Ex Moderators

atkin

Any ex moderators care to share their experiences on this forum ?
Where do you find the time for this unpaid job .

Zaph

Why only ex-mods? There are plenty of current mods here too. What is it you specifically want to know?

atkin

Zaph wrote: »

Why only ex-mods? There are plenty of current mods here too. What is it you specifically want to know?

I think ex mods might be more candid in the replies. My thread on excessive posting disorder was closed . Where do you find the time for this unpaid job but you as commander are perhaps paid, if not ?

Zaph

Boards has currently around 600 mods, CMods and admins, together with who knows how many ex-mods. All are, or were, volunteers and don't get paid for the time they give to the site. The only ones who do get paid are the Boards employees who are identifiable by the 5 blue stars under their name.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by ex-mods giving more candid replies, perhaps you could clarify further?

People devote as much or as little time as they can and want to devote to the site, and we appreciate greatly the work put in by our mods to keep the site running smoothly. However with the numbers of mods there are, there isn't going to be a standard answer to your question. Some people may have no other interests, some may be unemployed and have time on their hands, some may be on extended sick leave and similarly have time to fill, some may be insomniacs, etc., who knows? May I ask why this is of such interest to you?

atkin

This is a issue about other users so to elaborate would get me a ban.

Zaph

I'm not really sure why that would happen, but if you want to PM me your question instead I'll see if I can answer it for you.

Amirani

atkin wrote: »

I think ex mods might be more candid in the replies. My thread on excessive posting disorder was closed . Where do you find the time for this unpaid job but you as commander are perhaps paid, if not ?

This made me laugh.

MadsL

I do have a question which has always puzzled me. Why is there a limit on the number of mods for very busy forums? It has always struck me that busy forums could do with more mods, yet the numbers have remained reasonably static over the years. Why is this?

Zaph

There isn't a limit. If the mods of a forum tell us they need an extra pair of hands we'll sort it out for them. They know the forums and what it needs better than the admins.

MadsL

Zaph wrote: »

There isn't a limit. If the mods of a forum tell us they need an extra pair of hands we'll sort it out for them. They know the forums and what it needs better than the admins.

Why do you think the numbers have remained relatively static, yet boards has grown dramatically?

atkin

Zaph wrote: »

Boards has currently around 600 mods, CMods and admins, together with who knows how many ex-mods. All are, or were, volunteers and don't get paid for the time they give to the site. The only ones who do get paid are the Boards employees who are identifiable by the 5 blue stars under their name.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by ex-mods giving more candid replies, perhaps you could clarify further?

People devote as much or as little time as they can and want to devote to the site, and we appreciate greatly the work put in by our mods to keep the site running smoothly. However with the numbers of mods there are, there isn't going to be a standard answer to your question. Some people may have no other interests, some may be unemployed and have time on their hands, some may be on extended sick leave and similarly have time to fill, some may be insomniacs, etc., who knows? May I ask why this is of such interest to you?

Insomnia mentioned how its related to excessive posting disorder I ponder.
Like taking it too seriously , Like an actor gets verbal abuse because some
believe the character is the real person.
Like rummaging in the attic you never know what you might stumble across..
Are some disabled ??

maverick mods ..... mm another ponder .
Do you get notified by complaints only before a ban is issued ?
In my time here I have never found it necessary to complain about a user.
Like stooping to their level. Ma's advice.

Turtwig

atkin wrote: »

Insomnia mentioned how its related to excessive posting disorder I ponder.
Like taking it too seriously , Like an actor gets verbal abuse because some
believe the character is the real person.
Like rummaging in the attic you never know what you might stumble across..
Are some disabled ??

maverick mods ..... mm another ponder .
Do you get notified by complaints only before a ban is issued ?
In my time here I have never found it necessary to complain about a user.
Like stooping to their level. Ma's advice.

Eh...what?

Zaph

atkin wrote: »

Insomnia mentioned how its related to excessive posting disorder I ponder.
Like taking it too seriously , Like an actor gets verbal abuse because some
believe the character is the real person.
Like rummaging in the attic you never know what you might stumble across..
Are some disabled ??

maverick mods ..... mm another ponder .
Do you get notified by complaints only before a ban is issued ?
In my time here I have never found it necessary to complain about a user.
Like stooping to their level. Ma's advice.

I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what you're on about.

Zaph

MadsL wrote: »

Why do you think the numbers have remained relatively static, yet boards has grown dramatically?

As I said, if the mods of a forum tell us they need more help, we'll sort out extra mods for them. We'd rather not put mod teams collective noses out of joint by parachuting new mods in if they don't feel they need them. It's disrespectful to the existing mods and unfair to any new mods added without having been requested.

Beasty

Since I've been a CMod there's certainly been an increase in active mods - a general attempt to try and get at least 2 mods in each forum and additional active mods in some of the busier forums. This has been accompanied by a lot of less active mods stepping down. Hence from what I've seen particularly in the Sports forums there has been a spreading of the load

Penn

Zaph wrote: »

As I said, if the mods of a forum tell us they need more help, we'll sort out extra mods for them. We'd rather not put mod teams collective noses out of joint by parachuting new mods in if they don't feel they need them. It's disrespectful to the existing mods and unfair to any new mods added without having been requested.

I'd add to that to note that it's also a case of finding the right mods for a forum. In a lot of cases the lesser of two evils is being one or two mods short rather than having one or two mods who don't get the tone of the forum and repeatedly action things incorrectly.

shopaholic01

atkin wrote: »

Insomnia mentioned how its related to excessive posting disorder I ponder.
Like taking it too seriously , Like an actor gets verbal abuse because some
believe the character is the real person.
Like rummaging in the attic you never know what you might stumble across..
Are some disabled ??

maverick mods ..... mm another ponder .
Do you get notified by complaints only before a ban is issued ?
In my time here I have never found it necessary to complain about a user.
Like stooping to their level. Ma's advice.

I have read this three times and I'm not sure I understand it (or that it is indeed understandable).

However, I would guess that you have an issue with a particular mod and are trying to complain in a convoluted manner.

lkionm

I think the OP just wants some juicy gossip from ex mods basically and if he got that gossip from current mods it would be biased.

A bit like speaking the truth when you leave a job.

Pawwed Rig

It is a good question by the OP imho as I have a fraction of the posts of a user such as Zaph and I consider that I probably spend too much of my time on boards. I would guess for mods of busy forums/admins that it must take a significant portion of time each day and if you are also holding down a full time job and keeping a social life going it could be very time consuming.

Ha I only this minute copped what the 42 under Zaphs name means:P

MugMugs

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Ha I only this minute copped what the 42 under Zaphs name means:P

The Zaph probably should have done that!

nesf

MadsL wrote: »

I do have a question which has always puzzled me. Why is there a limit on the number of mods for very busy forums? It has always struck me that busy forums could do with more mods, yet the numbers have remained reasonably static over the years. Why is this?

Once you go past a certain number of mods it's extremely hard to keep everyone on the same page without getting really restricted in how mods can work. The more complex/subtle the forum the lower the number you can work with.

You can have loads of mods or you can have mods able to act on their own discretion quite freely, you can't have both and a very prescriptive system generally invites "rules-lawyers" who'll try and weasel their way out on technicalities or who will skirt the very edge of the rules constantly once they know where the line is fixed at.

seamus

As an ex-admin, I can be candid. Dealing with users is like running a customer service desk in a creche. They piss and moan and whinge and cry and never for a second consider the fact that you're giving your free time to do nothing other than try and ensure the site that you love continues to run smoothly.

They assume you have an agenda, that you are personal jizz buddies with RaNd0M_moD_643xxheadshot and you will never say a word against the mod, even though it's plain as day that the user was acting like a complete knobjockey and is barely capable of holding the spit in their own mouths, never mind interacting online in a remotely civil manner.

They bitch when you tell them things. They bitch when you don't. They bitch when you make a decision without holding a sitewide fncking referendum. If you do hold a sitewide referendum, they bitch that it's taking too long and the admins should have just made a decision. They bitch when the rules are unclear, and then turn around and try to find loopholes in the ones that are. They don't know what they want at all, but by god are they going to make sure you know that they're unhappy and you should better fncking well do something about it.

Being a mod or an admin is like doing a customer service job. Except that the "customers" have a bigger sense of entitlement, the complaints desk is open 24/7, and you don't get paid.

In short, users are assholes. Except the ones who don't complain. They're awesome.

shopaholic01

^^^^ You enjoyed it then, Seamus?

The Hill Billy

It is a bundle of giggles.

Seriously - We find the time to help on the site generally because we want to 'give something back' to a site we enjoy. Personally, I also have more time for modding duties as I do not post as a 'regular user' as much as I used to.

atkin

seamus wrote: »

As an ex-admin, I can be candid. Dealing with users is like running a customer service desk in a creche. They piss and moan and whinge and cry and never for a second consider the fact that you're giving your free time to do nothing other than try and ensure the site that you love continues to run smoothly.

They assume you have an agenda, that you are personal jizz buddies with RaNd0M_moD_643xxheadshot and you will never say a word against the mod, even though it's plain as day that the user was acting like a complete knobjockey and is barely capable of holding the spit in their own mouths, never mind interacting online in a remotely civil manner.

They bitch when you tell them things. They bitch when you don't. They bitch when you make a decision without holding a sitewide fncking referendum. If you do hold a sitewide referendum, they bitch that it's taking too long and the admins should have just made a decision. They bitch when the rules are unclear, and then turn around and try to find loopholes in the ones that are. They don't know what they want at all, but by god are they going to make sure you know that they're unhappy and you should better fncking well do something about it.

Being a mod or an admin is like doing a customer service job. Except that the "customers" have a bigger sense of entitlement, the complaints desk is open 24/7, and you don't get paid.

In short, users are assholes. Except the ones who don't complain. They're awesome.

On Boards the customer is always wrong .

knucklehead6

atkin wrote: »

On Boards the customer is always wrong .

Are you a subscriber? Do you pay for the service here?? Well if you don't (and i suspect you don't) you are not the consumer..... you are the product.

seamus

atkin wrote: »

On Boards the customer is always wrong .

Of course they are.

Customer service desk is around the corner, third window to the right. Collect your dummy and rattle on the way.

atkin

knucklehead6 wrote: »

Are you a subscriber? Do you pay for the service here?? Well if you don't (and i suspect you don't) you are not the consumer..... you are the product.

pLEASE SIR oF WhAT

BuffyBot

I'm closing this, before you embarass yourself even more than you have already.