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Genuine question: Why does moderator input tend to kill a thread?

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I find it refreshing that the Mods are discussing moderation openly in this thread.

The more understanding between the Mods and the posters can only be a good thing.

 

Not from my end :hihi: I got into trouble :)

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I find it refreshing that the Mods are discussing moderation openly in this thread.

The more understanding between the Mods and the posters can only be a good thing.

 

I agree.

Some here think the moderators sit in a big comfy chair in front of a PC all day waited on hand and foot to sustain them whilst they hover vulture like just waiting for someone to slip up and earn their wrath, when the opposite is usually true.

 

I'd do a 10 hour day then log into my forums only to be greeted by a complaint list as long as your arm, and when it's lengthy complex threads you have to deal with when all you want to do is grab a drink and stick your feet up who can blame them for giving short thrift in certain cases. ?

 

Unfortunately in most cases moderating brings no recompense for time given, so how would those moaning here feel in that situation ? quite differently if actually faced with it? Yes there is the choice to just jack it in but once again that means no forum, and who wants that. ?

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I see your point and it's entirely valid...but other than having a guardian of each thread, it's not feasible for mods to have an intimate knowledge of exactly whats happened and who the instigator was/is...As I said most of the time, it's a reported thread that alerts a mod (whoever is around at the time)...and we have to look at it, as best we can, and make a decision there and then...sometimes that's a thread lock...post removal (bearing in mind we have to remove posts quoting the offending post too)...thread deletion, or a ban for whatever infringement has taken place...it's a real tightrope walk!

 

No, you seem to not be seeing my point. My point is that a moderator will always be better able to moderate a thread that they are deeply familiar with- e.g. one that they've been posting on.

 

So current sf policy of discouraging mods from moderating threads they're involved in, is clearly not conducive to effective moderation- that is my point.

 

I appreciate, as you say, mods can't be involved in all threads, but, I've never said otherwise- the best you'll get is that some mods will be involved in some threads- unless, of course, they're encouraged not to by sf owners.

 

 

As for locking/deleting threads- no, IMO that is not a valid thing for a mod to do- it's what mods do when moderation has failed or been ineffective. Good moderators with good moderating policy would never have to lock or delete a thread- it wouldn't be necessary as they would have removed those responsible for the thread becoming problematic.

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You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that closing and removing threads is our first port of call for thread moderation and it really isn't.

 

Dealing with a problem forum user is not as simple as just banning one account most of the time. Many users just register another account after they are suspended and return to the same threads to continue the same arguments, and on top of that when threads have to be cleared up it's often not enough to just remove a few posts, because the ones that quote that post, answer that post or develop an argument on from that post also need removing. Often once all of those posts are removed there's only a handful of posts which don't bear much relation to each other left, and that's after lots of mod work.

 

With the best will in the world there's a limit to the amount of moderating time that we can give to a single thread, and to return to the same thread repeatedly when more problems are reported just adds to the likelihood that the decision will be taken that forum users have no intention to let the thread progress peacefully. This then takes you back to the beginning of my post about dealing with problem users on a thread.

 

 

you should "sticky" this somewhere...or certainly save it for an easy "copy and paste" ... it's already lost in the myriad of posts here, yet only a couple of hours old.

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It is better to report something early on, that way perhaps only a couple of posts may need to be removed, and one or two posters dealt with. If issues go unreported for a while, then other posters quote the offensive or irrelevant stuff, and untangling strings of posts becomes a lengthy process. As everyone who works on the forum is a volunteer, we don't always have time for lengthy processes, and may have to take the quick option, ie removing the lot.

 

A discussion on any subject should be possible, however, when they descend into petty bickering; name calling; offensive language; and accusations, then the genuine debate has often ground to a halt anyway.

 

No- as I've mentioned already, on certain threads (religion and drugs) it is not best to report posts, either early, or at all, as doing so results in mods simply locking the thread: I've seen it happen on multiple threads when I used to report offensive posts.

 

I've even pm'd mods and offerered to personally report all offensive posts I see on such threads, which obviously would save mods a lot of time and effort. However, my condition was that there would be some assurance that, if i did so, the mods would tackle the posters responsible, rather than lock the thread. The threads were repeatedly locked anyway, so no, i will no longer report such posts, because doing so ultimately leads to the thread being locked.

 

I'd happily reconsider if there was some effort to address the thread locking issue i.e. mods deal with the posters responsible and do not lock threads.

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As for locking/deleting threads- no, IMO that is not a valid thing for a mod to do- it's what mods do when moderation has failed or been ineffective. Good moderators with good moderating policy would never have to lock or delete a thread- it wouldn't be necessary as they would have removed those responsible for the thread becoming problematic.

 

I'd agree, if they were "professional" moderators paid for the role, but they aren't and have a wage to earn, a family to care for and a life of their own to live much like ourselves. Expecting volunteer moderators to have every thread covered 24 is just unrealistic, no. ?

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You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that closing and removing threads is our first port of call for thread moderation and it really isn't.

 

Dealing with a problem forum user is not as simple as just banning one account most of the time. Many users just register another account after they are suspended and return to the same threads to continue the same arguments, and on top of that when threads have to be cleared up it's often not enough to just remove a few posts, because the ones that quote that post, answer that post or develop an argument on from that post also need removing. Often once all of those posts are removed there's only a handful of posts which don't bear much relation to each other left, and that's after lots of mod work.

 

With the best will in the world there's a limit to the amount of moderating time that we can give to a single thread, and to return to the same thread repeatedly when more problems are reported just adds to the likelihood that the decision will be taken that forum users have no intention to let the thread progress peacefully. This then takes you back to the beginning of my post about dealing with problem users on a thread.

 

We've been through this before- I know your opinion on this issue and I disagree with it.

 

Moderation is simple- look at the post- does it contain offensive comments/swearing/insults/deliberatly inflammatory? if so, warn the poster, then ban then if they repeat.

 

Multiple accounts- no problem- if the post is offensive delete, close that account.

 

Then enlist help from users by encouraging them to report offensive posts and assuring them that their help will be used properly, and that the current locking of threads will cease.

 

Because one thing is sure- locking/deleting threads is not a valid form of moderation: locked threads are a failure of moderation.

 

And I've seen too many threads locked when it was totally clear which posters were being offensive and could have been easily dealt with.

 

I'm not saying moderating sf isn't without it's difficulties- given the, in my view, lack of effective moderation policies, I would imagine it's almost impossible to make effective decisions.

 

But that's what happens when things aren't done properly- it makes things worse.

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What a waste of pixels & bandwidth this thread is.

 

 

Right or wrong the admin of this forum will do as they please.

 

 

Sorted.

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As you know, I've recently been made a moderator....So why does it have an adverse affect upon threads that I ge involved in?...They seem to die...:huh::huh::huh:

 

I once got offered the chance, I wouldn't do it for love nor moneY, it's a thankless task.

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As you know, I've recently been made a moderator....So why does it have an adverse affect upon threads that I ge involved in?...They seem to die...:huh::huh::huh:

 

Well at least this thread hasn't,it seems to have killed the rest.:)

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I'd agree, if they were "professional" moderators paid for the role, but they aren't and have a wage to earn, a family to care for and a life of their own to live much like ourselves. Expecting volunteer moderators to have every thread covered 24 is just unrealistic, no. ?

 

Which is why I've not suggested it. I do think they should have some effective moderation policies though, as that would make life a lot easier for them.

 

---------- Post added 24-12-2012 at 01:51 ----------

 

I find it refreshing that the Mods are discussing moderation openly in this thread.

The more understanding between the Mods and the posters can only be a good thing.

 

I agree. This thread is a first- other efforts by board users have been ruthlessly deleted/locked- discussing moderation policy on this board has always been a big no-no.

 

Hopefully, this thread, being started by a mod, will bear some useful fruit.

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In my opinion and I have been on here a long old time and posted a couple, the users don't make the job any easier and neither does the easy way of being able to make username after username that is my pet hate about this forum, the mod has to stay themselves while the dual user do as they please, I suppose you could say hats off to the mods for that.

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