[RolandIRL]

Just want to throw in my 2 cents here.

It's clear from this thread (and others) that some posters just don't like being moderated. To openly question moderator decisions on-thread has never been allowed in the NUIG forum (or anywhere on Boards) in my time here, yet I've seen time and time again, multiple posters from this thread do it since the current mods were appointed. Frankly I'm surprised they didn't ban people for it, despite multiple warnings on the subject and it being in the charter (iirc I was the one who put it there months ago, if not it was one of the mods before me). There's a reason it's kept to PM and the Helpdesk so that the thread doesn't get derailed and end up a mess.

To say that the "economics" discussion was relevant to NUIG was a stretch. It started out as a bitch on why two vending machines had different prices and developed into quips about anti-Semitism...in what world would any good of come of that, especially when someone began calling people anti-Semitics (i think that post has since been deleted). That wasn't discussion, that was a flame-war waiting to happen, and it did happen to an extent with one or two posters hurling abuse.

Saying that the mods want to "flaunt" their authority, do ye really think they want to put extra work on themselves by dealing with the fallout of bans and infractions? Modding is no easy task, and I don't envy KittyeeTrix or musical.x for doing it, as I know first-hand how challenging it can be.

Regarding the "Titrations" and "Applied Maths exam" threads, homework threads generally go unanswered in the NUIG forum, given that it's not a particularly busy forum compared to the other college fora and are best redirected to the relevant forum, where they usually get answered quicker and better. I offered help to MannyFagnet (the OP for the Applied Maths thread) by way of PM if he wanted it, but given he hasn't been online since he started an identical thread in the Maths forum at the same time, I think it's a non-issue that Kittyee locked that thread. If he had any problems with it, he could have PM'd her to re-open it.

Ficheall, the "mod-free" period Bobblehead is referring to is when brianthebard went AWOL in May last year (here's hoping all's well with him btw) to the point where I was appointed mod in November last year. Brian was listed as mod, but in essence NUIG had no mod for that time.

TL;DR: Some of the posters here think they can challenge mod comments and actions on-thread (which has never been allowed on boards afaik) and get away with it, given that from what I've seen, the mods don't seem to take tough enough action on these posts.
Rather than point blame at the mods, why not look at your own posting styles and see if they could be improved so that you don't need mod action? They don't do it for the lulz.

[Ficheall]

Originally Posted by RolandIRL

Ficheall, the "mod-free" period Bobblehead is referring to is when brianthebard went AWOL in May last year (here's hoping all's well with him btw) to the point where I was appointed mod in November last year. Brian was listed as mod, but in essence NUIG had no mod for that time.

Ah yes, I remember how the forum went to hell in a handcart around then.....

I agree that the anti-semitism bit was out of line, and the mods were absolutely right to nip that in the bud. But "in what world would any good come of that" - seriously? It's a completely pointless thread in a largely pointless forum. The only good that might conceivably come of it is a little entertainment. The NUIG forum should, in my personal opinion - which may well be at odds with others' - serve a dual purpose; both to provide answers to questions about NUIG, and to provide a platform for discussion amongst NUIG students and alumni etc. The mods are doing a reasonable job of maintaining the Q&A part, but stifling the entertainment/discussion side of things.

I wouldn't say that the mods are trying to flaunt their authority - just, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, that they are overzealous. I remember way back when I was about 16 I ended up in charge of some group on myspace. I ran it into the ground, and paved over it with my good intentions. Had everyone in the group followed my instruction, it would have served its purpose wonderfully, but that didn't happen. With power comes the urge to do something with it. In my efforts to ensure the group was the best it could be, I irritated and drove away the people who had been participating. When that happened, it made the moderating very easy, granted, but it didn't do anything for the group. Sure, new people joined occasionally, but with no regulars there, there was no reason for them to hang about. Eventually I stopped logging in altogether, and I'm fairly sure that the group recovered*. I'm not advocating that the mods stop, mind - I'm just trying to illustrate why I've since taken a minimalistic approach to any moderating I've done. It's certainly a less head-wrecking policy.

As an aside - I'd like to apologise to KittyeeTrix if she feels like we're ganging up on her here. It certainly feels a little like that from this side, and I hope that she realises it's not from any animosity towards her, rather that we may be getting carried away with having somewhere to vent where half an hour's work will not simply be deleted if someone takes offence at something contained therein.




*edit:Myspace has, of course, effectively died since then, but I'm fairly sure that had little to do with my poor moderating.

[KittyeeTrix]

I feel I must say just three things at this point

1) I didn't realise the forum had been modless for a time so this goes some way to explaining the reason for continuous mod challenges within the forum..

2) I take no offence at all that I seem to be the mod on the receiving end of the complaints. The simple fact is that I'm on-line more frequently and am 'first to the scene' if you will...

3) I only react to posts which contravene the charter and sometimes musical.x and I encounter situations which are not covered in the charter per se and are at the mods discretion e.g. titrations/ maths help thread. I shall with musical.x be looking closely at the charter to ensure the charter is clear on this type of situation

There is now a lovely chat/off-topic thread for discussion of off-topic matters to a posters hearts content.
Please avail of it

[KittyeeTrix]

All of the above said I am willing to step back a bit and allow a certain amount of off-topicness to develop before I make a decision to split the thread ( if it's deemed necessary to split - as in the case of a thread where an OP requires a specific answer)....

There will however be no more on thread challenges of mod decisions allowed. A warning will be given and from there on in infractions handed. Follow the advice of Bobblehead Panda as given earlier

[Ficheall]

Originally Posted by KittyeeTrix

I didn't realise the forum had been modless for a time ...

Just as a matter of interest - did anyone notice that the forum was without a moderator for 6 months?

[empacher]

Originally Posted by J o e

Example 2: "Titrations"
The OP asks for help with Titrations.
KittyeeTrix replies with "Open up your chemistry manual, google or get a hold of Leaving Cert Chemistry book assuming you are in 1st year."

KittyeeTrix issued me a warning for telling someone to google something before. Reason being i was unhelpful. Its funny you doing science and not knowing that in NUIG 1st year chemistry the molarity formula you have to use, is different from the leaving cert method ( even though its more tedious, but yields the same results. ) Molarity formulas are what titrations are all about.

''Subset'' you make us sound like the 1%ers be real were the 99%. Your constant deletion of posts ruins threads. On the ''Bitch thread'' you deleted a weeks worth of posts consisting of on and off topic posts. Yet on all 80 pages of that thread there is other off topic posts. Just you haven't taken offence to it.

Face it were college students. Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices. We are overflowing with sarcasm, and cynicism. We won't follow rules to the t, we will push boundaries.

An off topic thread won't solve anything. Honestly, ( I know how harsh this sounds) But your style of moderation isn't suited to this forum, If you don't take what we say on board all you'll be doing is directing Malaysian students to the accommodation and first year medicine threads.

Your acting like a parent which is what people go to college to get away from. Clearly your at fault otherwise this wouldn't be the second thread in help desk in two months.

Every one of your replies here, reek of smugness. When your needed someone will push the report button until them leave it be.

Musicial.x has little to no presence on the forum bar the occasional post in bold.

[Ficheall]

Originally Posted by empacher

Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices...

In the words of the great Homer J. Simpson - "Uh, your Honor - I would like to be tried separately..."


The off-topic thread is a great idea and may well help the situation. I trust everyone can appreciate some posters' concerns, though, about posts being shunted in there willy-nilly by the mods.

[Zillah]

Originally Posted by KittyeeTrix

I feel I must say just three things at this point

1) I didn't realise the forum had been modless for a time so this goes some way to explaining the reason for continuous mod challenges within the forum..

2) I take no offence at all that I seem to be the mod on the receiving end of the complaints. The simple fact is that I'm on-line more frequently and am 'first to the scene' if you will...

3) I only react to posts which contravene the charter and sometimes musical.x and I encounter situations which are not covered in the charter per se and are at the mods discretion e.g. titrations/ maths help thread. I shall with musical.x be looking closely at the charter to ensure the charter is clear on this type of situation

There is now a lovely chat/off-topic thread for discussion of off-topic matters to a posters hearts content.
Please avail of it

Why are you so unwilling to accept that maybe you've been a little over-zealous moderating? Just take a chill pill and be a bit slower to reach for the mod gun and everything will be much much better.

[KittyeeTrix]

Originally Posted by Ficheall

In the words of the great Homer J. Simpson - "Uh, your Honor - I would like to be tried separately..."


The off-topic thread is a great idea and may well help the situation. I trust everyone can appreciate some posters' concerns, though, about posts being shunted in there willy-nilly by the mods.

All I can do Ficheall is to give you my word that I will not shunt posts willy-nilly into the off-topic thread.
I suppose all I can ask is that ye give us the benefit of the doubt and adapt a wait and see approach.

If ye feel it's not working, then PM and let us know what is bothering ye and we'll do our best to work it out.

[KittyeeTrix]

Originally Posted by empacher

KittyeeTrix issued me a warning for telling someone to google something before. Reason being i was unhelpful. Its funny you doing science and not knowing that in NUIG 1st year chemistry the molarity formula you have to use, is different from the leaving cert method ( even though its more tedious, but yields the same results. ) Molarity formulas are what titrations are all about.

For what it's worth I did not issue you with the infraction - it was musical.x, however I agreed with her call 100%.

I would have no idea that the molarity formulae used in the Leaving Certificate curriculum differ from those used in 1st Science as I never studied Leaving certificate Chemistry and even if I had it was 20 years ago so would probably have moved on a bit since then.

I made a decision which I believed to be right and I stand by it. You disagreed and that is perfectly fine but you are still not permitted to argue it on thread. PM me for reasons for any of my decisions and I will gladly give you one. If you aren't satisified with my reason then you are free to PM the NUIG CMod Bobblehead Panda/Spurious and seek further clarification. However, argue my decision on thread with no attempt to PM me and I will infract you.

''Subset'' you make us sound like the 1%ers be real were the 99%. Your constant deletion of posts ruins threads. On the ''Bitch thread'' you deleted a weeks worth of posts consisting of on and off topic posts. Yet on all 80 pages of that thread there is other off topic posts. Just you haven't taken offence to it.

I do not take offence to posts at all, I haven't even taken offence to this post.......
I respond to posts as I see fit. If they are outside the charter rules then I take action. If the posts fall within the charter rules then I have no need or want for action to be taken.
Again for what it's worth I was not responsible for ~90% of the deleted posts in the 'Bitch' thread last week. This is neither here or there as the posts deleted were worthy of much more than deletion which Bobblehead Panda even said earlier.
I tell you this because it is clear Empacher from this post that you don't like me as a Mod even when your dislike is unfounded

Face it were college students. Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices. We are overflowing with sarcasm, and cynicism. We won't follow rules to the t, we will push boundaries.

That is a lovely sentiment and is one which will carry you far in life and most likely in your career but there is also the ability to know when to adhere to rules. Posting on Boards is one of those times as too will certain times in your work perhaps.

An off topic thread won't solve anything. Honestly, ( I know how harsh this sounds) But your style of moderation isn't suited to this forum, If you don't take what we say on board all you'll be doing is directing Malaysian students to the accommodation and first year medicine threads.

I believe the off-topic thread will work very well but then again it will only do so if people give it a chance and not try to scupper it before it gets going.
I have taken on board what posters/admin have said as was evident in the dropping of the boldened posts, we listened to ye and dropped the Events thread.

Your acting like a parent which is what people go to college to get away from. Clearly your at fault otherwise this wouldn't be the second thread in help desk in two months.

I think this is where the problem lies if i'm honest...........I recognised I may have been wrong and try to modify my actions whereas you have not. You see no need to and so here we are again!!

Every one of your replies here, reek of smugness. When your needed someone will push the report button until them leave it be.

As was mentioned earlier the report function is not being used as often as it should be but that does not mean that the forum should be left bereft of moderation.
I don't think I'm being smug but then again I seem to be wrong about everything so????

Musicial.x has little to no presence on the forum bar the occasional post in bold.

Musical.x is silent but deadly (okay,joking) but we have a system which works for us....

[Zaph]

Originally Posted by empacher

Face it were college students. Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices. We are overflowing with sarcasm, and cynicism. We won't follow rules to the t, we will push boundaries.

Oddly enough, the students who use the other college forums don't seem to have any problem following the rules. I must remember that if an NUIG grad's CV ever lands on my desk.

[J o e]

Originally Posted by Zaph

Oddly enough, the students who use the other college forums don't seem to have any problem following the rules.

I find it hard to believe that other forums have had the trigger-happy moderation we've had recently, so I've had a very quick look on the first page of a couple of other college forums...

Athlone Institute of Technology: "Library" - Post #6 would have been deleted and warning given by NUIG mod.

DCU: "Computer Science UCD or Computer Applications DCU? " - OP asks for comparisson between two courses and discussion leads to which course is hardest in college (#7, #8, #9). This would definitely see deletions and bold warnings in NUIG to only answer the OP's question. Note conversation naturally turned back "on topic".

UL: "40 bonus points?" - A few jibes between posters at the end and the thread dies off itself. Would have been warnings, bans and locks flying around in NUIG.

[musical.x]

Originally Posted by empacher

Musicial.x has little to no presence on the forum bar the occasional post in bold.

I have actually posted a fair bit in the forum in plain writing but it seems you have overlooked this in order to drag up previous events that have already been dealt with.

Kittyeetrix was not responsible for half of the posts deleted in the "official bitch" thread. I posted asking everyone to stay on topic and this was completely ignored. If I posted it in bold there would be more complaints of the mods being power hungry and heavy handed. It seems no matter what we do everyone finds fault with it.

We were fairly heavy handed at the beginning. Both myself and Kittyeetrix will agree on that as that was what we were led to believe was the way to run the thread. We have actually lightened up a lot since we started but it seems that everyone wants to post what ever that want where ever they want and for that to be accepted and encouraged.

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

If you can give myself and Kittyeetrix an idea as to what would make a good compromise then we will all be able to get along a bit better and make the forum go a lot smoother

Also if you have a problem and your pm hasn't been answered by one mod, then just pm the other.

[Bobblehead Panda]

Originally Posted by Ficheall

Are you sure?

From their interactions with me and on this thread, yes I am sure. We all have off days. Perhaps that was posted in frustration.

Originally Posted by empacher

Clearly your at fault otherwise this wouldn't be the second thread in help desk in two months.

I disagree with this. I have kept a very close eye on the forum for the last while and I would be of the opinion that while some mistakes have been made as they were finding their feet (and this has been admitted by the mods) posters also need to take responsibility for their behaviour, which in a lot of cases has not been constructive.

Originally Posted by Ficheall

The off-topic thread is a great idea and may well help the situation. I trust everyone can appreciate some posters' concerns, though, about posts being shunted in there willy-nilly by the mods.

I think that this is appreciated and by all means, if you feel like something has been moved that should not have been then report the post and it can be looked at, or you can PM the mods.

I really feel that the way in which some posters have acted towards the mods has been unfair. There are ways to approach situations that you are not happy about, as I have said above. I hope that this thread can address that while also addressing any concerns posters have.

I also want to thank the posters in this thread who have discussed this in a rational and constructive way because it makes things much easier.

I'm not going to be around for the next while so I wont be able to follow this thread but I think that it is obvious from their responses that the moderators are willing to work with the posters. I hope that the posters are willing to do the same.

[J o e]

Originally Posted by musical.x

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

Fair enough moving an off-topic discussion but the borders of "on topic" have to be relaxed a bit...

Originally Posted by musical.x

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

Do you both understand splittingthreads?

Originally Posted by musical.x

I have actually posted a fair bit in the forum in plain writing but it seems you have overlooked this in order to drag up previous events that have already been dealt with.

Kittyeetrix was not responsible for half of the posts deleted in the "official bitch" thread. I posted asking everyone to stay on topic and this was completely ignored. If I posted it in bold there would be more complaints of the mods being power hungry and heavy handed. It seems no matter what we do everyone finds fault with it.

We were fairly heavy handed at the beginning. Both myself and Kittyeetrix will agree on that as that was what we were led to believe was the way to run the thread. We have actually lightened up a lot since we started but it seems that everyone wants to post what ever that want where ever they want and for that to be accepted and encouraged.

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

If you can give myself and Kittyeetrix an idea as to what would make a good compromise then we will all be able to get along a bit better and make the forum go a lot smoother

Zillah's advice is good;

Originally Posted by Zillah

A post been reported by multiple people that have valid grievances?
- Get involved.

Off-topic posts are becoming so bad that the original poster's topic has gotten drowned out?
- Get involved.

A person posts something that is not strictly on topic but isn't going to ruin the conversation?
- Leave it alone.