This is exactly what I came in here to say. It always seemed odd that you could flame a moderator for a decision, for two reasons: where else is it acceptable to hurl insults at the staff? Also, once you do, that becomes the issue, not the actual complaint. I just don’t think you can have a civil discussion about a moderator’s decision when you’re calling the mod all sorts of foul insulting things.
I supported the change back in '09 to move discussions of moderation decisions to ATMB, in hopes that it would increase more constructive discussions. It has to some extent, but anyone who reads the criticisms some mods get must wonder, “Why on earth do they keep doing this, for free?”
Nor do I think that the suggestion of allowing Pit flaming and ATMB criticism would be very helpful. It would still have the effect of increasing the temperature of the discussions and reducing the chance of a even-tempered discussion by the mods and the posters of the issue.
And yes, I have posted regularly on a board where there was no criticism permitted of a mod’s decision, and banning was one of the sanctions for breach of that rule. I obviously can’t speak about all message boards, but that’s my own (limited) experience.
Pretty much all a mod would do is enforce the ridiculous cunt rule (which never should have been implemented in the first place, but you won’t remove it), move something to fluffy bunny land, ban spammers, and delete personal info. Otherwise, it’s a free fire zone.
That’s mostly true. But the rare exceptions (mostly trolling) are exactly the things best left to dedicated Pit mods who read the forum on a regular basis, not to whichever of the other 16 mods happens to get a report on a post from page 6 of some random thread.
The verdict is always guilty. Anyway what you’re proposing is not simpler and not really workable, nor would it lead to better moderation. When moderating this board becomes a full-time paid job, perhaps it’ll be reasonable to ask that the mods not participate in the Pit. Until then, your complaints about professionalism should be tempered by the fact that we’re volunteer members of this community who already accept a healthy amount of criticism and who get held to a high standard by virtue of the position we hold. Demanding that the mods curtail their participation in the parts of the site they like - which is the reason they moderate in the first place - in return for the privilege of moderating it for the equivalent of $8 a year is a really crappy deal.
I’m not asking if it has worked everywhere-I’m asking if this idea of yours has worked anywhere. I’ve been on a number of boards and have never seen it in action, put perhaps you are more knowledgeable than I on this subject.
How does the same thing that applies between posters not apply between posters and moderators? If blowing off steam and preventing hijacks works, then shouldn’t it also work to keep the bitching and whining in the venting forum and away from the reasonable discussion forum? Mods are not required to read their own pittings, and posters are required to stay civil in ATMB. Frankly, to me that seems it would allow tighter modding of ATMB threads, because there’s no excuse for letting the heat in. There’s a forum for that.
So either venting in the Pit works, in which case maybe we should try it for moderation as well, or else it does not work, in which case we need to tighten the rules in the Pit and not allow flaming other members at all.
Anyway what you’re proposing is not simpler and not really workable, nor would it lead to better moderation. When moderating this board becomes a full-time paid job, perhaps it’ll be reasonable to ask that the mods not participate in the Pit. Until then, your complaints about professionalism should be tempered by the fact that we’re volunteer members of this community who already accept a healthy amount of criticism and who get held to a high standard by virtue of the position we hold. Demanding that the mods curtail their participation in the parts of the site they like - which is the reason they moderate in the first place - in return for the privilege of moderating it for the equivalent of $8 a year is a really crappy deal.
Everyone gets a ban-hammer?