Why is my problem flagged?

The intention of this note is to get feedback from the community, especially problem creators, as to how they would like reporting and flagging to work.

Current (new) system

Under the new report system, a problem will be automatically flagged when there are 2 or more unresolved disputes that have been submitted. This means that there is some leeway before receiving the first report, and having the problem be flagged. You can @mention me if you think that a dispute is no longer valid, and I will mark it as resolved.

When a problem has been flagged, we display a banner...

...which alerts the community and encourages them to help fix the problem.

Upcoming changes

We will be adding a way for problem creators to indicate that they think it has been resolved.
We will be adding notifications indicating that a problem has a new report on it.
Once a problem has been flagged, it can no longer be shared till it gets fixed.

What further changes to this system would you like to see?

Different conditions on which a report will be flagged. For example,
- if a problem has a total of 3 or more upvotes on valid reports,
- if the creator does not comment on a report in 48 hours.
Ability for the disputer to resolve his own dispute.
Ability for the community / moderators (several members) to resolve a dispute.
Receive notifications everyday that you have an outstanding flagged problem.
Allow anyone to report a problem, IE they are not required to verify their email.
Create a way for anyone to see all flagged problems.
Any other suggestions?

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1. numbered
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example link

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    # I indented these lines
    # 4 spaces, and now they show
    # up as a code block.

    print "hello world"

# I indented these lines
# 4 spaces, and now they show
# up as a code block.

print "hello world"

Math

Appears as

Remember to wrap math in $ ... $ or \[ ... \] to ensure proper formatting.

2 \times 3

2 \times 3

2^{34}

2^{34}

a_{i-1}

a_{i-1}

\frac{2}{3}

\frac{2}{3}

\sqrt{2}

\sqrt{2}

\sum_{i=1}^3

\sum_{i=1}^3

\sin \theta

\sin \theta

\boxed{123}

\boxed{123}

Easy Math Editor

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Markdown	Appears as
`italics` or `_italics_`	italics
`bold` or `__bold__`	bold
- bulleted - list	bulleted list
1. numbered 2. list	numbered list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1 paragraph 2	paragraph 1 paragraph 2
`[example link](https://brilliant.org)`	example link
`> This is a quote`	This is a quote
# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"	# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

Just curious, but previously, was a question flagged upon the first reporting or after 2 (or more) reporting? I always felt like a snitch since whenever I have reported a problem the red header has always appeared instantly, which seemed odd since by the law of averages there should have been at least one time after I reported that the red header did not appear, indicating that I was indeed the first to report and that it takes more than one report to raise the red flag.

As for the list of possible further changes, I think that options 1 and 3 have merit, but as I mentioned in your other posting, the forfeiture of one's ability to answer a question by entering the dispute process, either to enter a dispute or support an existing dispute, could prove a bit draconian in some instances.

Brian Charlesworth - 6 years, 5 months ago

In the previous system, we were assigning "reputability weights" to people who reported questions. When the cumulative weights went beyond a certain threshold, the flag was triggered. You were one of those whose reports we really trusted, and as such any question that you reported was immediately flagged. Moderators, who were responsible for maintaining the quality of the site, were also able to flag a problem immediately.

Unfortunately, as it is a (unregulated) discussion, there is a high possibility that someone would reveal a crucial part of understanding / approaching the problem, which is why we decided it would be unfair to be able to answer it again.
I agree that it could seem draconian, especially in cases where you merely want to check a minor detail. We went with this alternative because it was simple to explain and understand. I will be keeping an eye on the number of (reasonably valid) disputes that come in. If we see a sharp drop, and people agree it is due to being unable to answer the question, then we will look at preventing access at a later stage (ie separate out the report with joining the discussion).

Calvin Lin Staff - 6 years, 5 months ago

O.k., with the goal of maximizing the integrity of the process while minimizing potential unfairnesses I think you've struck a nice balance. Hopefully I won't have to try out the process too often, but when I do, at least I'll be comfortable with it and fully aware of the parameters. It will be interesting to see how the community responds to the changes.

@Calvin Lin Sir, if I have to change the answer to one of my questions , do I have to use the "View Disputes " tab to dispute it, since the "Report Problem" isn't available for my own questions .

Please respond to it sir. Thanks for the same .

A Former Brilliant Member - 6 years, 5 months ago

Yes, for problem creators, they are automatically placed into "View disputes". You should click on "View disputes", and you can submit a dispute to your own problem.

Thank you sir

Typo- feedback form.. Please rectify.

Shabarish Ch - 6 years, 5 months ago

Thanks. Fixed.

Like @brian charlesworth said, forfeiting the right to answer by disputing seems wrong, espescially if the dispute was raised to clarify the problem. Maybe there can be 2 seperate dispute forums, one to clarify what the question is staing and rectify any typographical errors, and the other to say that the problem and/or the answer is wrong? In the first forum no mention of how to solve the problem should be there. This way, if I only want to clarify what the question is stating, I still can have the ability to answer the question without gaining any knowledge on how to solve the question.

Also, in point 4, I think question makers should recieve a notification if their question has been flagged, but everyday seems excessive. 2 and 3 seem logical, because the person who disputed the question should have a final say on whether his/her dispute has been solved, with the community/moderators intervening in fringe cases.

Siddhartha Srivastava - 6 years, 5 months ago

Thanks for you feedback. I will take it into consideration. Having 2 separate dispute forums is going to be confusing and intensive for the problem creator to maintain. It also doesn't solve the issue of "possibility that someone would reveal a crucial part of understanding / approaching the problem".

None of the points in further changes are set in stone. I just threw them out there to get a discussion going. It does sound like 4 is too extreme. What about if you get notified once a week about outstanding flagged problems that you have?

Maybe users should be allowed to send disputes for the little things like typos without having to participate in the dispute forum, thus removing the possibility of learning how to solve the question while retaining the right to answer.

4 isn't worth it since problem setters will already be getting notifications for new reports(upcoming changes 2). Maybe a side panel for questions which have been flagged just like the solution panel which shows questions to which you've given a solution.

@Siddhartha Srivastava – Thanks!

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$