It would seem to me that there is a negative correlation between moderator status and posting frequency. In GD, the forum that I frequent the most, neither of the two moderators seem to post frequently with their “Moderator Hats” off. I would imagine that had they posted this infrequently prior to becoming moderators they would not have become moderators. And I definitely noticed a significant drop-off in GD postings by John Corrado at around the time that he became a moderator. Some possibilities:
[ul]
[li]Moderators are so busy moderating (and researching & writing Staff Reports) that they simply don’t have time to post.[/li][li]The SDMB administration discourages moderators from posting, due to possible confusion between moderating and posting status.Moderators became moderators because they were getting bored with posting to the MB.[/li][li]Moderators feel that their special status as moderators puts them above posting as a mere ordinary poster might.[/li][li]SomeotherreasonthatIcantthinkof.[/li][li]The entire observation is simply false.[/li][/ul]I’m leaning towards the first. But let’s hear from some mods.
This is your best theory, as you suspected. It’s certainly true in my case. Especially in GD and GQ, where posts take far more time to research and write. In GD, I find that I have precious few subjects remaining that I even bother attempting to stay current with. Often it takes me more than an hour to read the latest posts and another hour or so to write a cogent reply to a GD thread. I simply don’t always have that kind of time.
I can’t speak for the others, but posts from me just for fun are few and far between; I rarely have the opportunity to read the board just for the sheer pleasure of it.
However, I knew this job was tough when I accepted it . . . so I’m not complaining.
I don’t have as much time to post as I did. We have much more people and threads and posts than when I started, and now that the board’s speeded up that’s only going to continue (not that I’m complaining; modding is even slower when you have to wait ten minutes for every page to load). I’ve also been unsually busy for the past six months or so, and I tend to spend a lot of time refining my prose and argument when I do post. And even I can run out of the willpower to refute the same argument I’ve refuted fourteen times before and am willing to let the young bloods cover for me on occaision.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by IzzyR * [li]The SDMB administration discourages moderators from posting, due to possible confusion between moderating and posting status.[/li][/QUOTE]
I’d comment, but [sub][sup]Zotti is in the other room, and he’s in a BAD mood…[/sup][/sub]
[sub]If we dropped a bomb on this thread, we’ll get all the moderators[/sub][ul][list][list][list][list][list][list]Hi, Guys
…:)… What’s that?
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Me? Oh, nthin
…:rolleyes:…
You’re leaving?
…:p…
Well, OK.
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Later, Gator
…:D…
[/ul]they really left in a hurry!
…:o…
[ul]**Who’s that?
…:(…
What’s that?
…:eek:…
[/ul]NO, don’t light that fuse!
…:mad:…
it’s Kniz’s masterpiece. his posting style involves creating a phrase centered, augmented with smilies, as a direct continuation of a phrase in the title. as thus (i cant center, though) :
[sub]hey, what the…[/sub]
Yeah. Or, alternatively, you could opt to NOT present a few thousand viewers with the message board equivalent of a PowerPuff Girls episode. UGH. Thanks for your consideration.
OK, so it seems like the first reason is probably the main one. So, if I still have my audience of moderators and haven’t lost everyone in a haze of vb coding, I’ll try a follow up.
It would seem then, that becoming a moderators is not just a matter of being a poster plus additional moderating duty. That it involves some trade-off, in that you lose to some extent the ability to post as you were doing prior to becoming a moderator. In light of this, have any moderators ever decided that they would rather have the ability to participate fully that comes with poster status, as opposed to the added duties and responsibilities of moderatorhood? It would seem odd if no one has.
(An expanded treatment of this would discuss what are the main motivators for people to become moderators. This is sometimes debated rather heatedly when moderator actions are being discussed/criticized, but I don’t recall a calmer discussion. Basically the two extreme possibilities are selfless devotion to the cause of fighting ignorance, or status/power (Arnold ). Possibly elements of both.)
Generally speaking that is it, but in what I call my master-piece it told a story, which unfortunately only I understand. The main point is that it used all 13 smilies, one time and only one time. After doing it I feel like God did after the great flood: Whew, I’m never going to do that again
A masterpiece that only you understand? The goal here is Fighting Ignorance–which means communicating clearly enough that other people have a reasonable shot at understanding.
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Well, that’s honest. Your real purpose was playing with smilies. Sheesh, have you ever considered macrame? Maybe gluing bottle caps on cardboard?
**
We’re feeling a little dumped on ourselves, now that you mention it. This playing around doesn’t show much courteous respect for our strained server resources. Refraining from doing it again is an EXCELLENT idea.
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