On the subject of Moderation

nesf

A thought occurred to me when reading the censorship post. I was thinking why isn't their a code of conduct for moderators on their own boards? Most are respectful and don't abuse the responsibility, but there are instances when posts are unfairly edited or deleted and there is really nothing one can do but bicker for a while on this board. Are they firsts among equals or are they not confined at all by the rules that the rest follow?


What I'm asking is, could we have some kind of limit on mods deleting posts merely because they don't agree with their own veiws on a topic? Obviously if it's distasteful or a blatant attempt at insulting another poster, then its justified. But most edits/deletions aren't justified by the mod when they are performed. Could we have mods/admins giving a good reason whenever they edit something? Or at least saying who they are to avoid confusion as in the mentioned thread?

gandalf

Well I cannot speak for other mods but I work on the following principles. Posts will be deleted by me if they are overly abusive (I do not mind heated discussion), racist (something I cannot stand) or spouting pure nonsense that has nothing to do with the thread.

Threads are deleted for the above reasons and also if someone is pimping services that are inappropriate for Boards.ie.

Threads are closed by me rarely and only when they have run their course and starting to get repetitive.

Threads will be moved that have nothing to do with the relevant board.

TBH I probably do not have the time to post a justification for every action I take, a good example of this has been the humanities board over the past few days, I've been kept busy!

Gandalf.

WhiteWashMan

because a moderators job is to MODERATE.

hence they do what the see fit to keep their board of what that individual person would deem as rubbish.

if you have aproblem with a moderator moderating posts and you deem it unfair, then tell an admin.
youd think this was democracy or something.
i want i want i want.
12 click that person, delete that post, ban that person, undelete that, hes picking on me, he wont talk to me, that person smells.
and as paul says, to be honest we shouldnt have to waste time giving a reason for our every action.
if it becomes a reoccuring them and people start to notice a problem then yes, get something done. but if a mod removes or locks a post every now and then, theres always someone there to complain.
if monty locks a thread he always gives a reason, and thats good.
a moderator is only there to keep the forum as they see fit. like i said, if you have a problem, talk to admin. why does every second post here always complain about rubbish like this that can be sorted out with a private mail?

Bard

... was going to give a detailed reply to this, but instead...

well said, Gandalf and WhiteWashMan...

Hobbes

I am very against deleting someones post except in the case where it is illegal or a direct attack against someone. (spam crap just gets moved).

I found a new toy you might like Gandalf split/Merge (admin options below).

You can split a thread if it starts going off topic then throw that part of the thread to another forum, instead of moving everything.

Bard

now that you mention it Hobbes, - I heartily endorse the merge option... I've had to use it a lot lately on the IrelandOffline forum, as the board was swamped with threads about ADSL...

tHE vAGGABOND

no one use's my board so I dont have to moderate anything

other than that, I echo what gandy and wwm said

nesf

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
because a moderators job is to MODERATE.

....

Why does every second post here always complain about rubbish like this that can be sorted out with a private mail?

A point WWM, how can you moderate fairly if you are involved and posting in a thread? You're going to be biased against anyone who disagrees with you, for the most part anyway.

I agree with both what you said and Gandalf said though, I'm not complaining about mods, most of the time the system works very well, I'm just saying alot of the pointless topics posted on this board could be avoided if there was some kind of procedure that mods had to follow before locking or deleting threads. like if they had to give a warning first or some-such. I agree any change would put more pressure on mods, but you can always make some more, Digi-Tilmett to co-mod humanities anyone?

I agree that private mail should be used more, but how would the involved persons increase their post count anyway?? But definitely with the pm system there is no excuse for bringing up personal arguments on public boards.

Hobbes

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
no one use's my board so I dont have to moderate anything

other than that, I echo what gandy and wwm said

You have a board?

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by nesf


A point WWM, how can you moderate fairly if you are involved and posting in a thread? You're going to be biased against anyone who disagrees with you, for the most part anyway.
.

no. for me, just because i have a different viewpoint doesnt mean im going to delete a thread. i will delete a thread i consider useless. by useless i mean absolute drival.
it has nothing to do with the opinion of a moderator. personally i would be disappointed with any mod that locks a thread becasue someone had an argument with them.
i may be an anooying bas7ard, but i am fair.

Originally posted by nesf
I agree with both what you said and Gandalf said though, I'm not complaining about mods, most of the time the system works very well, I'm just saying alot of the pointless topics posted on this board could be avoided if there was some kind of procedure that mods had to follow before locking or deleting threads. like if they had to give a warning first or some-such. I agree any change would put more pressure on mods, but you can always make some more, Digi-Tilmett to co-mod humanities anyone?
.

proceedure.
belive it or not, we moderate boards because a lot of us have been here a long time. we are well known on-line and through personal meetups in pubs etc.
it isnt work. we dont get paid (nor would be want to) and its not considered work. we do it because we like to give back to the community.
bringing proceedure is like work.
many mods do give warning. they say, stop posting rubbish.
once you give yourself a bad name every time you print drival, it will be deleted. try printing something useful and get the mod thinking that 'hey, thats thought out and intereesting. i never thought of that before'
but dont ever say that we should have to use proceedures etc, coz like i said, we do it because we want to, and we dont deserved to be second guessed by people who have postd 10 posts and doesnt happen to like the fact that after saying something stupid their post has disappeared. we have a life too you know, and sometimes we like to get back to it.

Originally posted by nesf

I agree that private mail should be used more, but how would the involved persons increase their post count anyway?? But definitely with the pm system there is no excuse for bringing up personal arguments on public boards.

what has post count got to do with anythng?

you know what, i love these nice pub lunch afternoons.
too many beers though. want to fall asleep on my keyboard.
thank god for minions

nesf

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan


no. for me, just because i have a different viewpoint doesnt mean im going to delete a thread. i will delete a thread i consider useless. by useless i mean absolute drival.
it has nothing to do with the opinion of a moderator. personally i would be disappointed with any mod that locks a thread becasue someone had an argument with them.
i may be an anooying bas7ard, but i am fair.

I wasn't critising you, just talking about it in a general case. Plus it varies from board to board over the polarisation of issues, compare Humanities to Role Playing for instance, the lines between arguing a point and being a muppet are very blurred in the former.

proceedure.
belive it or not, we moderate boards because a lot of us have been here a long time. we are well known on-line and through personal meetups in pubs etc.
it isnt work. we dont get paid (nor would be want to) and its not considered work. we do it because we like to give back to the community.
bringing proceedure is like work.

I understand what you mean, and I do appreciate the work you guys do on pro gratis for the community. But I would consider procedure more of a safeguard than anything.

many mods do give warning. they say, stop posting rubbish.
once you give yourself a bad name every time you print drival, it will be deleted. try printing something useful and get the mod thinking that 'hey, thats thought out and intereesting. i never thought of that before'
but dont ever say that we should have to use proceedures etc, coz like i said, we do it because we want to, and we dont deserved to be second guessed by people who have postd 10 posts and doesnt happen to like the fact that after saying something stupid their post has disappeared. we have a life too you know, and sometimes we like to get back to it.

I agree, but on the other side of the argument is that sometimes the lack of a system for moderation can make posting very difficult, i.e. until you get used to the opinions/leniency of different mods, it's very easy to post something that doesn't sit well within one forum, while a different phrasing would be totally acceptable. I'm not saying that the mods are at fault but rather the system of moderation implemented. It's a fine line, but in the end of it all I agree with you, if it's going to add alot to the mod's workload it isn't going to be fair or practical for the mods. Is there any kind of common ground between the sides in your opinion?

Btw, I didn't start this thread because I'm having trouble with any mod over my posts, it's just that it can be annoying having to listen to ppl debate whether a mod had a right to edit something, and I wanted to hear the way different mods regarded the "job".

amp

I attempted to write a loose guideline for members and moderators. I gave up because each board is incredibly different and rules for one are intolerable for another. The system works likes this:

Member becomes muppet, moderator sorts muppet out. Moderator becomes muppet, is lampooned by other mods and if need be sorted out by admins. And it works. Some mods use to be muppets and now are tolerable (except me).

WhiteWashMan

well, when you start paying me then you can tell me how to moderate


and whoever is pr1cking about with my account, stop it.
and i think i know who it is, in which case a good spanking is about to be administered.