Moderation: Too much or too little?

[VooDooGasMan]

New members asking ?'s is there step into the door of cyberdiving, there way to conversate with members. And that will not change.

As tammy stated that mods get involved like the thread in tech, one mod at beginning said when your in my area look me up will do some dives and see if it is for you. Then all to often mods give an opinion like the one say's I dive once a week if not more and your a vacation diver and not much diving where you live so it is not for you, then that got another mod to post your not ready yet. Bull, tech diving is only doing decompression diving and using different mixes, and this poster stated how he quit his IDC over the politics, well go to tech and there there also as he will soon find out in his own thread.

To protect members is really no way for them to learn a forum.

I recently shut my property off to hang gliders as they lied on who gave permission, people and home owners like watching and it has been a bit like moderating, and I knew that when I put the cable up. The president of hang gliding finally called yesterday,when I told them not to jump two weeks ago and they said the president would contact me about discussing further use, after several jumps I closed it down.

I do not want to be mean and also I can not let the gliders I know use it either until an agreement has been made.( I am all about the safety of a sport that can kill you and wish there was a way every one could be alert of doing so)

I am sure some mods do not want to be mean and bully, but they do get caught up and feel they are doing a justice.

One member who does not post much is trace, and he answers clearly, I enjoyed his reads as it was going to be a refresher course when ever I finished, I now enjoy devon's post as they are similar.

I myself have posted too much as I get very little sleep, I'm dead tired and when the sunrises in two hours or so I am going for a dive then come home and get some sleep if I can. Members post for different reasons, I try joking, and I like short Youtubes to share, and there are a tremendous amount in the diving on there.

A mod who dislikes any member needs to just quit there services as they are not fair to the members or themselves.

 

[Cave Diver]

This is my biggest concern when it comes to moderation on this site,.... The moderators becoming personally involved in the threads.

I know about the generalities of your post, but I'm not aware of the specific example. In response to that, I'd like to say that moderators are users too and they often become involved in threads of interest. HOWEVER, as a general rule in order to maintain objectivity, moderators do not moderate threads they have posted in. There have been exceptions to this, but we really try to limit that as much as possible.

There are also instances when a moderator may join a discussion after an action has taken place, but we try to limit that as well. If it should happen, that person will normally recuse themselves from further actions in a thread. If you see instances of a staff member taking part in a discussion, and then moderating the thread I would encourage you to report the post, or PM another moderator to take an unbiased look at things.

A mod who dislikes any member needs to just quit there services as they are not fair to the members or themselves.

That is an admirable sentiment, but it's very difficult to attain. Everyone has their biases, prejudices, and "hot buttons." At some point, every user comes across another that they just don't like for one reason or another. Even our most tolerant staff members have someone that rubs them the wrong way and part of the reason for having a diverse staff is so that we can hand that user off to someone else and keep our personal biases from coloring our decisions.

Sometimes a user may feel "picked on" by a particular moderator. Most often that is because that moderator has been chosen to handle a particular issue for consistency, not because that Mod has an agenda with the user. Almost every action is document and discussed amongst staff before an action is taken. We may not all be in full agreement, but there is usually some degree of consensus before an action is taken.

If a user feels they are being unfairly targeted, they can always appeal it by emailing NetDoc directly at abuse@scubaboard.com and have the actions reviewed.

 

[danvolker]

New members asking ?'s is there step into the door of cyberdiving, there way to conversate with members. And that will not change.

As tammy stated that mods get involved like the thread in tech, one mod at beginning said when your in my area look me up will do some dives and see if it is for you. Then all to often mods give an opinion like the one say's I dive once a week if not more and your a vacation diver and not much diving where you live so it is not for you, then that got another mod to post your not ready yet. Bull, tech diving is only doing decompression diving and using different mixes, and this poster stated how he quit his IDC over the politics, well go to tech and there there also as he will soon find out in his own thread.

To protect members is really no way for them to learn a forum.

I recently shut my property off to hang gliders as they lied on who gave permission, people and home owners like watching and it has been a bit like moderating, and I knew that when I put the cable up. The president of hang gliding finally called yesterday,when I told them not to jump two weeks ago and they said the president would contact me about discussing further use, after several jumps I closed it down.

I do not want to be mean and also I can not let the gliders I know use it either until an agreement has been made.( I am all about the safety of a sport that can kill you and wish there was a way every one could be alert of doing so)

I am sure some mods do not want to be mean and bully, but they do get caught up and feel they are doing a justice.

One member who does not post much is trace, and he answers clearly, I enjoyed his reads as it was going to be a refresher course when ever I finished, I now enjoy devon's post as they are similar.

I myself have posted too much as I get very little sleep, I'm dead tired and when the sunrises in two hours or so I am going for a dive then come home and get some sleep if I can. Members post for different reasons, I try joking, and I like short Youtubes to share, and there are a tremendous amount in the diving on there.

A mod who dislikes any member needs to just quit there services as they are not fair to the members or themselves.

Considering that Voodoogasman has a "posting style" and "idea base" which is wildly divergent from pretty much everyone else on Scubaboard, it would be my vote to leave him fairly uncensored, and un-moderated. I'd call this a special case, and the forums he posts in will certainly react sufficiently, in 99% of the train wrecks he could be involved in

I would suggest giving him his own Avatar, maybe Superman from the Bizarro Universe, or an image inside of two facing mirrors, indicating a different dimension of being.

In any event, understanding can benefit from conceptual boundaries. We have people that push these boundaries in many directions, as a big discussion ensues....Voodoo tends to push in directions no one else does, and this actually has a value, in the evolution of a good discussion thread.
So maybe his Avatar should look like a picture from a Structural Geology text book...two tectonic plates coming together...the Boundary Pusher....

 

[tstormdiver]

I know about the generalities of your post, but I'm not aware of the specific example. In response to that, I'd like to say that moderators are users too and they often become involved in threads of interest. HOWEVER, as a general rule in order to maintain objectivity, moderators do not moderate threads they have posted in. There have been exceptions to this, but we really try to limit that as much as possible.

There are also instances when a moderator may join a discussion after an action has taken place, but we try to limit that as well. If it should happen, that person will normally recuse themselves from further actions in a thread. If you see instances of a staff member taking part in a discussion, and then moderating the thread I would encourage you to report the post, or PM another moderator to take an unbiased look at things.

As I stated, normally & most of the Moderators stand out as exemplary. Just a couple that seem to get a bit caught up. I know that everyone here is human & mistakes can & do happen. SB's methods of trying to be unbiased work 99.9999....% of the time. I know that the moderators here are volunteers & I appreciate their time & talents. I realize that clashes can & do occur & that you guys (& gals) can't be everywhere all the time. I do have to question,... how often do other moderators look at a controversial thread & if it is seen that a moderator that is becoming perhaps too personally involved, say something to that moderator that they should perhaps not be moderating that particular thread? I realize that, at times, kid gloves probably need to be used to prevent stepping on toes, but sometimes people get so caught up in personal opinions & such, they don't realize they should also be self- policing. Sometimes it just doesn't work. You had asked for specific examples of problems that have occurred on the board, & I gave you one. I was not aware of the methods to clear such issues up, but now I am. Thank you for the education.

 

[Cave Diver]

I do have to question,... how often do other moderators look at a controversial thread

It really varies by current workload. If the board is slow, we may have 3 or 4 mods following a thread that someone else is dealing with. If it's a topic that some of us have dealt with for the umpteenth time, we may steer clear of it and just let the responding mod handle it unless they ask for assistance.

& if it is seen that a moderator that is becoming perhaps too personally involved, say something to that moderator that they should perhaps not be moderating that particular thread?

When it gets noticed, this happens pretty quickly. If other staff feels that a mod is too personally involved, or being too harsh in their actions we will often have a discussion and try to pull things back a little. It is rare that one mod will step in and take over a situation (unless the first mod is just unavailable). Unless something is really over the top, the responding mod has a lot of latitude in how they deal with it, but we do continually offer guidance and opinions on developing scenarios and how it's being handled.

Even though a single mod is the point of contact for a decision, that decision is normally based on the collective input. Of course, there are some scenarios that are pretty well cut and dried and have little need for discussion. However, the more involved situations may run into several pages of discussion amongst the staff and it's a continually evolving process.

 

[tstormdiver]

It really varies by current workload. If the board is slow, we may have 3 or 4 mods following a thread that someone else is dealing with. If it's a topic that some of us have dealt with for the umpteenth time, we may steer clear of it and just let the responding mod handle it unless they ask for assistance.


When it gets noticed, this happens pretty quickly. If other staff feels that a mod is too personally involved, or being too harsh in their actions we will often have a discussion and try to pull things back a little. It is rare that one mod will step in and take over a situation (unless the first mod is just unavailable). Unless something is really over the top, the responding mod has a lot of latitude in how they deal with it, but we do continually offer guidance and opinions on developing scenarios and how it's being handled.

Even though a single mod is the point of contact for a decision, that decision is normally based on the collective input. Of course, there are some scenarios that are pretty well cut and dried and have little need for discussion. However, the more involved situations may run into several pages of discussion amongst the staff and it's a continually evolving process.

That is good to know. I was a moderator for a very small forum for a local dive club, so I know how it can go at times. I very rarely had to interviene,... & when I did, I kept all other moderators & admins informed of what was going on & my actions. Thank you for your openess.

 

[gypsyjim]

I am one of those who has had more than a few of my posts removed by moderators, usually because of an ongoing branching of a thread, that moderators felt needed to by ended, or because my post was in a chain of those that were all removed because they were all related to a member's post that was reported and removed for violations of TOS by a poster.

I can only recall ever "Reporting" one post (besides an occasional request by myself to correct one of my own posts), for a very gross violation of civil discussion. I can ignore folks who I need to, and see little reason to be a 'tattle tail', except in extreme cases.

Normally though I am seldom even aware of Mods, except for the MOD that appears by their user name in their posts. Not being continually aware of moderation is to me one sign of decent moderating.

In my opinion the level of moderating is pretty well balanced.


As for the "Use the Search Button", I too ran into that 'suggestion' a lot early on, but I too seldom found what I was looking for, being directed to threads that were long and convoluted. Luckily, there were often other members who are willing to post links the specific posts.

 

[Bob DBF]

As for the "Use the Search Button", I too ran into that 'suggestion' a lot early on, but I too seldom found what I was looking for, being directed to threads that were long and convoluted. Luckily, there were often other members who are willing to post links the specific posts.

It makes me chuckle when someone suggests "Use the Search Button", I figure that the suggestor has never used it, I also found the function cumbersome and almost useless in finding what I needed. Now I just open another browser window use Google and point it towards ScubaBoard.

I find the moderation of board reasonable, but I don't personally use the report function because I have a high tolerance of nonsense and If I don't like a particular discussion or person I move on.

Perhaps, like the yellow highlighted message for the Board polls, a short bold highlighted message could be run saying:

Use the report button, New Divers and Those Considering Diving and Basic Scuba Discussions are "flame free zones" to encourage everyone to participate, we need your help to insure that this goal is met.

Or something like that.

Lets face it no one reads the fine print on the page, but it was impossible to miss or not read something that bold. If you believe there is a problem then inlist the aid of the offended participants by showing them it is important to work togather for a solution.



Bob
-----------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[Diogenesdemar]

I am one of those who has had more than a few of my posts removed by moderators, usually because of an ongoing branching of a thread, that moderators felt needed to by ended, or because my post was in a chain of those that were all removed because they were all related to a member's post that was reported and removed for violations of TOS by a poster.

I can only recall ever "Reporting" one post (besides an occasional request by myself to correct one of my own posts), for a very gross violation of civil discussion. I can ignore folks who I need to, and see little reason to be a 'tattle tail', except in extreme cases.

Normally though I am seldom even aware of Mods, except for the MOD that appears by their user name in their posts. Not being continually aware of moderation is to me one sign of decent moderating.

In my opinion the level of moderating is pretty well balanced.

I'm with you for those first two paragraphs. I am, however, one who feels that the site is overmoderated and that the moderation when it occurs is, unfortunately, very inconsistent.

Let me expand, for the most part I am unaware of any moderation (that's a good thing). It's when the moderation does occur that I often find myself asking "really?" and, "for what?"

Most of the moderators, when they do appear, are more or less willing to let discussions follow their natural course, even to edginess (that's a good thing). There are a couple of the moderators who have a huge maternal/paternal streak -- I would like to ask them if they had a tough day with their kids, but that would probably get removed, huh?

Personally, I would like to hear the unvarnished thoughts and opinions of others. I would rather people be themselves then hold back valuable opinion, insight or criticism. Those that are incapable of valuable opinion, insight or criticism are easy to ignore.

 

[dmoore19]

Those that are incapable of valuable opinion, insight or criticism are easy to ignore.

Yes, they are.