The Heavy-Handed Moderation Has to Stop

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Jen

That way posters will know what's going on and that other posters and members of GC were complaining and it's not just the mod serving their own personal agenda by erasing or deleting what THEY don't like.

This is what bothers me the most; there's a whole lot of discretion left to the moderators, and, while there are a few who do a great job, there are some who go a bit too far.

For example, what amounts to a "personal attack" depends on the forum involved. Some moderators will take out anything amounting to an attack, while others will delete posts with profanity, leaving personal attacks that have "clean" language, or worse, leaving posts that contain racist/sexist language. There are posters who are publically admonished on the boards for their conduct, while others (BA, for example), go on for months attacking others. Some posters have their posts deleted quickly, while others are allowed a lot more leeway in their posting. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

As for the Recruitment forums - I've tended to stay away because they are sorority-slanted, and as a fraternity member, I'm not exactly an expert on sorority recruitment. But, in my limited reading of the forums, I notice a lot of removal of honest assessments, leaving people with purely aspirational "You go get em!" posts. While some may see a perfect world where everyone gets a bid, and where every parent/friend/rushee is understanding of the process, that's not the way it is. A little honesty, harsh as it may sound, could go a long way to saving people from future disappointment. As more and more parents come to the board for advice on how to deal with their children's recruitment, they could use some honest advice as well.

Look, I understand moderating can be a pain in the neck, and I'm sure we all appreciate the work of those who do a good job. But, no one is forcing people to be moderators, and if you don't want to put work into it, you might as well try to do a good job of it.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by Jen

I'd appreciate a mod leaving a note in the a thread explaining why it was closed, locked, posts deleted etc. Even a simple:

"I've deleted a few posts I received complaints about that were venturing into personal attacks. Let's keep it clean because this thread has valuable information."

"This thread isn't appropriate for this forum, so I am moving it to Chit Chat."

"I'm locking this thread because I had 6 reports about the content. Certain posts may be removed and the thread re-opened shortly. Thanks for your patience."

"I am closing and pinning this thread to highlight the information it contains."

"I will be moving this thread to mod corner for clean up and it will return shortly. I've decided to move it to mod corner so other mods can help sort out the issues in this thread to remove any bias I may have."

That way posters will know what's going on and that other posters and members of GC were complaining and it's not just the mod serving their own personal agenda by erasing or deleting what THEY don't like.

Originally Posted by KSigkid

This is what bothers me the most; there's a whole lot of discretion left to the moderators, and, while there are a few who do a great job, there are some who go a bit too far.

For example, what amounts to a "personal attack" depends on the forum involved. Some moderators will take out anything amounting to an attack, while others will delete posts with profanity, leaving personal attacks that have "clean" language, or worse, leaving posts that contain racist/sexist language. There are posters who are publically admonished on the boards for their conduct, while others (BA, for example), go on for months attacking others. Some posters have their posts deleted quickly, while others are allowed a lot more leeway in their posting. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

As for the Recruitment forums - I've tended to stay away because they are sorority-slanted, and as a fraternity member, I'm not exactly an expert on sorority recruitment. But, in my limited reading of the forums, I notice a lot of removal of honest assessments, leaving people with purely aspirational "You go get em!" posts. While some may see a perfect world where everyone gets a bid, and where every parent/friend/rushee is understanding of the process, that's not the way it is. A little honesty, harsh as it may sound, could go a long way to saving people from future disappointment. As more and more parents come to the board for advice on how to deal with their children's recruitment, they could use some honest advice as well.

Look, I understand moderating can be a pain in the neck, and I'm sure we all appreciate the work of those who do a good job. But, no one is forcing people to be moderators, and if you don't want to put work into it, you might as well try to do a good job of it.

^^^^^^^^agree with both of the above postings.

[Tom Earp]

What is funny, as much as I have been maligned on this site, I only deleted one post when actually I should have just deleted a certain part of it as in a persons name. That alway bothered me.

But, I did have the courtesy to PM the person and the reason why.

When John asked me about a super Mod situation, I suggested to him it not be from people/mods on site but outside moderators. Well that did not proof out did it?

Now, there is problems in the ranks of not only members but Mods and I do now wonder why.

Have a great day!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

When John asked me about a super Mod situation, I suggested to him it not be from people/mods on site but outside moderators. Well that did not proof out did it?

Tom, this situation has NOTHING to do with the people who are supermods or the concept of supermods in general. Don't drag them into it, that's not what they are for.