Maybe a 'jerk' flag? Something that wouldn't effect individual comments, but would aggregate. A user with a high number of jerk flags could be called into scru

Maybe a 'jerk' flag? Something that wouldn't effect individual comments, but would aggregate. A user with a high number of jerk flags could be called into scrutiny and possibly be dealt with if he was abusing the site. Another thought... What if we could filter out users who's comment we didn't want to read or we felt were offensive or a waste of time? This would reduce the noise for indivudual users without anything so draconian or subjective as flagging plus moderation. Another less-pleasent thought is more aggressive banning policies. I remember being part of older BB-esque forums that managed to maintain strong communities by enlisting members as moderators and enforcing strict and clearly promulgated discussion policies. It worked because it was transparent and because the enforcers were active members of the community. They had reputations and interest in keeping the quality of discussions high and are bound by the same rules that apply to everyone else. If need be, their rullings could be appealed if they were abusing their authority. I always felt that that system worked.