I couple of days ago I started to respond to a comment directed at me in another thread. It took me a while to type out my response because of some distractions, but I finally got it done. I then posted it. Soon after that I got an angry PM from someone because I had posted in a closed thread. Apparently the thread was closed while I was typing, but because I am a moderator, the software accepted my post. I had no idea until I got the PM that the thread was closed. The person sending the PM was miffed because his attempt to post to the thread was thwarted by the closing, and he thought it unfair that I got to post and he didn't. After a prolonged exchange, I decided to remove the post. Because I felt the content of my post had some value, I decided to repeat it here.
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Since you brought that up, I will try to give some vague and generic context to the reference in the hope that it will help people understand the complex tole of the moderator.
As has been said, moderators are unpaid and only slightly trained dive enthusiasts who try to maintain the quality of this discussion forum. We have goals that include a friendly site in which people can talk about scuba in a relaxed atmosphere without feeling unduly attacked. Sometimes people do things that are blatantly against the ToS, and we act immediately by deleting a post or even banning the poster. Many of the problems are more in a gray area, though, and it is often hard to know what to do. When that happens, we usually have discussions in our private forum before acting. Sometimes a moderator acts and then the discussion determines that a different or further action might be more appropriate. It is not an easy job.
What happens the most, though, involves counseling. Yes, sometimes businesses get a little too much in your face about self-promotion, and sometimes they get reported for it. Blatant spam is taken care of immediately, but more often it is someone who just needs some advice. When that happens, that advice is given. Other problems also bring counseling. I recently moderated a situation in which a heated thread discussion had spilled over into private messages before one of them reported it. It was, frankly, a mess, and determining what to do led to some discussion among us before all parties were finally given some counseling about how to handle things better. (I think that went pretty well.) Some people don't like the counseling they receive, and they decide to make it public (well, at least their version of it). Of course, we are usually ethically constrained from giving the details of what we do, so it puts us at a disadvantage when that happens.
One of the concepts to consider when evaluating a post is the presence of malice. When we see people writing posts (or making reports) that seem to have no value other than to harm an individual's reputation, then malice is evident. That will usually call from some counseling about being a more respectful member of the community. Someone who feels true malice will not see it that way, though, and we will disagree. Usually that disagreement does not become public, but sometimes it does.[/quote]
.......................................
Since you brought that up, I will try to give some vague and generic context to the reference in the hope that it will help people understand the complex tole of the moderator.
As has been said, moderators are unpaid and only slightly trained dive enthusiasts who try to maintain the quality of this discussion forum. We have goals that include a friendly site in which people can talk about scuba in a relaxed atmosphere without feeling unduly attacked. Sometimes people do things that are blatantly against the ToS, and we act immediately by deleting a post or even banning the poster. Many of the problems are more in a gray area, though, and it is often hard to know what to do. When that happens, we usually have discussions in our private forum before acting. Sometimes a moderator acts and then the discussion determines that a different or further action might be more appropriate. It is not an easy job.
What happens the most, though, involves counseling. Yes, sometimes businesses get a little too much in your face about self-promotion, and sometimes they get reported for it. Blatant spam is taken care of immediately, but more often it is someone who just needs some advice. When that happens, that advice is given. Other problems also bring counseling. I recently moderated a situation in which a heated thread discussion had spilled over into private messages before one of them reported it. It was, frankly, a mess, and determining what to do led to some discussion among us before all parties were finally given some counseling about how to handle things better. (I think that went pretty well.) Some people don't like the counseling they receive, and they decide to make it public (well, at least their version of it). Of course, we are usually ethically constrained from giving the details of what we do, so it puts us at a disadvantage when that happens.
One of the concepts to consider when evaluating a post is the presence of malice. When we see people writing posts (or making reports) that seem to have no value other than to harm an individual's reputation, then malice is evident. That will usually call from some counseling about being a more respectful member of the community. Someone who feels true malice will not see it that way, though, and we will disagree. Usually that disagreement does not become public, but sometimes it does.[/quote]
