Moderation: Too much or too little?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't see it either Marcia ... either by clicking the link or by looking directly at the thread listing in the Feedback forum.

Check the permissions ... it's probably set so that only those with staff status can view it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Kern]

I don't see it either Marcia ... either by clicking the link or by looking directly at the thread listing in the Feedback forum.

Check the permissions ... it's probably set so that only those with staff status can view it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

OMG.... do you mean..... it's in the back room.

 

[The Chairman]

When the OP accuses a moderator of attacking him ... which in this case, she was doing no such thing ...

I get all the "abuse@ScubaBoard.com" emails, where peeps complain about this or that moderator. It's a common misconception that a moderator is attacking someone when they are simply disagreeing with them or providing an alternate view point. I get asked to remove a moderator about once a month or so on this basis, and yes, even a few asked for your head when you were a moderator. I can't think of one instance that was not the user simply being over sensitive to someone in authority disagreeing with them. You can be sure that I let them know this and try to help them accept the criticisms that may come their way, even to learning from them.

We need ... on both ends ... to quit being divisive and give each other some margin for constructive motivations. I think most members ... and most mods ... are sincerely trying to make their participation here a positive one ...

Amen, brother Bob.

However, when one or two people go on a vendetta against a user they often have a hard time seeing what they are doing and the chilling effect their actions have. Moderators usually start off with a gentle nudge that increases in intensity until they finally get the message across. Yes, a few need a cyber baseball bat across their noggin in order to get their attention. That's considerably different than ten years ago when a mod might try the baseball bat approach first.

Unfortunately, we've had a few melt downs over the years. Some of them were orchestrated by a few while most were simply the result of us not understanding the situation. I view those as our failures and I believe that we could have avoided them if our moderation were a bit more proactive. The dog pile mentality was not born on the internet, but they sure have perfected it. We're still trying to understand the pack mentality that a few show and learn to circumvent it. As I have often suggested, ScubaBoard is an experiment. We are boldly posting where no man has posted before. There are no text books or manuals to read on how to handle this and we often have to make it up as we go along. We use the feedback we get to adjust how we do our job and that includes threads like this, reported posts and other criticisms and accolades we read here and elsewhere. My personal insight into humanity has been surpassed by our corporate comprehension of the dynamics of these interactions. It's why we have a discussion area for the mods, so that we can all benefit from the collective wisdom of all the mods. Actually, it was the mod squad forum that gave us the idea for the I2I forum: a place where we can talk about our students behind their backs!

 

[gypsyjim]

We're still trying to understand the pack mentality that a few show and learn to circumvent it.

Understand it, sure. Circumvent it? That smacks of over moderating.

Why not only step in if things start to go way off, but just let the conversation flow until it does?

a place where we can talk about our students behind their backs!

You should read what is said in private about some actions of a few of the mods. IJS.

 

[The Chairman]

Understand it, sure. Circumvent it? That smacks of over moderating.

Why should we allow them to chase people off that they don't like? They only call it over moderating when it happens to them! Just be nice and it won't be a problem.

Why not only step in if things start to go way off, but just let the conversation flow until it does?

That's how we do it now. Of course, when you point out how unfriendly someone is being, they sometimes dig up that old ghost from Family Circus:

Not Me!​

You should read what is said in private about some actions of a few of the mods. IJS.

No, not really. There's a lot of gossip and blame storming of mods that goes on and most of it is nothing but dog piling. I'm not going to feed the drama trolls. If they really have something worth mentioning, they can send it to abuse@ScubaBoard.com or post it publicly.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

I don't see it either Marcia ... either by clicking the link or by looking directly at the thread listing in the Feedback forum.

Check the permissions ... it's probably set so that only those with staff status can view it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Since Quero posted her screenshot to assert the thread existed in the feedback forum, I will post this one to show it does not:



Now where did the BS smiley go?

 

[Kern]

No, not really. There's a lot of gossip and blame storming of mods that goes on and most of it is nothing but dog piling. I'm not going to feed the drama trolls. If they really have something worth mentioning, they can send it to abuse@ScubaBoard.com or post it publicly.

It sometimes seems to be OK for you to call people some pretty unfriendly things, based on some pretty subjective criteria.

 

[ScubaSteve]

It sometimes seems to be OK for you to call people some pretty unfriendly things based on some pretty subjective criteria.

I question the validity of this statement only because of the use of the bolded word.

 

[Kern]

I question the validity of this statement only because of the use of the bolded word.

Maybe I should've stuck with something as generalised as the inconsistent moderation/moderators.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Since Quero posted her screenshot to assert the thread existed in the feedback forum, I will post this one to show it does not:

View attachment 120520

Now where did the BS smiley go?

As an admin on a fairly complex online system here at work, I assure you it's quite possible for those with the right permissions to view an entry that others cannot see.

I don't know if this is the case, but given the screen shot, I'm guessing that it is ... and if she can see it in the Feedback forum, that means it's there ... you and I just don't have the correct permissions to view it. An admin can change those permissions to make it viewable for everyone.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)