Out of interest, how could we be more transparent? I can give you a run down of generally how we try to operate.
Firstly, mods don't reads every posts. It’s not possible. We all have families and jobs and other commitments. So if you have a problem with what someone has said, use the 'report' button and tell us why.
Secondly, we try to use hide and warning as much as possible. Usually this is when people have overstepped the mark for the first time. Most of the time, this is a tedious job. We don’t want to be someone’s mother. Sometimes we don’t see posts until well after the fact, which by that stage, the post has already been quoted numerous times or discussion has moved on. So it’s hard to back moderate.
Thirdly, when there is repeat offenders we tend to escalate to banning. We try to note down who these people are and how badly they are behaving, and adjust the length of ban accordingly.
Fourth, if people weren’t dicks and acted with respect we wouldn’t have problems. So people need to take ownership of their own actions. But it's easy to sharkpost under a pseudonym.
