Has a moderator ever had to warn another moderator?

About This Message Board
21

No, it wasn’t quite like that. There are some aspects of your stories in the situations – both of which are clouded by the mists of time, even to me, there’s been a lot of blood under the bridge. They’ve both been gone for years, Nickrz much longer than Manhattan. But it didn’t go like you say.

The board was a more rough and tumble place then – moderators were allowed to be more like real people and more participatory in the life of the community. Many of us were as ascerbic as Cecil and this was not seen as a character flaw. Neither Manny nor Nickrz suffered fools gladly and were celebrated for how they dealt with ignorance, sometimes with sledgehammer blows, sometimes with rapier wit. This would in no ways fly today but it was commonplace then.

They were both dedicated staffers who were highly invested in this place. Manny was able to hang longer but both of them ultimately burned out, mentally, emotionally. When you operate from that place you tend to take everything personally; when you do that in a community environment, things often go badly. Both of them ended up walking away tangled up in issues that they probably would have navigated more successfully if they hadn’t been so exhausted.

Neither of them were asked to leave; they resigned of their own volition. Quite suddenly, too. Usually when someone retires from moderation it’s a more orderly process but in these cases it was not. It happens that way sometimes.

Manny walked away and has never returned. Our loss in a lot of ways.

Nickrz makes occasional appearances, not sure why, just to say hi, I guess. Both of these former moderators are entitled to be here, they earned that right many times over. Their hard work and dedication is appreciated and recognized even today.

We have been privileged to have some great people share their time and expertise and etc. with us and this site is a better place for what they’ve done over the years. Some of those great people are staffers and their gifts to the community they served – and continue to serve – were and are meaningful.

The community has changed greatly in the time since Manhattan and Nickrz were active and I’m not surprised the weather doesn’t suit their clothes here now; it’s a different place and time. People come and go in the community and moderators are no different in that aspect than anyone else, perhaps more so because the demands and expectations and conditions are tougher on those who serve.

22

That’s good to know–Manny’s line about how “I am the fucking hall monitor” is still the single best mod response ever.

I appreciate the corrections/history–I love SDMB history…I’m fascinated by it, so it’s good to hear the “inside story”. :slight_smile:

23

[hijack]
Another example of why we need a you plural in the English language :smiley:
[/hijack]

24

Move down South, y’all. :slight_smile:

25

For those who were wondering, here’s the thread in which that deathless phrase appeared: How do I keep IE from automatically chenging the text size? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board

26

TubaDiva: ref #21

I found all of that really interesting. You ought to write more about the old times.
(“Granma, tell us how it was before the war.” “No - it your bedtime.” “Please - just one more…”)

It gives a real flavour of the atmosphere as it was then. On the surface, the Dope is just a collection of posts, but clearly there’s a lot more: personalities, relationships, attitudes and policies. The direction of the Dope is affected by both the posters and the mods, and as I wasn’t here at the beginning, it’s interesting to hear that there was more rough and tumble back then. What do you think changed that? Was it deliberate policy, or did it just evolve into what it is now?

27

This is another example of Nickrz’ modding. Unfortunately, though isome of it happened off-board. Basically the Chief had launched some brutal salvos at this hapless poster, which Nickrz deleted, and the flame was continued here. It’s worth noting that in the early days, the “-gry riddle” came up with some regularity, thus accounting for the various snarky responses.

28

Speaking personally, this makes me very uneasy. Relating history, that’s one thing, and quite interesting. The Straight Dope Message Boards have been around now for over 12 years, and there is, indeed, history. However, picking at old scabs, opening old wounds to throw salt in them, that’s something quite else. And there’s a fine line between the two. We mods would not be allowed to rake up the historical poor decisions or faux pas or sillinesses of posters; why should people do unto us what we cannot do back unto them?

29

Are you serious? Because it comes with the job. Sure it can be impolite for posters to do so but it should be allowed. Moderators should be held to a higher standard in some cases and this is one of them in my opinion.

30

What does being held to a higher standard have to do with opening up old wounds? I mean, I would understand if what happened was public at the time, but, as we’ve already seen, that is rarely the case.

The only purpose it serves is to get people angry about things that have already been resolved. We aren’t moderators, so we can’t even use the excuse that it’ll help us not break the rules in the future.

SO I guess that’s what it boils down to. Provide a reason that we need to know this.

31

Well, BigT, my response more had to do with the “why should people do unto us what we cannot do back unto them?” part. In general, I think that this isn’t an appropriate approach.

As for the specific case here, we certainly don’t need to know it but it doesn’t need to be covered up either. A thread where an old event is being rehashed and debated all over again should probably be closed. One where the incident is mentioned with some links doesn’t seem inappropriate to me. It certainly can give some context as to why we have certain rules in place now for example.

32

I’m interested to know in which cases moderators should be held to a higher standard. And why this is one of them.

I think there’s a big difference between digging up old unpleasant stuff and covering things up. I don’t see anyone covering things up in this thread. Could you give an example of someone doing that?

33

Thinking about it, it wouldn’t break my balls if a moderator did bring up old stuff. I guess that they should be held to the same standard here but others might disagree. I think that in general, moderators should be expected to behave better than the expectation for an average poster. They should set the example.

I didn’t make the claim that anyone is covering anything up. If this thread and threads like it were closed, that would be the case. I think that this thread is being handled correctly by the staff here and thought that I explained why.

34

Here is a thread in which a moderator warned himself. :slight_smile:

35

Good point, Dex. And with due respect, why should mods respond to membersin a way that members can’t respond to mods?

36

Who’s stopping you? The illwill of the community?* Why am I being beholden** to a standard you are only assuming I have? Moderators are a bit like celebrities. And the price of that notoriety is the fact that you are open to public scrutiny. I respectfully submit that if you don’t like that, you should have thought harder about taking the job.

blink blink

What rough and tumble place? You mean that board where posters could say fuck you and call each other cunts? That rough and tumble place? I really hope I am not the only one seeing the tremendous irony here, because it is really too delicious for me alone.

(Forgive my impertinence, but I strongly feel that the culture you decry as being namby-pamby and ultra-restrictive towards the moderators is exactly the culture that you, as the board administration imposed upon the community. I hope you take this in the spirit in which it is intended.)

*If I were feeling snarky, I’d make a comment here but I’m not so I won’t.

**Beheld? Beholden? Beholded? Someone hold me.

37

It should be “Why am I beholden…?”. The “being” does not belong.

:slight_smile:

38

Yeah. I actually reported that post as a personal attack. Now that I notice that it was by a moderator, I wonder if we will see any official action. While pulling up old wounds is bad, since this is a new one, it might be good for morale to display the disciplinary action in public in the same way you would for regular posters. There really is a feeling in the community that moderators think they are above the law (hence this thread) and such an action would help dispel that.

Of course, there was at least an apology from the offending poster later in the thread. But I am unclear whether that would be able to absolve a regular poster.

39

Therein, as they say, lies the rub. If a moderator can get away with breaking rules simply by apologizing, then one wonders whether it might not be good for members — especially paid members in otherwise good standing — to be given the same treatment. In other words, perhaps an apology should nullify the warning it addresses.

Now, I do understand that mods deserve something for their volunteer time. But the only thing they really deserve from us as members — as opposed to what they deserve from the SDMB administration — is civility. Other than that, I don’t know why we should owe them anything, including bow-before-the-king deference.

(Incidentally, for disclaimer purposes, I have recently applied to be a mod. I’m suggesting nothing here (or elsewhere) to which I would not hold myself.)

40

I would add “gratitude and respect,” but certainly omit “kowtowing.”