Mod Selection

cyberwolf77

Speaking from personal experience, this is a horrible idea

Dades

Headshot wrote: »

I can understand recent infractions influencing a decision to pick a mod but when the infractions are years old and more or less isolated to one forum, why does it influence the decision of picking a mod?

I haven't seen anyone state that years-old infractions isolated to one forum are influential in choosing a mod.

I love when threads like this pop up and mods post, especially when I've never heard of the forums they mod, nor do I have access.

Latverian People's Army, you say? And Esoteric Order of Dagon. Intriguing.

LizT

boneyarsebogman wrote: »

I love when threads like this pop up and mods post, especially when I've never heard of the forums they mod, nor do I have access.

Latverian People's Army, you say? And Esoteric Order of Dagon. Intriguing.

They're called private forums for a reason.

RoundyMooney

He was just making an observation?

LizT

RoundyMooney wrote: »

He was just making an observation?

As was I

jonniebgood1

Deleted User wrote: »

I love when threads like this pop up and mods post, especially when I've never heard of the forums they mod, nor do I have access.

Latverian People's Army, you say? And Esoteric Order of Dagon. Intriguing.

I hear that the History forum is great craic...:D

Spear

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

I hear that the History forum is great craic...:D

Can't be that good if it's never turned up in DRP.

Tigger

Can someone do a code thing and change mod or moderator to TD and well read through this again and realise what's wrong with our current system of elected representatives
Benevolent admis/despots ftw

jonniebgood1

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

I hear that the History forum is great craic...:D

Ah but that's all just old news :pac:

OldGoat

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah but that's all just old news :pac:

And they just keep repeating themselves.

P. Breathnach

OldGoat wrote: »

And they just keep repeating themselves.

You can say that again.

Penn

And all the posters there are called Victor

Ruu

Been a while for me, is Pighead part owner yet?

Zaph

Ruubot2 wrote: »

Been a while for me, is Pighead part owner yet?

He was briefly, until a boardroom revolt forced him to sell his shares and step down. I believe he just got some fancy new job in Rome last week.

Welcome back btw

RoundyMooney

Ruubot!

\o/

dr.bollocko

RoundyMooney wrote: »

Ruubot!

\o/

Shhh.

Don't scare him away.

Shield

Some say he can go all night on just one testicle... and that he never got past Step 1 because his life was very easily manageable...

...all we know is, he's called Ruubot2*!

menapyan

seamus wrote: »

The chatlog of such a process is only relevant to the individual mod, there's no good reason why the public at large should be shown why particular individuals are or aren't chosen as moderators.

For transparency, the process is:

- Mod/Cmods provide recommendations for a new mod

- Admins take a vote, taking the comments/opinions of the mods/cmods into account

- Decision is relayed to the mod/cmod

- Individual is approached and asked if they want to be moderator

If the individual refuses, the process starts again.

Anything outside of that really isn't relevant to the public.

Popularity contests have been mentioned before, but they would only work on smaller, more niche forums. On forums like AH, totally unsuitable people like Flutterinbantam would be "voted" in as mods.

Ability to vote off mods would only lead to moderators pandering to users to avoid being voted out.

I think this bit is flawed. I was asked to be a mod on two other forums previously (and donned the stick momentarily before realising I wasn't cut out to be one) but by way of this system, newly chosen mods are just people on good terms/friends with current mods. It's rarely a case of it being the best person for the job and as a result ends up with some forums being run by one great big clique. Even when one mod steps down the cliques remain.
I don't want to mention any forums specifically but it is very apparent that these cliques can be very difficult to overcome when you want to participate on level ground.

(I know I know, if you don't like it don't go there and I don't generally speaking but the effects drive such a large community and sometimes it's difficult to outrun them)


(edit: I know one mod who only communicated with me privately through pm even though we knew each other irl, as the moderators they shared the forum with had personal issues with me and they were afraid to be mistakenly seen as being supporting of me. My views may not be acceptable to the hive mind but at least they are my own.)

Wibbs

menapyan wrote: »

by way of this system, newly chosen mods are just people on good terms/friends with current mods. It's rarely a case of it being the best person for the job and as a result ends up with some forums being run by one great big clique. Even when one mod steps down the cliques remain.

I dunno M I'm sure it can happen, but I've not seen it. Maybe I'm missing it? Maybe I'm part of the clique?

The reason they ask the local mods/cmod is that the site is just too big now. Cmods never mind Admins just wouldn't have enough potential names in their head for the role. The forum mods do. There are a number of forums I lurk in and post in that if you put a gun to my head I wouldn't have a clue who would be good at modding. And they're in forums I go into. I'd be completely at a loss in the hundreds of other forums I don't. Funny enough there have been forums where I have noticed some people and enjoyed reading their posts who I wouldn't like to see as mods as it might affect their posting.

Gillo

seamus wrote: »

In lieu of payment, flattery and alcohol are often used with mods as a way of hiding the fact that they're doing a crappy job for no pay.

That raises an important point, a lot of people seem to think mods get paid and / or it's a badge of honour, from my own point of view modding appears to be a thankless and time consuming role. From my own opinion, I wouldn't go looking for the role if it was a open contest (would I take the role if offered? It depends on the forum TBH).
Back OT, in my opinion the system works perfectly, perhaps give mods a three or six month "probation"? But from experience any mods in the forum I use do a brilliant job.

jonniebgood1

Spear wrote: »

Can't be that good if it's never turned up in DRP.

Thats what you call moderator(s) in full control.....:pac:

Morag

Not surprising it's extending circles of trust, only way anything works in a community.

menapyan

Thanks for the added detail, I think it helps a lot in forming an opinion wrt particular issues. I still believe that there is no cut and dry answer, there is no denying the selection process is always going to be difficult, some people don't handle power very well and only becomes evident after the fact, or where a particular few people have their own personal agenda set down which limits the natural progression of a community. Given fora which you personally set up that's something I'm sure you feel inclined to protect (can't say I'm familiar with any of them myself) but then there are forums which cater to a wider audience, like AH or TLL where an agenda is set out by two or three individuals and recruitment is based on those who will fulfill their criteria best. Essentially an entire community becomes driven by the will of a few select individuals.


(I played a role in requesting one of the forums I modded also but I was actually happier just being a contributor, I didn't for a minute think that it should have developed according to my own personal desires and relinquished the role in order to continue posting on level standing with the other members who's contributions I felt were much more integral to it's development than how I could have envisioned)

looksee

I was asked to be a mod completely out of the blue. I did not 'know' anyone nor was I 'friends' with anyone.

In the end, for personal reasons I asked to be demodded, and I confess I was quite relieved when it happened, I had thought I would regret stepping down. I did not realise how much it hung over my use of the site, even though I was modding very quiet and well-behaved forums.

I think Boards is a great site, and very well run. It isn't perfect, what is? But people criticising the odd mistake or wrong decision should remember:

The only people who never do anything wrong are the people who never do anything.

Wait. Ruu is back?

menapyan

looksee wrote: »

I was asked to be a mod completely out of the blue. I did not 'know' anyone nor was I 'friends' with anyone.

In the end, for personal reasons I asked to be demodded, and I confess I was quite relieved when it happened, I had thought I would regret stepping down. I did not realise how much it hung over my use of the site, even though I was modding very quiet and well-behaved forums.

I think Boards is a great site, and very well run. It isn't perfect, what is? But people criticising the odd mistake or wrong decision should remember:

The only people who never do anything wrong are the people who never do anything.

As this thread is in feedback, how I read the original post was that is was put as a question of curiosity as to how mod selection occurred, it's not an "us versus" issue. Several posts have helped informed the OP and anyone else who was interested in how that's achieved. Whether everyone agrees or not is almost irrelevant, it is just feedback but as your post demonstrates the mod/post mod system of approval has shown that it will always be and "us versus" situation and that's where the feedback ends. Might as well get used to it.

looksee

menapyan wrote: »

As this thread is in feedback, how I read the original post was that is was put as a question of curiosity as to how mod selection occurred, it's not an "us versus" issue. Several posts have helped informed the OP and anyone else who was interested in how that's achieved. Whether everyone agrees or not is almost irrelevant, it is just feedback but as your post demonstrates the mod/post mod system of approval has shown that it will always be and "us versus" situation and that's where the feedback ends. Might as well get used to it.

Sorry I don't follow the logic of your argument. The question, as you say, is how are mods selected. I am saying that it is not a 'who you know' situation. Other than that I don't know any more than you how mods are selected. What is your point?

nesf

looksee wrote: »

Sorry I don't follow the logic of your argument. The question, as you say, is how are mods selected. I am saying that it is not a 'who you know' situation. Other than that I don't know any more than you how mods are selected. What is your point?

I think she means you didn't feel like a normal poster when you were a mod. I could be wrong though.

looksee

nesf wrote: »

I think she means you didn't feel like a normal poster when you were a mod. I could be wrong though.

No, I felt like a normal poster, just that there was a kind of sense of obligation to - something. Yeah, that doesn't really make sense. Ok, I'll stop now.