Keeping TypeRacer Clean – Thanks to the Moderation Team!

Check out other recent news about speed records on TypeRacer, and a survey to determine what new quotes to add next! 

Hi Typeracers!

Maintaining a clean and fair environment is key to the vision of Typeracer; our founder Alex (typeracer) once day-dreamed that in terms of the quality of the participation experience, the reputation and degree of legitimacy of the site, and the rigor of the competitive environment, Typeracer hopes to be “somewhere between your local bowling league and the Boston Marathon”. The site still has a way to go to meet this goal, but we’re taking steps in that direction.

Cheating and other offensive behavior have been a key barrier for Typeracer reaching this goal; in the early years, attempting to keep the site clean was almost a full-time job: the process of searching out and reviewing logs from the server was time-consuming, and oftentimes we weren’t able to accurately identify all the cheaters. Similarly, by the time we identified users bothering others with profanity, spamming, and other offensive behavior, it was generally too late to do anything about it. Moderation was an uphill battle overall — a labor of love for sure, but also a severe drain on resources.

Want to try your skills against TypeRacer’s anti-cheating mechanisms? Check out the new cheating universe, where anything goes. Can you beat 6277 wpm?

Seeking Moderators

We have built the back-end tools to support a robust moderation system, and starting last year, we’ve been bringing on some of our most dedicated users to help us form an effective moderation team. Our current team is listed below, and they’ve been doing a great job, banning 2,500 undesirable users in the past year!

Moderation Team

These folks – many among the best, most dedicated typists on the site — have been working in Typeracer’s new moderation console, which enables them to review user reports, investigate accusations of cheating, etc., and take the appropriate action – warning the user, modifying inappropriate language in display names, or banning the user if necessary. Thanks all of you!

How You Can Help

1. Use the “Report User” function! We have a team of dedicated community members around the globe reviewing these daily.
2. Volunteer to be a moderator! Shoot an email to support@typeracer.com if you’re interested; we will give preference to long-time users of the site.
3. Review the rules below. These should be common sense, but some folks may need a reminder.
4. Let us know your suggestions

Cheating Universe

Want to test yourself against TypeRacer’s anti-cheating mechanisms, without being unfair to others and getting banned? We created a sandbox with an “anything goes” philosophy. You can test your cheating programs etc. here. Can you beat Michael DeRoche’s (deroche1) 6,000wpm score?

Cheating Universe – http://play.typeracer.com/?universe=insane

Typeracer Rules:

Your account may be moderated if you engage in the following behaviors. Moderation actions are reversible and mistakes do happen sometimes, so if you believe you were banned in error, please contact support@typeracer.com.

1. Content/Profanity – Avoid kinds of language that your teacher or your boss wouldn’t be okay with, such as the following:
   1. Profanity – Any words that would be censored by editors in newspapers, magazines, etc.
   2. Racist, discriminatory, or hateful terms
   3. Sexual or crude anatomical references
   4. Graphic violence and drug references
2. Harassment
   1. Sexually-suggestive communications
   2. Repeated undesired, unsolicited communications
   3. Rude and disrespectful behavior, e.g. name-calling
3. Cheating
   1. Any use of scripts or programs to simulate or aid in the typing of text
   2. Use of macros, copy-pasting, etc.
   3. Disabling or tampering with Typeracer’s input or anti-cheat mechanisms
4. Spam
   1. Any disruptive, distracting, repetitive messaging
   2. Advertising of non-Typeracer related content

We look forward to an increasingly fair and clean site over the coming years. See you on the track!

David (valikor)

Typeracer