The Heavy-Handed Moderation Has to Stop

[Senusret I]

Look, we all understand that GreekChat is free and that ultimately, final decisions rest with John.

But this is officially banoodles.

I am really sick and tired of moderation that is inconsistent across the board.

We need standards NOW.

We need a democratic process for selecting moderators NOW.

This is absolutely ridiculous and I don't like it one bit.

[Tippiechick]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Look, we all understand that GreekChat is free and that ultimately, final decisions rest with John.

But this is officially banoodles.

I am really sick and tired of moderation that is inconsistent across the board.

We need standards NOW.

We need a democratic process for selecting moderators NOW.

This is absolutely ridiculous and I don't like it one bit.

That is one of the best ideas I have ever heard.

[DaemonSeid]

I want change that we can believe in

[epchick]

Of course certain mods are going to oppose any type of moderating standards. It goes again their "own agenda" type moderating where they have free reign to reject or accept threads. Having certain "across the board" standards would make it harder for them to follow their own agenda & "justify" it.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by epchick

Of course certain mods are going to oppose any type of moderating standards. It goes again their "own agenda" type moderating where they have free reign to reject or accept threads. Having certain "across the board" standards would make it harder for them to follow their own agenda & "justify" it.

You might be surprised.

Many of us have asked for clearer guidelines for a long time.

[Senusret I]

^^^^ I am not picking on you, but I will just say the first thing that comes to my mind....

What makes the current moderator cohort the ruling class? Why not actually put it to the users themselves, including the moderators?

ETA: I guess I'm saying it shouldn't matter if any current mod vehemently opposes anything if it hasn't been put to the people to decide.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

^^^^ I am not picking on you, but I will just say the first thing that comes to my mind....

What makes the current moderator cohort the ruling class? Why not actually put it to the users themselves, including the moderators?

ETA: I guess I'm saying it shouldn't matter if any current mod vehemently opposes anything if it hasn't been put to the people to decide.

That's a good question, but we have no real official way of determining such things if John isn't around. He has discussed the idea of moderator standards with us before and we have something very very very very very extremely loose there now, but nothing concrete.

The other boards I'm active on on the net are very extremely moderated. I personally would like to see a more comprehensive TOS/Moderator code of standards and behavior put in place. For example, in the past, on the Mod's Corner, I have suggested this as a possible example:

http://www.fictionalley.org/tou.html

Obviously a lot of that doesn't apply to us as we're not a fanfiction forum or whatever, but it's an idea.

I just don't see any way at this point that this could be accomplished without John around... your idea of the users writing up something is fascinating but I'm not sure how in practice that would work.

[nittanyalum]

LOL @ "banoodles".

[Benzgirl]

Banoodles needs to be added to the GC Dictionary.

[Senusret I]

Banoodles came from Making the Band, Season 2.

It is also where we got such jewels as:

"Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, and Dylan"

and

"Let em fight! Let em fight!....... ain't enough room!"

[fantASTic]

I definitely agree. I've seen two or three threads closed lately that were completely unnecessary - yes, a disagreement was in place, but not in a negative way. Each time, it was closed by the same person.

Irritating, and stifling.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

We need a democratic process for selecting moderators NOW.

I agree. I also believe that each org which has its own forum should be entitled to have a mod, if that org so chooses. (It still irritates me that KD doesn't have a mod.)

[Kevin]

Considering the different forums and the different norms, I think consistency might not be a good thing. For example, I wouldn't moderate any of my forums the same way I'd moderate Chit Chat or Recruitment. I'm wondering what sort of "consistency" people are expecting? It's hard to be consistent when the sorts of situations presented from forum to forum aren't consistent.

As for new moderators, I don't speak for anyone but myself, but the supermods were brought in to help moderate some of the smaller GLO forums, many of which are almost never used. I agree that there are problems with some larger GLO forums, e.g., Kappa Delta, which don't have moderators. Unfortunately, John is the only person who can add a moderator and John hasn't done that yet.

If anyone has suggestions for me personally or for any other moderator, I think we're all fairly open to criticism. We put ourselves out there as moderators, being criticized for making decisions is par for the course. That's the risk we run when we make calls we know are going to be controversial.

[pbear19]

I suspect that most people would be happy with, rather than absolute consistency across all boards, consistency within a forum and logical explanations of actions. When a moderator refuses to explain the logic behind an action, there is going to be backlash. No, the moderator isn't obligated to explain, but choosing not to explain causes upheaval like this. It's not hard to communicate with people about your actions, and it's the best preventative measure because it's the only way people get a feel for the 'rules'. If a moderator is offended that they are being asked to justify their actions, if they don't want to have to deal with people disagreeing with them, then perhaps the mod needs to step back a bit, because being offended in that manner is making the situation too personal. A moderator's actions should never be so personal that they cannot be explained, and if they are, it's time to step down, IMHO.

[Kevin]

I can buy that.