Can Mods not appear to be Mods in forums where they don't moderate?

actuallylike

How do,
just reading a thread there and a Mod (he/she was Mod of an unrelated forum) posted something that some people didn't agree with. There was the standard response of 'as a mod you should know better' followed by 'me being a mod on an unrelated forum doesn't matter'.

Would it be possible or feasible to make it so Mods aren't listed as Mods when posting in forums that they don't moderate?

Zaph

This repeatedly comes up, and I'm afraid the answer is no. I believe Danny said that he could attempt it but it would kill all the hamsters in the process, which would be a bit counter-productive.

Blatter

It clearly states what forums a mod moderates under their username. If people are too dim to notice it or not bothered to look, then that's their problem. It's only a minority of people that are like this anyway.

These people shouldn't be specifically accommodated for even if they could be (which I don't think you'd be able to with Vbulletin)

Don't see the point of this.

The whole "A mod should know better" argument really bothers me. Mods are people who have received no training, so just use their gut. As such, a mod can sometimes be wrong. Either way, they are entitled to voice their own opinion, as long as it isn't in breach of that specific forum or boards as a whole.

Lisha

Blatter wrote: »

It clearly states what forums a mod moderates under their username. If people are too dim to notice it or not bothered to look, then that's their problem. It's only a minority of people that are like this.

These people shouldn't be specifically accommodated even if they could be (which I don't think you'd be able to with Vbulletin)

Ok but people who use the site via their phone donot know which forum a mod moderates.

Would it be possible to have a sticky at the top of each section stating who the mods are for that section please?

Thank you

Blatter

Lisha wrote: »

Ok but people who use the site via their phone donot know which forum a mod moderates.

Would it be possible to have a sticky at the top of each section stating who the mods are for that section please?

Thank you

From a phone, if people can't see who's a mod or not in the first place, I can't see the problem in the OP arising.

Insect Overlord

Lisha wrote: »

Would it be possible to have a sticky at the top of each section stating who the mods are for that section please?

Nobody reads the stickies.

Lisha

Blatter wrote: »

From a phone, if people can't see who's a mod or not in the first place, I can't see the problem in the OP arising.

You can see they are a mod but you cannot see which forum they moderate

LizT

Lisha wrote: »

Ok but people who use the site via their phone donot know which forum a mod moderates.

Would it be possible to have a sticky at the top of each section stating who the mods are for that section please?

Thank you

It's usually in the charter.

Also, you should presume that the mod is just posting as a poster rather than a mod unless they're typing in bold or say
"Mod
blah blah blah"

Lisha

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Nobody reads the stickies.

Lol
I would though if I needed to know who mods were
I like to play by the rules

Blatter

Lisha wrote: »

You can see they are a mod but you cannot see which forum they moderate

Ah right. Still, I'd say the amount of posters that attack mods whilst mistaking them for mods of the forum they're engaging with them in, from their phone, would be quite low.

nesf

Deleted User wrote: »

The whole "A mod should know better" argument really bothers me. Mods are people who have received no training, so just use their gut. As such, a mod can sometimes be wrong. Either way, they are entitled to voice their own opinion, as long as it isn't in breach of that specific forum or boards as a whole.

It's not so much that the mod should know better but that the mod should know what they were doing. If I get banned from a forum because of a post of mine it's very likely that I knew that was going to happen before I hit Submit Reply. Infractions or cards, fair enough I see them handed out where I wouldn't do it but bans are nearly always far past the line of what's acceptable.

OldGoat

LizT wrote: »

It's usually in the charter.

Also, you should presume that the mod is just posting as a poster rather than a mod unless they're typing in bold or say
"Mod
blah blah blah"

I dislike using that Bolded shouting type of message in the quiet forums as it's a bit...loud and overbaring. I understand how and why it has to get used in noiser forums but in the vast majority of fora it's simply not necessary. A simple "Ahh here now..." is usually enough to put wrongs to right.
It's a personal thing.

nesf

OldGoat wrote: »

A simple "Ahh here now..." is usually enough to put wrongs to right.
It's a personal thing.

Before all this fancy infractions and yellow cards business, that's pretty much how we used to mod AH...

LizT

nesf wrote: »

Before all this fancy infractions and yellow cards business, that's pretty much how we used to mod AH...

Back when boards was all fields?

nesf

LizT wrote: »

Back when boards was all fields?

Yeah and a quiet stare from a mod could cow the AH hordes...

nesf

nesf wrote: »

It's not so much that the mod should know better but that the mod should know what they were doing. If I get banned from a forum because of a post of mine it's very likely that I knew that was going to happen before I hit Submit Reply. Infractions or cards, fair enough I see them handed out where I wouldn't do it but bans are nearly always far past the line of what's acceptable.

Admittedly that is true, but the OP was more referring to the fact that people would say those things, because the mod might say something that they didn't agree with, even if it wasn't in breach of any charters. At least that's what I got from it - I could be wrong, of course. If they do wrong, then of course they should know better, but being a mod shouldn't mean you're not entitled to voice your own opinion on a given topic.

nesf

Deleted User wrote: »

Admittedly that is true, but the OP was more referring to the fact that people would say those things, because the mod might say something that they didn't agree with, even if it wasn't in breach of any charters. At least that's what I got from it - I could be wrong, of course. If they do wrong, then of course they should know better, but being a mod shouldn't mean you're not entitled to voice your own opinion on a given topic.

Eh, mods really shouldn't be doing that normally... (in my opinion as a lowly Cat Mod of course)

nesf

nesf wrote: »

Eh, mods really shouldn't be doing that normally... (in my opinion as a lowly Cat Mod of course)

So mods shouldn't be entitled to express their own opinion?

nesf

Deleted User wrote: »

So mods shouldn't be entitled to express their own opinion?

I was referring to the "actioning" mod, sorry I can see how it was unclear.

actuallylike

For the record, I didn't suggest what I said in the OP because people were telling mods that they should know better. I just felt that if a mod is commenting in another thread, they should appear the same as the rest of us, after all they're technically 'off duty'. The gardai take their uniforms off before going to Coppers after all. There's no good reason for me to be able to see that someone is a mod of another forum and only potential problems arise. I've seen accusations of mods backing each other up for example. I don't believe this would happen but if you couldn't see they were mods it wouldn't be an issue. I feel in the feedback threads a mods status should be visible as they would probably be writing as mod. Anyway, this was answered in the first response that it would be to difficult to implicate so I guess that's it. Thanks though.

Orion

nesf wrote: »

I was referring to the "actioning" mod, sorry I can see how it was unclear.

As a cmod you should know better

My name is URL

Deleted User wrote: »

Don't see the point of this.

The whole "A mod should know better" argument really bothers me. Mods are people who have received no training, so just use their gut. As such, a mod can sometimes be wrong. Either way, they are entitled to voice their own opinion, as long as it isn't in breach of that specific forum or boards as a whole.

I agree with what you're saying, but I can see where the confusion might come in for some people, especially newer members. It's hard to know whether or not a mod is speaking with a degree of authority at times without knowing the dynamics of how the community as a whole operates.

Some (most?) people have a simple deference to those they perceive to be in a position of authority. If a mod from an unrelated forum to where discussion is taking place comes in and speaks their mind, in a somewhat immoderate way, you could forgive people for noticing it above the postings of 'ordinary' members. They may be put off from challenging the person in question, or from engaging in discussion with them subsequently.

Personally, I don't see why Mods need to have their usernames embiggened.. particularly when they are posting as ordinary members or in detached forums, but if it's technically impossible to change that then so be it.

Pumpkinseeds

I agree that Mods should be free to express their opinions. However,I was very upset to see that a Mod in Galway,of a different forum, had started a thread criticising the protests in Galway about the killing of feral cats at the hospital and suggesting a counter protest.

The information that Mod put forward in support of her argument was wrong and it led to a lot of ill-informed criticism of people involved in cat rescue in Galway. I'm not directly involved in with any of the organisations but I do know that the people who work with the feral cat organisations in Galway are all volunteers, who work and have the same commitments as the rest of us but they volunteer on top of all that.

So to see a thread, started by a Mod, that led to people accusing those volunteers of being lazy, unemployed etc upset me. When I challenged her on it I was given a very sarcastic response and told to report it. In my opinion that kind of thing is inappropriate and I would see it as an abuse of position. Some people would assume that being a Mod, her information on the subject was correct, as I said, it wasn't.

biko

A mod is not expected to be particularly impartial or "mod like" in forums they don't moderate. They're only expected to be mods in their own forum.
They get infracted and banned just like regular users if they overstep the charter in other forums.
Unfortunately users often don't understand this, they see the bolded name and think someone is a sitewide moderator (not the case), which is a concern for boards on a site level but hey that's how it works at the moment.

actuallylike

I must say that some things I've seen mods say that would be a completely bannable offence go by with a boldly written post to nobody in particular instead. Although the same happens for seasoned posters as well I guess. Nature of the beast I guess. The point still remains that there's no reason for a mod to display that they are a mod of another forum while in a different forum but as has already been established, not really possible.

Zaph

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I agree that Mods should be free to express their opinions. However,I was very upset to see that a Mod in Galway,of a different forum, had started a thread criticising the protests in Galway about the killing of feral cats at the hospital and suggesting a counter protest.

The information that Mod put forward in support of her argument was wrong and it led to a lot of ill-informed criticism of people involved in cat rescue in Galway. I'm not directly involved in with any of the organisations but I do know that the people who work with the feral cat organisations in Galway are all volunteers, who work and have the same commitments as the rest of us but they volunteer on top of all that.

So to see a thread, started by a Mod, that led to people accusing those volunteers of being lazy, unemployed etc upset me. When I challenged her on it I was given a very sarcastic response and told to report it. In my opinion that kind of thing is inappropriate and I would see it as an abuse of position. Some people would assume that being a Mod, her information on the subject was correct, as I said, it wasn't.

Would it matter any less if exactly the same thing was posted by a non-mod? Your issue is with what was posted, not the fact the the poster is a mod, and of a completely different forum at that. And I've no idea why someone would assume that a mod would always have correct information on a subject. I could start a thread on particle physics which, given the fact that I know nothing about the subject, is likely to be a load of gibberish. But by your reckoning because I'm an admin I should be an authority on the subject and anything else I post about. As always, if you have an issue with a post, regardless of who posted it, then report it and it will be reviewed by the forum mods to see if any action needs to be taken.

Mrs OBumble

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I agree that Mods should be free to express their opinions. However,I was very upset to see that a Mod in Galway,of a different forum, had started a thread criticising the protests in Galway about the killing of feral cats at the hospital and suggesting a counter protest.

The information that Mod put forward in support of her argument was wrong and it led to a lot of ill-informed criticism of people involved in cat rescue in Galway. ...

So to see a thread, started by a Mod, that led to people accusing those volunteers of being lazy, unemployed etc upset me. When I challenged her on it I was given a very sarcastic response and told to report it. In my opinion that kind of thing is inappropriate and I would see it as an abuse of position. Some people would assume that being a Mod, her information on the subject was correct, as I said, it wasn't.

Let's put a few facts on the table, to help people assess this post.

I started the thread you're talking about - here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056832163 - and yes, I deliberately gave it a quirky subject. And note that it was started back in mid-December 2012.

In it, I gave a partial quote of a newspaper article, and said
"From the Galway Indo site - anyone wanna do a counter protest about the protestors? " - complete with an emoticon at the end of it.

A little later, I posted "Fleas are sentient beings too: if someone is opposed to the killing to feral cats, then logically they must be opposed to the killing of fleas too." - along with some speculation (clearly labelled as such) that it was all a PR whitewash and what Rentokil were killing was actually displaced rats.

After that, in every post until mid-March, I asked a questions eg if anyone had ever heard of pet rats. I did not provide information, so I'm really struggling to see how anyone could think that I provided mis-information.

Now you're suggesting that I should not have started the thread because it led other people to say mean things about people who work in cat-rescue.

And you think that "Yawn, I'm not a mod here, so I can push any agendas I want within the bounds of the forum charter. If you have a problem with my post or thread, you know where the "report post" button is." is sarcastic.



I'm not going to say anything more here - readers can draw their own conclusions.

actuallylike

Zaph wrote: »

But by your reckoning because I'm an admin I should be an authority on the subject and anything else I post about.

Take for example the one I can remember. The Off the Ball lads on Newstalk left their posts so the Off the Ball thread was obviously discussing it. A boards user who happens to be a mod came in and started having a pop at everyone to get over it, it's just a radio show, stop being fanboys, etc. Everyone could see he was a mod so let him know that he should know better. His response was that it didn't matter that he was a mod somewhere else. My point is that if that's going to be the default response for a mod when discussing non mod issues, then the tit;e of mod should be stripped when not in their own forum. Sets a bad example if you're asking someone to moderate one forum when they don't obey the rules in another. A guard who's off duty who gets into trouble would surely feel the consequences when back in work, especially if he got into trouble while wearing his uniform.

Zaph

actuallylike wrote: »

Take for example the one I can remember. The Off the Ball lads on Newstalk left their posts so the Off the Ball thread was obviously discussing it. A boards user who happens to be a mod came in and started having a pop at everyone to get over it, it's just a radio show, stop being fanboys, etc. Everyone could see he was a mod so let him know that he should know better. His response was that it didn't matter that he was a mod somewhere else. My point is that if that's going to be the default response for a mod when discussing non mod issues, then the tit;e of mod should be stripped when not in their own forum. Sets a bad example if you're asking someone to moderate one forum when they don't obey the rules in another. A guard who's off duty who gets into trouble would surely feel the consequences when back in work, especially if he got into trouble while wearing his uniform.

And has already been explained in this thread, that's not technically possible. As we've always said, a mod is a regular user outside of their own forums, and we therefore would expect them to be treated as such. If you feel that a mod is repeatedly being a dick and is getting away with it, then PM the CMods and ask them to have a look. However please bear in mind that it's possible that they are not being a dick and that an individual's perception of what does and doesn't constitute a dick may not always match that of the mods, CMods and admins.

Pumpkinseeds

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I agree that Mods should be free to express their opinions. However,I was very upset to see that a Mod in Galway,of a different forum, had started a thread criticising the protests in Galway about the killing of feral cats at the hospital and suggesting a counter protest.

The information that Mod put forward in support of her argument was wrong and it led to a lot of ill-informed criticism of people involved in cat rescue in Galway. I'm not directly involved in with any of the organisations but I do know that the people who work with the feral cat organisations in Galway are all volunteers, who work and have the same commitments as the rest of us but they volunteer on top of all that.

So to see a thread, started by a Mod, that led to people accusing those volunteers of being lazy, unemployed etc upset me. When I challenged her on it I was given a very sarcastic response and told to report it. In my opinion that kind of thing is inappropriate and I would see it as an abuse of position. Some people would assume that being a Mod, her information on the subject was correct, as I said, it wasn't.

Mods are people too and are entitled to their own opinion, whether they're ill-informed or not. The point is that they did nothing wrong, none of it was in breach of the rules - this is the whole point of a discussion forum.. people discuss things and they're not always going to be right.

I think I know the thread you're on about and the nobody said anything that would sway anyone else.

Just remember that if a Mod says anything inappropriate or breaks that particular forums charter, then report that particular post. Chances are that that particular mod will see it, but if I'm right, they can't do anything about it - mods don't have the power to delete the reports. If you feel like nothing was done about it in a given time, get in contact with the category mod.