The role of the moderator

[Londo]

I’m starting this topic because I think it would be a good thing to clear certain things out. I was reluctant to do it earlier, but things that happened on other topics reiterated its necessity. The place of this topic is on the open forum, but I’m posting it here because not everybody who visits this forum goes on the open forum too.

I want one thing to be clear. This is not intended to be a judgemental topic, the moderators are not on trial for anything here. This is merely an information topic. It should be open to everyone, members and moderators, to express their opinions.

So basically the main issues here are:
How active should the moderators be in posting like regular members, how much latitude should they give to posts and posters, when and how should someone be penalized for breaking certain rules, what are the responsibilities of moderators towards members and the other way around, etc.

Some of these things have been discussed in bits and pieces in the past on different occasions, but due to the high number of new members in the past couple of months, I think it would be good to have them in a unitary topic. So what should be the role of a moderator?

[iloveshania]

I think this is an excellent topic. I hope nobody uses it as an excuse to attack moderators as they work hard for us all. As I stated in another topic the word moderator which appears under thier name can be intimidating when you are not sure of thier role and powers, especially when you have a problem with authority figures as I do (yes people, as hard as it is to believe I am not perfect LOL http://www.shaniaforums.com/wink.gif ). However I would not wish them to fell that they do not have a right to express an opinion. My suggestion is that when they post on the forum they state whether or not they are speaking as a moderator or simply as a member. This will prevent anyone from feeling intimidated, and overreacting as I have. Also, how do you speak to the moderators, especially Matt, without posting for everyone to see? I don't know whether or not to e-mail, because I don't want to invade anyones personal space with forum issues.

iloveshania

[Darren]

well personally i think the modorators are here to help matt. Because obviously he can't check these things 24/7, so he puts the modorators here to make sure that there isn't any bad things posted etc. And if there is delete them. I think that the modorators exspecially matt and longshot should post way more frequently than they do. Because, after all they are like the owners of this thing, so why shouldn't they. Armando and Justin, I think they do enough. When you write them you get like an immedate response, And on occosions like the one i had earlier about my brother posting a bad topic, that can come in handy. To close, I think we should be able to pick who the modorators are. After all, they are governing us aren't they? We should pick someone we could trust, not to delete things that aren't necessary. And I also think that people with attitudes like one member who's be causing quite the stir lately should be kicked out. Good topic Londo.

[armando]

Personally, I think that this forum is pretty good. Most of the members are good and don't give trouble, however you do get those punks who start trouble once in a while. We do what we can to keep this place at peace, and I think it is not the moderators who help do that, but the members that help keep the peace at most.

Also, I think that my forum rank as a moderator should not restrain me from stating my opinions or views like a regular member, because when it comes down to it, I am a regular member. I just have this different status under my name aside by a few extra things like being able to move, close, and delete topics, thats all I have the power to do. Oh sure I can suggest to kick members out, but every member can suggest that. Matt has the final say so in just about everything anyway.

So in conclusion, I think what us moderators are doing is fine. Sure some people may not agree with the actions and opinions of what I say or do, but as I said in a previous topic, thats really just their problem. New members as well as older members should not find my nor any other moderator's rank intimidating. I'm basically just your average dude participating in forum discussions as the rest of you.

Armando

[matt]

We're just here to make sure the Forums are fan friendly and take care of any situations that might be causing trouble in the Forums. We try to observe the forums as much as we can but each of us also have other things going on as well as web sites of our own so we can't always read every message each day. Usually when we don't catch something we receive email from other Forum members who will alert us and tell us what's going on.

I don't post messages very often because I'm usually busy with other things related to my site and the Forums. The last couple weeks I've been busy working in the Forums on the Calendar Giveaway and adding Forums banners and Shania Links sections at the bottom of this page. I'll continue to work to promote the Forums so our Shania family will continue to grow and I'll also try to post more often :-)


One problem I see with the forums growing is the large number of posts in the main Shania Forum but the other forums going unrecognized. If we don't get people to post in the other forums (IE the Open Forum) the main forum will become harder to keep up with. We've gotta find a way to get others to post more in the other forums. I know the suggestion of getting rid of the music and open forum was brought up at one time but i think we'll need them with the new members joing. Don't hessitate in posting in this forum. The more people who post here, the more people will come read.

[Londo]

Now I have been talking to some of the people on the forums to see if they share my view on the situation. I was thinking there might be a little problem here. All 4 moderators are very busy with their own sites or because of other assignments like school, work, etc. As far as I’m concerned I think it would be good for a forum moderator to be able to stay online 24/7 and observe what is going on. Right now there is no problem, but as the members and posts will increase things will be more and more difficult to control. If we would have a troll episode again in a few months, or all kinds of wars between members for whatever reason, the quick act of the moderators would be essential.
So here is my proposition. Wouldn’t it be possible to add a couple of more moderators to the forums? They would have the task of taking over the usual scanning operations that are a burden for the present moderators. This would ease a little the task of today’s moderators in always scanning the forums and allow them to concentrate more on updating the sites, designing the forums, etc. The new moderators would be elected from the members, with the express approval of the administrators. They should be elected for a given period of time, for example 6 months, by the members. Of course they would have to be impartial in their decisions and have access to the forums around the clock so they would act immediately when a situation occurs. If their activity is being considered unsatisfactory they could be revoked by the administrator(s)(Matt, Justin, Longshot and Armando). Today’s moderators will have the same status as they have today because they own affiliated sites, so in other words have some shares into the forums. So basically there are 4 levels: administrator(Matt), senior moderator(Justin, Armando, Longshot), regular moderator(the 2 elected members) and ordinary member.

Quite a system I’ve created here lol. Anyway, I realize something like this hasn’t very big chances of being implemented, but I wanted to know what you all think. I think it could bring more advantages than disadvantages. The system could be improved, this is just a preliminary idea.

I hope this post will not be interpreted as an act of undermining the moderators’ authority! That’s the last thing I want to do.

[armando]

I must say that is quite an interesting concept, but if I recall correctly, the maximum number of moderators in a forum is four.

Armando

[Jersey Fan]

Londo,

Your outline is a great idea. It would help to ease confusion as the site gains new members undoubtably in the coming months. I doubt anybody can "babysit" the forums 24/7 even if they got paid to do it. Which is probably not an option. Maybe just having some loose schedule of checking in or posting would help. I would add that any memeber voting for a "possible" few extra moderators must have an established email address along with the basic profile info.

Matt is right about getting members to post
in the open, chat and music forums more often. It will help dramatically in the coming months. Also adding some profile info to the members name in their posts would be nice like the Corrs site has. The software looks very similar if not identical. Maybe some of this is already being planned?

There will always be troublemakers. Most pass through the site looking to stir up a dispute, start a rumor or trash Shania beyond any form of constuctive criticism. Some might ask why would someone do this here? You might say they should go to a "anti-shania" site or start one of their own. They don't get the response or the attention they are looking for that way. They're more bent on "shortening" the fan base and it might be one easy and effective way to do it given how some (not all) will react to a post before questioning the source. Not everyone who criticizes Shania has this intention but there have been some (in my opinion) that have.
I would like to see the moderators intervene on members who claim to have some "inside scoop" on her or her family and act as if we should take their word for it without confirming anything. It is too easy to do this hiding behind a Forum Name. They don't give real names or addresses for obvious reasons. So how can anyone give an ounce of credibility to any post by that person? Whether his or her intentions are good or bad. A simple reminder (whenever possible)to those from a moderator or the administrator would help the tone of the topic or post.

Is that some software limitation of 4 moderators per forum Armando? Then unless the code can be changed that idea is out for sure.

[iloveshania]

Londo:

Interesting idea, but I'm not sure anyone could watch the forums 24/7. If we were to elect people for this task, it should probably be people who don't have there own site to worry about. I agree with Armando though that for the most part the forums run pretty smooth. I think it's great though to have a clearer picture of what the moderators role is. I saw them as the all powerful gods of the forum. LOL It is good to know that there is an effective system in place; it's eased my mind alot.

iloveshania

[Justin]

First of all I would like to say that Iloveshania had a good idea about whether or not we are speaking as moderators or just regular people. The way I will deal with this issue in the future is that when I am speaking as a moderator about rules and regulations I will say at the top of my posting message from moderators. Hope that will help.

As for Londo's idea about the 2 new moderators I do not necessarily agree. Now please do not take this the wrong way or anything but currently we have had no real problems and if we have they have been dealt with fairly quickly. With 4 of us doing the job it seems to get done all right. The best way for the members to get involved in moderator action on the forum is write us an e-mail. We will never do anything that we feel will cause anger in the forums. We just want to keep it clean. Londo, although I do not agree with your idea I will run the idea by the other moderators and see how they feel about it.

Justin

[Londo]

Justin,
Considering the fact that there are less than 50 people in total posting around here, and considering people are posting around (maybe less than) 2 posts per day, this makes less than 100 posts per day (in reality there are around 50). So 4 moderators to keep an eye on maximum 100 posts in 24 hours is more than enough. My proposition was for the future, to ease pressure on the moderators and site owners, for the times when we will have more hundreds of posts per day, the elements of control should be increased. But for now things are settled as far as I can see. It’s good for the sake of democracy that you are willing to discuss that with the others, I would give you some more arguments to sustain my position, but I can’t do it today, I’m feeling really bad for this is a sad day for my country. Very sad. Sorry about this attitude of mine, but I feel like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer. Not your fault though. Take care.

[iloveshania]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Justin:
[B]First of all I would like to say that Iloveshania had a good idea about whether or not we are speaking as moderators or just regular people. The way I will deal with this issue in the future is that when I am speaking as a moderator about rules and regulations I will say at the top of my posting message from moderators. Hope that will help.

Thanks for understanding Justin! That makes me feel alot better.

iloveshania

[Gandalf]

Thanks. this has been a very intresting topic to read!

[SHANIANUTS!]

Jeez - here I thought this was a current thread! Duh!?!:)

[Geronimo]

Hmmm.... Interesting topic. I guess that the moderators aren't nearly as shallow as I thought they were. I always just assumed that they didn't do anything other than have wild drunken orgies :really: j/k

[Londo]

Originally posted by Geronimo
I always just assumed that they didn't do anything other than have wild drunken orgies :really: j/k

Wha?:shocked: :shocked: How d'you know?:shocked: :shocked: :shocked: