Adminstrator-Moderator Gaudere of GB banned my topic on Merit of Anal and Oral Sex, and earlier the one on Merit of Self-effected Departure (i.e., suicide).
There are three moderators for GD.
Do they work shifts of eight hours each, or they work their watch simultaneously.
Do they act as a collegial body or each one can ban a topic as the replies were still coming in, or they put the decision to ban by voting, so that at least two votes are needed to ban a topic from continuing.
By the way, who watch over the moderators or administrators to insure that they don’t abuse their discretion.
Ah yes, ‘who watches the watchers’ … fav debating tactic of yer half-wit teenage liberal … very, like, spooky X-Files vibey thing, *man *…
Yeah, they work 8 hour shifts. But they do also get 6 weeks paid vacation (can you believe it ? !) so if you plan it *just right *…
Nah, they claim for 8 hour shifts, but I reckon some of them are clocking on then disappearing back to bed for a couple of hours. Just the other day I posted a “Which file sharing software is best for getting high on” topic which slipped through the net.
Yeah, I remember that. I think. That was, like, a real thread, mannnn. Like that reference to backdoor software stuff … like we all knew that was really an anal reference, you know …Really cool.
All are unpaid volunteers, with real jobs (or are looking). They moderate the boards as they can (I’m sure they try to coordinate as much as possible)
Any moderator can close a thread. From past reading of Pit threads, sometimes they consult with each other.
The Administrators are above the moderators (well, sometimes it’s doggy-style). The administrators have power of life and death, and none shall question their decisions.
Sure. But let’s tackle the mistakes in your opening sentence first:
ASSERTION: “Adminstrator-Moderator Gaudere of GB banned my topic on Merit of Anal and Oral Sex, and earlier the one on Merit of Self-effected Departure (i.e., suicide).”
RETORT: No, neither of those topics have been “banned”. Your first suicide thread in GD was closed because it seemed to Gaudere as if you were soliciting suggestions for methodology rather than debating the concept. Your second suicide thread in GD was closed because it was an immediate continuation by you of the thread Gaudere had just closed. Your suicide thread in GQ was closed [by bibliophage] without comment, but probably for the same reason your first thread in GD was closed. Your anal/oral sex thread was closed because (and there’s a theme occuring here, so you should pay attention) it offered up no clear debate topic.
Q: “Do they work shifts of eight hours each, or they work their watch simultaneously[?]”
A: See this thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137535&highlight=moderators+AND+shifts for guidance. Briefly, coordination between moderators/administrators is done informally at their individual and collective discretion.
Q: “Do they act as a collegial body or each one can ban a topic as the replies were still coming in, or they put the decision to ban by voting, so that at least two votes are needed to ban a topic from continuing[?]”
A: Any moderator can close a thread, which prevents further posting to that thread by anyone. (Pay close attention to the terminology here; it’s important to your understanding of the concepts.) Only an administrator can ban a member, which removes posting priveleges from that particular member. Thread closings are at the individual discretion of the mod or admin who closes the thread. Bannings are generally, but not always, discussed privately among the admins and mods prior to the banning. Some posters have been banned more or less “instantly” based on flagrant rules violations or obvious trolling or sock puppetry. (You should run a search on any of those terms you don’t understand. Use the “search” button in the upper right corner of this page.)
Q: “By the way, who watch over the moderators or administrators to insure that they don’t abuse their discretion[?]”
A: Look here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/
Read the text at the very bottom of the page. This message board is operated by the Chicago Reader, Inc. That entity is responsible for all board staffing decisions.
The About This Message Board forum - ATMB is where you would probably find a better audience for this thread as this is less a complaint and more of an admiistrative inquiry.
In the end though, it might save you some angst to simply realize that despite notions to the contrary, this board is not the ultimate soapbox in the park or a no holds barred, late night bull session in the living room. This is simply a popular, well moderated discussion board owned by a private corporation as an adjunct to one of it’s more popular columns and sponsored and administered to some extent by the columnist/author himself.
While this board is a useful and entertaining part of many people’s lives and some have gotten married via this board it’s not usenet, and topics that mods or admins deem unsavory, dangerous or unfit will be clipped like a shaggy poodle.
Oh, I don’t think this one should count towards the championship. They aren’t being Pitted, after all; he’s just discussing the actions of the moderators, and in a very polite, non-vitriol-spewing way. It’s the rest of us doofii who are getting out of hand.
And in an answer to the OP, the next level above the Administrators is the Chicago Reader, the owner of the board and the servers it runs on.
Aren’t the actual admins (Lynn and TubaDiva, right?) paid, or are they all doing this on their own time?
Well, I may as well post my original reply to Susma:
Well, I’m inclined to let the thread stay locked rather than
reopen it and bunp it to the top of the list for just an
explanation. If you really must explain, post a thread in
MPSIMS (or the pit, if you want to complain about the
locking). I think your topic would probably belong in IMHO
or MPSIMS, unless you managed to bring in more socio-
political or religious aspects. “X sexual practice feels
good and has many other benefits! Let’s do it!” is no more a
Great Debate than “Ice cream is good and gives you calcium!
Let’s eat it!” is. And we do attempt to moderate the sexual
suggestiveness of this board to a certain degree, and so I
am disinclined to allow sexually explicit threads in GD
without good reason.
Administrators have the official ability to ban posters, and
can work on the backend of the message board (change colors,
fonts, add new tags, etc.); theoretically they watch over
the whole board, while moderators are limited to their
specific forum, although in actual practice most Admins hang
around their own forum, and Moderators can act as a
Moderator in other forums if there is immediate need.
Moderators are there whenever they are there; some decisions
are decided among the mods of a forum, or all the mods and
admins, but decisions that are considered clear-cut are
decided by the moderator who happens to see them and chooses
to take action.
Thanks,
Gaudere (Shannon)
SDMB Great Debates Moderator/Administrator
