Moderation: Too much or too little?

[Cave Diver]

but I know CD introduced both :bs: and :gans:


That's why I asked him.

Actually, NetDoc introduce the shenanigans smiley IIRC. That one wasn't me.

And there have been several smileys that have been added and removed over the years as the flavor of the board changed.

Let's not derail (what I feel) has been a useful thread into a spillover argument from another thread.

 

[HowardE]

Shame on you for introducing such an offensive smiley that created such a hostile atmosphere on this harmonious corner of the internet!

---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 PM ----------



No problem. I didn't start it.

Actually... You basically asked me to shut up and stick to site support. So yeah... you did start.

I'm an advisor on SB, and quite frankly have been for several years. I am pretty much directly involved with every major decision on SB.

So as I said... You tried to put another advisor on the defensive, and I, as another advisor, responded to you.

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If anyone actually feels that the smilies that have been removed are defensible, then by all means, let's hear those arguments in favor of keeping them (in it's own thread). Otherwise, continue this thread on the topic it was on.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Trying to move things back in the general direction of the OP....

I think the current level of moderation is just fine. I've personally has exactly ONE post editted by a moderator, in the long-locked Cozumel bounce diving mess thread. In it, I pointed out (as 1-2 lines of a fairly long article) that the poster to whom I was responding had a long and inglorious history of posting insensitive and ill-considered posts which all served a very clear personal agenda. As part of a HUGE clean up in that mess, that 1-2 line comment was removed. I didn't agree with the action, and I told the mod so. But I'm under no obligation to agree with every choice the mods make, just as they're under no obligation to give a rats backside about my opinion of their choices.

I have the impression that the trend is "if in doubt, do nothing" which seems entirely reasonabe.

 

[lowviz]

Trying to move things back in the general direction of the OP....

I think the current level of moderation is just fine. ...//....

So do I. I used Cave Diver's logo ( I like it) as an example of how stupidly simple this is getting.

Suggestion:

Put everything back and restrict all but a subset of "appropriate" smileys to the two sacred cows: Basic Scuba Discussions and New Divers and Those Considering Diving.

We have met the enemy, and he is us.

 

[Buoyant1]

This thread needs the smiley....

The popcorn smiley has it's merits...the BS smiley has it's merits...some newbies need to be put in their place, some not so newbie people spew crap....

Those two "emoticons" are worth their weight....I liken the popcorn smiley to playing the jeopardy theme in a thread.... I think they are a "nice" way calling someone out rather than just coming out and calling them an "azzhole."

tossing my 2 cents into it....


As far as moderation? depends upon the moderator. As someone said some seem to just blend into the conversation, some tend to be paranoid. Some conversations tend to get heated, and justifiably so, other get quashed too soon. As far as anything in the "diving" forums...some people really need to be watched and some are giving bad advice... these people need to be moderated...in the more "social" forums...not so much...I think personalities get involved, and people get petty. (and you need the "popcorn" smiley!)

 

[Cave Diver]

As far as anything in the "diving" forums...some people really need to be watched and some are giving bad advice... these people need to be moderated..

This was pretty much covered with my first post:

Moderators walk a very fine line in this regard. We will remove information that is in blatant disregard to established guidelines followed by major certifying agencies which is brought to our attention. Many lesser points are often left to the users to counter. Part of the reason is stated in my list above - we can't be everywhere at once. A second part is that if we attempt to regulate every questionable comment, then people will feel stifled and it opens up liability if we miss something.

If you see something that is blatantly bad advice, the best course is either to ask for clarification and refute it in an appropriate manner, or to report it and let staff review it.

 

[Buoyant1]

This was pretty much covered with my first post:



If you see something that is blatantly bad advice, the best course is either to ask for clarification and refute it in an appropriate manner, or to report it and let staff review it.

I'd rather just use your old :bs: flag and be done with it! A little self moderation goes a long way. I've sent a few items and some days it takes a while to get them removed....(although I don't hang out over there much any more)

Bottom line of my issue with moderation is that the actual diving forums need a little more, and the social forums need a little less. Nude pictures and the seven dirty words you can't say on television shouldn't be in any of them, (not that there's anything WRONG with it) But some of what's been taken out of the social forums, and how some people tend to deal with them seems a little extreme.

I spend a lot of time in some sports forums, and the moderation there gets a little tougher once there's a personal attack on someone, arguments, heated discussions, and some ribbing is tolerated...some days it doesn't feel like that over here. (and is some of the reason, I really don't spend as much time here as I once did.)

 

[Mantra]

Just throwing this in FWIW - I think it is useful to have mods who are participants in threads too. It makes it clearer that mods are from the community (i.e., cuts against an 'us and them' vibe) and means that mods can also keep participating in their community rather than stay aloof out of some sense of noblesse oblige.

One easy way to do this is to graphically indicate when a mod is posting in their 'user' role vs when they are posting as a mod. Seems like this happens in accidents and incidents for example - is there site wide visual grammar around this? Reddit does this by having the user name colored and an icon next to the name when the user is in mod-role. Similar could be achieved here by using colored text for mod statements and uninflected text for normal participation. Not sure if this comment is useful, but thought I'd throw it in just in case.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Sure, Mods can do that... As a general rule, though, we try not to moderate threads where we're posting as users, but use the "Report" button just like any other user
Rick

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[SC_Hoaty]

I have to agree with Mantra, that it is hard to discern what role certain people are posting in.

Example: Earlier in this thread HowardE made a comment about a post that I directed to Cave Diver. HowardE did NOT identify that he was responding in his role as a site advisor. He later posted that it WAS in his advisor role that he responded. How is one to know when NO DISTINCTION is made?

 

[Cave Diver]

I have to agree with Mantra, that it is hard to discern what role certain people are posting in.

Example: Earlier in this thread HowardE made a comment about a post that I directed to Cave Diver. HowardE did NOT identify that he was responding in his role as a site advisor. He later posted that it WAS in his advisor role that he responded. How is one to know when NO DISTINCTION is made?

I think a little common sense goes a long way here. When mods are responding in official capacity, the vast majority of the time they use the mod post feature in the post above. *Sometimes* we attempt to steer conversations without using that post so it comes off more as a friendly suggestion than a direct order. Unfortunately, few people respond to those type of suggestions.

I think it would be safe to assume that most of the time when a mod makes a post, unless it is indicated otherwise, then that is their personal position, not an official one. But if it contains a directive or suggestion for behavior it should still be taken with a bit of authority - compliance with suggestions helps keep them from having to become directives. Make sense?

You may also notice that I tend to use something along these lines a lot

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Ahem...

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Basically, that's the internet equivalent of clearing my throat to get your attention. I expect you to listen to what follows, (which wont be inside the mod quotes) but I'm trying to do it in a way that doesn't come across as just barking orders. Sometimes it's effective, others not so much.