In light of the controversy in this thread, there appears to be uncertainty about what’s supposed to happen when an SDMB moderator violates the board’s rules. The following is intended to clarify things:
The mods are expected to abide by SDMB rules just like all other members. We also have internal staff rules, policies and procedures. These aren’t for general distribution but they’re what you’d expect. Suffice it to say mods aren’t supposed to use their mod powers to give themselves special treatment. No harm was meant in the present case but it looked unfair and we want to avoid that.
It’s not the responsibility of one mod to chastise another. When a mod violates the rules or otherwise behaves problematically, that’s a matter for me to deal with as site administrator. I’m supposed to be alerted promptly when issues of this kind arise. There was a brief delay in the present case.
Dealings between the mods and me are a private matter. They’re volunteers and I’m not about to rebuke them in public. That’s not to say nothing happens when mistakes are made. Sometimes after a controversy I have discussions with the mods, either individually or as a group, to clarify policies and procedures. Sometimes after one of these discussions I post a note to clear the air and make sure all SDMB members understand how things are supposed to work. This is such a note.
Considerable care goes into the selection of mods - I’m continually impressed with their diligence, sound judgment and most of all their patience and good humor under trying conditions. They make this board what it is and I’m grateful for their efforts. Everybody messes up once in a while; we learn from the experience and move on. Having gone over this with the mods, I’m confident that’s the case here.
I can understand that if the problem is with the moderator rules. But why should moderators be treated differently when they break the rules as posters? Why can’t they just be Warned by the mod of the forum? And shouldn’t the reason posters are admonished in public also apply to them?
Plus, doesn’t that further the illusion that mods can get away with rule breaking that regular users can’t, since we don’t see them admonished? How are we to know that the borderline behavior was actually impermissible?
It just seems best to me that, if a mod is posting as a poster, they should be treated like every other poster. And that what you say would apply only when they are performing moderating duties.
But, of course, I can (and often am) wrong. What do you think?
I would like to point out that the big issue is that there is an appearance that mods get favorable treatment. If that is the case then let’s be honest about it. If not then why the secrecy. For example, in the case in question if tom did violate mod rules then why not a post from you or TubaDiva or whomever of:
“Mods are not allowed to erase their own messages after 5 minutes if the post violates board rules. We noted tomndebs’ violation.” I think that would satisfy all but the most rabid users of this site.
Along those lines, why according to your post do mod posting faux pas get treated privately while us peons have ours dealt with publicly? Notice we are not talking about mods acting qua mods, we are talking about mods being regular posters of the site. No one is asking you to discuss if this mod or that one is issuing too many warnings or not enough. We are discussing mods following the same rules of posting we all do. By a strict reading of Rule #2 a mod can go into a non-Pit thread and post “Fuck you you fucking cunt liar and I hope you fucking die!” and not only can they not be modded by a peer, the outcome YOU decide on is behind close doors. Is THAT the rule or do #s 2 and 3 only pertain to “mod” rules and otherwise they are treated like normal posters if they violate “the rules”?
Given the moderators here are volunteers, I agree that they should have a few privileges.
In my opinion, one of them should be getting criticised in private.
(I’d like to think that the moderator would post an apology anyway.)
Tom thought he was acting in the best interest of the board, that’s obvious. I also agree that Tom intended no harm. However, I’d guess 50% of the mortal members who get mod noted or warnings likewise intended no harm. Not intending harm as a defense to an infraction is a reasonable consideration and one that should apply to all members, mod and non-mod alike, if it’s going to apply at all.
I think it’s quite reasonable that moderator infractions should be dealt with privately, even if they were posting without the jackboots on. A public dressing-down would serve no purpose and would certainly not be conducive to their work as moderators.
I can certainly see violations of the mod rules being dealt with privately, but mods posting as posters should be subject to the same rules and the same public rebukes as other posters posting as posters.
I can and do respect posters who have received a Mod Note or a Warning. I don’t see that receiving something similar to a mod who does not have his Mod Hat on would be so devastating.
When they are acting as mods, sure, the fact that they have to abide by rules that the rest of us can’t violate anyway should be compensated by only taking action against them for violating those rules in private makes sense.
As per Idle Thoughts’ direction in the thread linked to in the OP, could Ed Zotti give a clear answer to the question if tomndebb’s post accusing other posters of pretending, deliberately misstating, and the other suggestions of bad-faith argumentation, are OK in GD?
This has nothing to do with tomndebb’s after-the-fact edit - it is another issue. I think that has been dealt with. It is confined only to whether or not the examples are accusations of lying.
Is that specific wording OK? Or is there something about the context that makes it OK, and can you give some kind of description of what that context is?
Give it a rest, guys. I think the point has been made.
Ed, can we clarify what action to take if we see a moderator break the rules? Do we report straight to you? Do we tell the other mods and let them kick it upstairs?
You are an infrequent poster here. How often do you check your messages? If we PM you, are you likely to even see it? Or might it go unnoticed for several weeks?
Can we have a sticky with this information, please.
I would say that the best thing to do is to start a thread here in ATMB, as we’ve always done. The one thing that Ed clarified though is that if we do think that a mod erred, we as mods are not going to take action against it. That’s not our place. At that point we’ll kick it upstairs and let Ed handle it.
