There’s a third option that never got tried or really much discussion at all (I believe Dex loathed the idea) :
It involved a simple two-part solution.
If you have a problem with the mods that you want to be assured will be read and responded to, go to ATMB and post it politely.
If you’re just pissed at a mod and want to swear or whatever, take it to the Pit.
So if, hypothetically, if I was mod here and I closed a thread on how to knit a sweater from belly-button lint, you’d have the two choices:
“Fenris, why was my Great Debates thread on belly-button lint knitting closed. Let’s talk.” which I (as a mod) would need to reply to
or
“Fenris, you stupid, hairy fucktard. This is the 37th thread of mine you’ve closed. You hate me because I’m smarter than you and you’re a gigantic dickweed. Please fucko off.” which I (as a mod) could ignore or fight back or whatever.
No need to be defensive, Spice. I actually respect you as a poster and for your sparkly jackboots. As a member of both here and Giraffe’s boards, I like both places and probably do 80 to 90% of my posting here, even though I visit both places daily.
Now I can respect what you’re talking about in the first era, it just ain’t me. I suspect the second era was a sort of backlash against the high-intensity drama that might have been engendered by the first era (pulling allll this out of my ass.)
One of the first questions I asked before accepting the gig was ''How will I have to change the way I post?" An important question for me because I post here a lot, and quite openly.
The answer, as usual, was ‘‘it depends.’’ You have all these new things to consider. If people know personal stuff about you, they can use it against you. If you show your ire toward one poster or favoritism toward another, people will accuse you of bias in how you moderate. It was basically this list of reasons people can get pissed off at you just for being yourself. Some people get really fixated on board moderation and develop inexplicable grudges. In response to this complexity, some mods post a lot less frequently, some are super duper neutral and careful, others do not give a damn. But how to behave as a poster is an intimidating and serious question to grapple with if you value your reputation for fairness.
So I’m guessing that when gen 2 came around, it was framed as ‘‘Hey, look at all these risks you’re taking by being like the old crew’’ and so moderators likely erred on the side of caution to avoid similar troubles. (I don’t actually know this, it’s a total WAG.)
I don’t know how gen 3 is different, but to me, my fellow mods are magic. My impression as a noob is that the process is as genuinely fair as it could be. The level-headedness and pointed avoidance of bias within the mod loop exceed my expectations.
I had to grapple with these same questions when I became a mod, and I did become more mindful of certain things and how I engage with posters who are pushing my buttons, but honestly, not a lot has changed in my posting style. I became a mod because I love this board, so why would I quit posting here? I do think active participation makes a difference in how mods are perceived, too, and how charitably their decisions are interpreted. But I think part of the job is also having to accept that someone’s going to get pissed off no matter what. People will ascribe bias to the most mundane decisions. It’s just part of the deal.
This is a fascinating perspective to me, as I am pretty much the complete opposite. Someone I don’t know being a dick to me online is generally more funny than anything else, and I find it much easier to have an interesting discussion if I can just straight up tell the trolls and idiots to fuck off. This is a large part of why the Pit was always my favorite forum on the board. (And FYI, the routine abuse of the mods is a complete myth. Scroll back through Pit thread titles from 2009 to 2008. You’ll fall asleep before you find any seriously nasty threads attacking the mods.)
But this thread is interesting, as it shows that what feels like pointless restriction and fake civility to me provides comfort and structure to others. I know this sounds snarky, but it’s really not – I often forget how differently people can see the same things, and this is a very topical and useful reminder of that.
Anyway, I wish I could say the looser moderation of GB is part of some grand philosophical vision, but honestly we’re really just too lazy to mod it more than the absolute bare minimum.
I totally get it. And I’m not even claiming I’m normal or representative of what’s normal. I’m just a jellyfish. wiggles
Being emotionally sensitive and feeling compelled to talk to people on the internet is a terrible combination of personality traits, and yet here I am. I dunno if you’re nerdy enough to know what a flumph is, but basically it’s a ‘‘joke’’ D&D character that looks like a giant jellyfish. It’s incredibly sensitive to negative psionic energy, changes color according to its mood and feels compelled to tell everyone it encounters about the dark things it has seen. I am, in fact, a flumph. I’m currently roleplaying as one and it’s basically like playing an exaggerated version of my actual self. It even has prone deficiency.
Believe it or not, the Pit is also my favorite forum on the board. When people are not required to be civil, but are civil anyhow, I like that. I find it deeply satisfying. My favorite thing is when people are slinging insults and then shit gets emotional and eventually they come to some kind of mutual understanding. It does happen. Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had happened in the Pit.
One of the problems (again IMO, and I won’t post cites, because some of them still post here) was that the Gen 2 mods, especially the later ones would play games…“I’m posting as a poster, but if you respond to me, I’ll respond as a mod.” or “I’m blatantly breaking the rules, so I’ll mod-note myself…teehee” or “Wait, I’m losing the argument? I’ll close the thread or change the rules or give someone a mod note.” or constant whining about how hard it was to be a mod (and if it really is that bad…just quit) Again, NOT every Gen2 mod, and not with every post, but enough to really give me a bad taste in my mouth for their moderation.
My take is that you guys are more restrained than Gen 1’s “wild west” attitude (which I like) but without the…I can’t think of a better word, sorry…than the BS games that some of the Gen 2 mods pulled. You guys are also much thicker skinned than Gen 2.
To be fair, Gen2 lasted the longest and saw some of the most dramatic changes in the board–from the ever-stupid Pay to Post idea to “C*ntgate” must have been 10 years. First Gen lasted from say…1999 to 2003? 2004?-ish. Gen 2 ended plus or minus when Tuba and Dex left and/or about the time Idle Thoughts got Mod Power (the little influx that he was part of) and is still continuing, say 2014, 2015? Jonathon Chance, Asimovian, you, Ivory Tower Denizen, and a bunch who’s names I’m missing are part of the Gen3 “revolution”.
Again, all of this is my take. Other’s mileage may vary.
By the way, SamClem wounded me deeply with his hate and insults and I demand you put him on double-secret probation.
Our Pit is a joke, poor Veb was modding the thing but it got so fluffy and unused she disappeared for long stretches of time in disappointment at our lack of vitriolic chops. I miss her.
I almost posted something earlier…one of the major things I’ve changed about my posting style since becoming a mod is that if I’m ever actively and vocally participating in a discussion thread and it starts to get heated, I bail immediately. I don’t want to get stuck in a position of having to mod a thread where I may have unwittingly contributed to the problem, or worse, be in the awkward position of moderating someone I’m disagreeing with. I learned that lesson because I was actively engaged in a heated debate at the exact moment I became a moderator of that very thread, and was suddenly like whooaaaaaa. I had to take a step back and figure out whether I was crossing any boundaries myself or not. That, and I’ve had to learn to just ignore people who piss me off. It’s often not worth creating even the appearance of a grudge just to score a few snark points.
Each mod has their own standards, but what I’ve described above seems to be consistent with the culture of our current mods.
I know this is going to bite me on the ass, but I like being a moderator. It’s challenging in a problem-solving, strategic thinking sort of way. Most people have been perfectly decent and reasonable. The petty annoyances are significantly outweighed by the enjoyment I get out of it.
cringes in anticipation of inevitable doom
Shh. You only know that because we trade secrets with you in exchange for spammers.
