeanAKY our lead mod tried to post this in response to @PinkElephant but was stopped by the spam filter so I am posting on his behalf.

Don’t care. I’m old enough to know what I don’t want to be, like a politician (say without telling), an educator (mind the fragile soul) or a counsel (empathy over content).

Its not worth to dance to this tune.

[mackid1993 1,478]

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Don’t care. I’m old enough to know what I don’t want to be, like a politician (say without telling), an educator (mind the fragile soul) or a counsel (empathy over content).

Its not worth to dance to this tune.

You were extremely rude to other posters. You're welcome back anytime, just please treat others the way you would want to be treated.

[s2sailor 2,507]

9 hours ago, gazumped said:

just posted here 6 times (!) and all you see is "your post has to be approved..."

So I guess the official answer is that you are allowed to post fiveish times 😀.  I would be shocked if anyone was actually approving them.  Likely some algorithm to help filter out bots and spam.

[s2sailor 2,507]

4 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

or a counsel (empathy over content).

I doubt anyone here is surprised by this one 😎.

[SeanAKY 5]

17 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Don’t care. I’m old enough to know what I don’t want to be, like a politician (say without telling), an educator (mind the fragile soul) or a counsel (empathy over content).

Its not worth to dance to this tune.

You don't have to be any of those things but you also don't have to post on the subreddit so there's that.

[gazumped 12,222]

C'mon guys - we should all (mostly) be friends here - minimum snark required.

[SeanAKY 5]

40 minutes ago, gazumped said:

C'mon guys - we should all (mostly) be friends here - minimum snark required.

I just got here but I find @PinkElephant amusing. They have a lot of good information even if some have an issue with their delivery of it. 

[mackid1993 1,478]

I would prefer he offer his sound technical advice in the subreddit, we don't don't need rudeness to other members.

[gazumped 12,222]

I claim the 5th.  Enough with the chatter!  You trying to start a fight?  

[mackid1993 1,478]

7 hours ago, gazumped said:

I claim the 5th.  Enough with the chatter!  You trying to start a fight?