Moderation options

[kgasso]

Hey everyone,

I'd like a little input from you all as to the future of moderation here.

I personally don't have the time to dedicate to much of anything to the site anymore outside of hosting, software upgrades, database maintenance, and writing/modifying MyBB plugins (mostly anti-spam/anti-bot stuff). We currently have one other moderator who is also not able to dedicate a ton of time here, and who is currently on a 3-week vacation.

Honestly, the situation right now kind of sucks. There's simply not enough time between the two of us to handle issues as they arise. Reports are sitting unread for 14+ days right now. I'm truly sorry for that, but I've got to prioritize my responsibilities at work and at home over anything that happens here.

We've tried self-moderation/no rules before, we've tried keeping all areas friendly, we've tried separating the site into two areas with a mix of both. I leave it to you to decide how to move forward, since what we've got going on now isn't working.

I'm looking forward to seeing your input.

Thanks,

Kam

** This poll is anonymous. Other users will NOT be able to see how you vote. Replies to this thread, however, are NOT anonymous. **

[csrowan]

I think that the rules themselves aren't that bad. The problem is that enforcement is so lax that they may as well not exist for all intents and purposes.

And then, when it's patently obvious that someone is continuing in the exact same behavior that got them banned multiple times before, I don't see how merely a slightly longer ban is appropriate.

If the rules have teeth, they won't need to be enforced very often. In my experience, at least. Not once people learn that, anyway.


And moderation should be visible. We should see it when it happens. If posts get deleted, there should be something left behind to let us know that posts were deleted and why. Or the speficially offending remarks get taken out and a note left in the post saying it has been moderated for content with a warning.

I can also see that going badly, when people complain about the moderation, though... but I still think it's better than everyone fighting and people leaving because they can't stand the hate and trolls.

I know, some other people like the concept of a free-for-all. Personally, I like the idea of being able to hold conversations on all sorts of topics with a bunch of different people with a bunch of different feelings on the subject who can all discuss things without it turning into a brawl.



In my opinion, this would require a moderator or moderators to review all posts made each day. Not just to review the reported posts. But the forum is already broken into sections. If you find a couple of moderators, they may be able to quickly review the posts daily. It might not be an immediate response, but it would be reasonable to expect most posts to be seen by one of them within a day or two. That's better than what we have now. And reports could be addressed more quickly.

And two moderators would mean that they could discuss problem posters with each other and then contact you with information and a proposal once they came to an agreement.

[SFLiberal]

I persoanlly would not trust any moderator who is a poster. Those who proclaim that they are civil and take the high ground are some of the worst offenders and have harassed posters prompting them to leave.

[BeerMe]

Those who proclaim that they are civil and take the high ground are some of the worst offenders and have harassed posters prompting them to leave.

This is true

[Scrapper]

If you consider that it seems to be the same 2 or 3 posters that make the moderation necessary in the first place... deciding how to handle it should be a no-brainer.

[Valuesize]

I chose "Try again to find additional moderators" because the egregious posts need to be dealt with quickly and imo more sternly. Perhaps some of the newer members that don't harbor longstanding grudges can step up. (though I have no idea what moderating entails)
I wish to volunteer these nice folks. (in no particular order) Some are newbies but all are reasonable and still currently posting sans TennisMom.

And the nominies are.... Kadylady, GPnative, Someones Dad, Tiamat, Cletus1, Snowlover, blondemom TennisMom, Homebrew4u, Jeep, Lucy, MarkM, oregon 67, Prospero, publius, tealeaf, & Willie Krash.

I would also choose "Remove most moderation." if we can allow say three volunteer members the ability to remove from public view offensive posts for later review by a moderator.

[GPnative]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

[Jeep]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

The next Forum Moderator is........................GPNative! A refreshing voice of reason.

[Valuesize]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

The next Forum Moderator is........................GPNative! A refreshing voice of reason.

Ok, there's one. Your name is on my list, that makes two.....

[Hugo]

Does anyone seriously think that cletus, or scrapper for that matter, will allow someone like Someones Dad to moderate??? LOL

[csrowan]

I know of a forum that had a moderator responsible for each section. That cut down the workload for each person.

[Scrapper]

Does anyone seriously think that cletus, or scrapper for that matter, will allow someone like Someones Dad to moderate??? LOL

"will allow"? How's that happen? Perhaps Cletus has leverage with the owner of RVF... but I do not.

[GPnative]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

The next Forum Moderator is........................GPNative! A refreshing voice of reason.

[Jeep]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

The next Forum Moderator is........................GPNative! A refreshing voice of reason.

I glad you're excited about your new job.

[csrowan]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

The next Forum Moderator is........................GPNative! A refreshing voice of reason.

I glad you're excited about your new job.

Well, he fits the first qualification. Don't give the job to anyone who wants it.

[chuck white]

I persoanlly would not trust any moderator who is a poster. Those who proclaim that they are civil and take the high ground are some of the worst offenders and have harassed posters prompting them to leave.

I believe you could trust me.
I wouldn't even censor Mark, unless he slandered someone. JC would have been only banned for a timeout. I really hate censorship and feel if I don't agree with someones option, I'll tell him otherwise but never would censor.

[GPnative]

I don't think the current rules are all that much to ask people to follow if you desire to have a forum that is not an all out total free for all. The trouble is finding impartial moderators and timely rule enforcement consistency, without it a lot of times moderation causes more problems then it solves.

Unless you have a couple moderators who are committed to daily reviewing, even having some back up mods identified to fill in for vacations, etc it really is not realistic to think the forum will not be a free for all to some degree. If party X & party Y get into a heated name calling argument, etc....what good does it do to warn, delete posts, etc days or even weeks later, the damage is done at that point and the message to posters is that rules are not enforced. It would be like scolding a child a week after they took a cookie from the cookie jar.

Forum moderation is never perfect and there will always be people who push the envelope, or people who think it's too much, ,too lax, etc. at the end of the day you need people who can be objective and consistent.

I would certainly hate to see "scrap the whole thing" because I don't partake in any other social media!

The next Forum Moderator is........................GPNative! A refreshing voice of reason.

I glad you're excited about your new job.

I take it all back, I don't know what I am talking about

[Valuesize]

Does anyone seriously think that cletus, or scrapper for that matter, will allow someone like Someones Dad to moderate??? LOL

He is on my list of suggested candidates because even while under considerable ridicule he always responds reasonably. I don't think anyone besides Kam has a say in who moderates and they would certainly be anonymous.

[csrowan]

Reasonably? He acts like a martyr even before anyone says anything to him.

[Valuesize]

Reasonably? He acts like a martyr even before anyone says anything to him.

A little overly dramatic tonight?

"Martyr: a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs."

I think he has proved himself reasonable just by sticking around under a heap of ridicule.