This is something that I've bee wondering about for a few weeks now, so I would like some opinions if yall don't min


If you wrote a list of 'standing orders' to be carried out at all times by you as a moderator, what would be standing order NUMBER ONE?

Anyway here is mine:
My first priority in being a moderator, is to be a good poster. A moderator should be knowledgable in the topics discussed in the forum he or she is moderating, so that the moderator can post good new threads to promote discussion, encourage others to post good stuff of their own, and in effect discourage the troublemakers from well, making trouble!

I'm really curious to see how different mods approach their 'duties' here.

I moderate as I see fit. I post as I would regularly post, unless I'm asked a question.

The only thing I have to say on the matter of rules: they aren't needed.

We provide a service. If you don't know how to provide this service, then you shouldn't moderate.

Wintermute wrote up a pretty solid set of guidelines and I've posted it several times.

I feel no need to guide the forums that I moderate, they have a solid base of regulars. I simply contribute.

Agreed. I have started , probably, over a dozen threads per page (who counts?) and reply to almost every other thread.

Other than that, I don't edit for content--sometimes I WILL break down one LOOONG paragraph, for easier reading.

Don't delete as much as I used to, in favor of handing out neg-rep and/or public scolding.

Haven't had to move a thread for quite a while--having the sticky FAQ thread probably helps.

Hmm maybe I didnt word the question well enough..

Wintermute wrote up a pretty solid set of guidelines and I've posted it several times.

I wish more people would actuallY READ it though thats for sure.

I'm really trying to be nice and not throw my weight around.
I'll show no mercy for people who deliberately spam (sambob, I think you missed the spam attacks lately?).Those people get infracted instantly and their threads closed.

If a thread is clearly dumb and it's evident the poster made it just to be a smartass (Lol, is pussy an oral indulgenze?) I'll close it but wont infract the poster unless they persist in it. (like, over 6 times).

I'm not a superhero. I'm a human. I'm as susceptible to insults and stupidity as much as any regular poster, and I'm not above jumping into a petty flame war. But I wont abuse my powers.
I have my grudges and despise certain posters as I'm sure we all do. Once I got over the hysteria that these posters try to get me de-modded on a regular basis, I can manage to simply scan their posts without absorbing any of the idiocy.

I've been told i have a slight tendency to on occaisions micromoderate, which I know alot of people loathe. By this I mean if someone posts a bloody good thread and someone tries to de-rail it by outright being a prick and trying to make the thread into yet another stupid flame war, I'll either try to play nice and attempt to reason with the poster, or failing that, just get rid of their post.

I dont do that anymore.



I love Totse and it makes me sick when people fuck with it. I tend to check on my forums every 20minutes or so when I'm not working or sleeping.


I like to be nice to people. Even if someone has made a dumb thread, I'll try not to be a bitch about it.
I closed a thread in GPP that I thought was silly considering there was a stickied thread on the topic allready, but once the poster had explained to me why he'd posted the thread,I was happy to re-open it.

I'm very defenceless against people who are nice about it all.
I'm not a great mod yet, and there are a few people who I've mortally pissed off it seems./.
But some of the Rep comments I've got have been lovely.
I'm not a Rep whore, but it's a very satisfying feeling when I get a comment from a poster thanking me for my help or moving a thread or whatever.

It's nice to know that I do sometimes get stuff right. :)



I wasnt too keen on wintermutes list of stuff. She made it sound so tiring and annoying, and more like a chore than the pleasure and honour it really is to be a mod here.




I tend to get defensive if I feel a foreign mod is trying to move in on my turf or trying to 'backseat moderate'. I dont know why. It just feels a tad intrusive and gets my hackles up. It's like some random pretty girl flirting with my boyfriend on some level. Dont do it.


As a newb mod I still have difficulties. I find myself misunderstood at times.
Sometimes people think I'm being sarcastic when I'm being nice and that I'm being bitchy when I'm laying down the facts. the ':)' doesent portrat as much as I wish it could.

Also, I face small dillemmas. If I close x thread y posters will be pissed off. But if I leave X thread open, z posters will start complaining that I'm not doing my job and chances are moderator R will come along and close it and make me look silly anyway.
So getting the balance right is important.


Dont spam my forums or post rubbish deliberately to upset regular posters. Dont hurt Totse. Dont post shit about my guinea pigs and encourage Totse members to go out and kill guinea pigs just to spite me.

Oh and...Dont pretend to be something you're not, especially if you cant back up your claims.
That ones not a rule it's just something that pisses me off and makes me lose all respect for that poster automatically.



I've got a long way to go before I become the perfect moderator, but by god I'll get there and I'll wear that big shiny badge with pride when I get it.



...There is a big shiny badge, right?

I just post in my forums, try to be helpful, and lock/move any threads that are out of bounds.

Oh, we also get quite a few warez threads in T&T, so I do my best to eliminate those and make it clear that they are not welcome.

...There is a big shiny badge, right?

No, there isn't a shiny badge. We aren't MODERATORS, we're just posters with a hint of responsibility. We preform a service as needed; when it's not needed, we're the same as any other poster.

I fully agree with this post.

I post the same as I did before I became a mod, and when the need arises I'll do my duties as a moderator.

I'd rather lock a thread than delete a thread, but I'd rather proper discussion was attempted before a lock...If that makes sense.

No, there isn't a shiny badge. We aren't MODERATORS, we're just posters with a hint of responsibility. We preform a service as needed; when it's not needed, we're the same as any other poster.

Exactly.

It seems that some of you are going this for e-sthetic (haha...) purposes.

I've got a long way to go before I become the perfect moderator, but by god I'll get there and I'll wear that big shiny badge with pride when I get it.

I think you need to go outside. Ride a horse, go swimming, collect leaves.

Simple.

I AM A CONTROL FREAK!

j/k

Ok seriously, my 'leitfaden' , my motivation and guiding thought is Freedom Of Information.

Not necessarily Freedom Of Speech, the two aren't always the same.

It probably doesn't show through much on S&A I know. But its the reason I'm there and the reason I moderate.

Oh and Yoyo , you already do a better job at moderating S&A than I do and yes I have been watching...(even if I'm not around much at the moment).

My philosophy is pretty simple: The reason a person becomes a moderator of a forum is because they are a member of that forum. They are one of them. They are not some outside authoritarian figure who rides a high horse and lives in a castle in the sky. They are not of some elite status that gives them a right to stomp on the peons. They are regular users who have been given extra permissions so they can help keep the forum clean. Because of that, my first duty is to gain the posters' respect by being one of them - posting actively, helping people, and when needed moving a thread. You can't scare someone into respecting you by threatening them with a ban every time they fuck up. That's why nobody likes cops.

In the past I've asked moderators to post more often in their forums because when we were trying to find inactive mods, we'd go by posts not moderator activity. So of course, after demodding them I get an email, "Hey, why did you demod me? I close threads there every day" Well, then you're not really doing your job, because moderating is more than just closing and moving threads.

I post when and what I can and close/delete things as necessary, but I generally keep my nose out of things and let things run themselves.

One thing that has always driven me NUTS about moderators is when someone would edit a post because it didn't reflect their opinion. It's funny and appropriate sometimes, but generally not. I saw that earlier today and it made me rather upset. I see lots of posts I disagree with in headshrinkers, and I'd like to delete them, but I don't because Totse is about free speech (or so I've been led to believe) and people have a right to their opinion, evne if it is stupid, mean or completely irrelevant. There's no point in fixing something that isn't broken. If the post is being ignored and not creating flames, then why piss people off by sticking words in their mouth, in a way? BAH.

My philosophy is pretty simple: The reason a person becomes a moderator of a forum is because they are a member of that forum. They are one of them. They are not some outside authoritarian figure who rides a high horse and lives in a castle in the sky. They are not of some elite status that gives them a right to stomp on the peons. They are regular users who have been given extra permissions so they can help keep the forum clean. Because of that, my first duty is to gain the posters' respect by being one of them - posting actively, helping people, and when needed moving a thread. You can't scare someone into respecting you by threatening them with a ban every time they fuck up. That's why nobody likes cops.

Quite perfect. Being a regular poster is the reason I was offered the position of HB mod, and I still act as a regular in there (on the days it's interesting, anyway). I rarely need to do any moderating anyway. The same with SG; I volunteered for the rotation because I like the forum, and generally I don't post any differently in there now I mod it. In return, people have never gone out of their way to make trouble for me, and many regulars have been actively helpful when I'm trying to track down spam or personal information or something. It makes being a mod a little extra pleasure when it could just as easily be a lot of extra work.

My philosophy is pretty simple: The reason a person becomes a moderator of a forum is because they are a member of that forum. They are one of them. They are not some outside authoritarian figure who rides a high horse and lives in a castle in the sky. They are not of some elite status that gives them a right to stomp on the peons. They are regular users who have been given extra permissions so they can help keep the forum clean. Because of that, my first duty is to gain the posters' respect by being one of them - posting actively, helping people, and when needed moving a thread. You can't scare someone into respecting you by threatening them with a ban every time they fuck up. That's why nobody likes cops.


Pretty much my stand. That's the reason I was modded in Go Team. I was pretty much the only person that posted there with any consistency. Same with moving pictures and Oral Indulgences. I've been posting in those forums since I first joined(keep that in mind when you, AM, and Jeff purge mods ;) ).

As an addendum, I also think light moderation is the best method. I think anyone that closes borderline threads is doing a shitty job. My thought is, even remotely borderline threads(such as a thread about using sperm or shit as an ingredient in cooking) should be there, because those are the threads that often spark the most interest(I believe the sperm thread got near 40 posts, which is quite good for OI).

I also think threads should be moved(unless it's to one of the forums like Spurious, B&M, or HB), not simply closed.

But yeah, I guess overall I moderate lightly.

Sam, Euda, and Zok pretty much said what I was going to put here, so I won't go into that.

Anyway, in all of the forums I've moderated since I started, I really just tried to make the forum more enjoyable for the rest of the regulars. Seems like common sense, but unfortunately you wouldn't be surprised to see how many people forget that, and make it their mission to eliminate "bad" posters whenever they might slip up. I don't think anyone should be banned unless there aren't any other options. If I had been banned when I started posting, just for being a moron (which I certainly was) and irritating people (which I certainly did), it's possible that I'd be Alduin right now. :p

Closing borderline threads has never made much sense to me, because it's not something that most people dislike. Only a few nitpicky people will complain about these threads. Others see nothing wrong with it, and will start good discussions. So why close them? The whole point of being a moderator is to make the forum more enjoyable, and I don't see how posting in a forum full of locked threads and having to question every post you make is fun.

Most people only really want to see spam and obviously off-topic threads removed, so that's generally all I remove. What's the point in moderating a forum if you're just pissing (good) people off?


I've always thought that if people don't really notice a lot of the things you do, you're doing a good job. :D

...And I've rambled. Sorry.

Well most of you have said mouthfuls so here's mine.

I moderate the way in which I wanted moderators to moderate when I was a 'normal' regular. As in, I wanted the mod to lock/move/delete shit, know what they are talking about and where they didn't NOT post some shit that meant nothing more then sidestepping the not knowing situation.

By 'normal' regular I mean those that want proper discussion occuring and idiots thrown out the door, perferably with the door locked behind them.

I like to think I act no differently to that of a 'normal' regular besides the fact I have the power to control content in the forums I moderate and make decisions as to what goes where, and who goes where.

I don't know if that answers the original post but generally speaking it is how I stand overall on things.

All good resposes (well except for one or two...)

But let me ask you another way, what is a moderator's FIRST priority?

I could type out an answer, but it would basically be what you said in your original post, worded differently. I've already rambled enough in this thread, so I'll just say that you hit the nail on the head.

1. TOTSE Member.

2. Moderator.

That order.

Wintermute wrote up a pretty solid set of guidelines and I've posted it several times.


truckfxr was nice enough to turn me on to those guidelines the first day I was assigned moderator. I can't begin to tell you how helpful that was!

I'm new at all this, but I feel like reading through every thread in this forum also gave me a pretty broad understanding on what to do and what not to do.

I hope to revisit this thread with more experience and confidence in a month or so. As already stated here, I am just another regular poster given an opportunity to help out.

I think you need to go outside. Ride a horse, go swimming, collect leaves.

Yeah. Obviously I was totaly fucking serious and I only do this job for the money and material possesions.


this is what fucks me off. People are so quick to jump on any small thing they can to make fun of me.

*cough* What was that word? That phrase of Jeff's? *cough*

Oh yeeees now I remember...

"Users don't count"

:P

Okay, if you put it like that, my first priority is to maintain the integrity of the forum.

I do this by posting quality threads, responding quickly to questions, and dealing with threads that are inappropriate.

Yeah. Obviously I was totaly fucking serious and I only do this job for the money and material possesions.


this is what fucks me off. People are so quick to jump on any small thing they can to make fun of me.

I'm not making fun of you. I'm being serious in a fun way.
I think you'd be a better mod if you stopped worrying about how to be a better mod.

I'm not making fun of you. I'm being serious in a fun way.
I think you'd be a better mod if you stopped worrying about how to be a better mod.

I have to agree on that point.

Also, it's very sunny outside. :)

*cough* What was that word? That phrase of Jeff's? *cough*

Oh yeeees now I remember...

"Users don't count"

:P

Did I miss something?

I have to agree on that point.

Also, it's very sunny outside. :)

Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why would I want to be anywhere else?

egh