How to Talk to a Moderator

[Shadowhawk827]

I figured I'd throw this out there after taking part in the "Banned by Nexus" thread, and seeing the new Thanks For the Ride thread.  No this one is not sarcasm, nor sucking up to the staff here.  I don't know any of them.

 

Let me give my credentials real quick though, just so everyone knows I'm not talking out of my rear.  I spent a couple years moderating one of the biggest general discussion sites on the net.  At it's peak we were talking thousands of posts a day.  Virtually dead now too because the staff played favorites, which is a HUGE no no to keep a site healthy.  ANYWAY...  During that time, I dealt with trolls, rules lawyers, suck ups and outright organized flame wars too.  I was there when the Mumia Abu Jamal crowds decided to invade the site and start arguing the guilty / innocent thing there.  Talk about hell on Earth...

 

Point is I've been on the other side of the fence from us typical poster.  No way in hell I'd EVER do it again either.  Do it right, and play fair and it's about the most thankless unpaid job out there.

 

So a moderator or super moderator's job is simply to make sure the rules are followed.  Usually this comes down to variations on three different things; keep stuff posted in the right section, make sure nothing inappropriate is posted (based on the site's rules), and make sure people play nice together.  On the surface, it's a simple enough task.

 

The reality is something different.  The problem children always want to split hairs over rules and play the two year old's game of "he hit me first!".  Pretty much everything has to be handled from the standpoint of setting precident that the rules lawyers are going to use to stretch the rules just a hair farther too.

 

Let me pull a generalized example from that other site.  We had a general debating rule that posters could attack the other person's position on an issue, but not the actual person themself.  So it was OK to say "That's a dumb idea", but not "You're an idiot.".  Seems like a pretty simple concept right?  We ALWAYS had people (TROLLS) trying to push the envelope there saying things like "One wonders how anybody with half a brain could think something like that", etc...  We constantly had to put our foot down too, or the rules would get slowly eroded.  We saw it every time we gave an inch on an issue.  The same person or some other troll would try to push it a bit further and say "Well you let them do that".

 

So yeah, long story short, trolls and rules laywers (lawyers in general) are the reason you see zero tolerance policies or decisions resembling one.

 

Attitude goes a long way though.  With a DECENT moderator if you did something that got you banned and came back with a new account, they'd probably let you get away with it if you said "OK, screwed up, broke the rules, won't happen again."  Compare that with "Screw you, I'm back, what are you going to do about it?"  NOT SAYING THIS WAS WEASELHEART'S SITUATION EITHER.  Just using an exaggerated version of their scenario as an example.

 

The first option gives the moderator a way to maintain the perception of authority while doing the nice thing.  Stupid to worry about?  Not at all.  The second everybody thinks they don't have to follow any rules is the second a site goes to hell.  I'd wager most of you have been to a site where the mods have lost complete control, and promptly shook your head and left.

 

Oh and another way to get on a stie staff's bad side...  Pull the 'freedom of speech' routine or call them fascists for enforcing rules you agreed to when you joined, lol.  The first ammendment only guarantees you protection from the government (said ammendment largely has been flushed anyway).  As I was fond of pointing out also A fascist is somebody who believes in government control of private industry.

 

Getting off track there, but hopefully that gives those of you who actually stuck with me a bit of insight into what it's like to be a mod.

 

Talk to moderators like human beings, and show some understanding for their situation and you'll be amazed at how much any decent one will work with you.  If you want to get mad at anybody for the way they have to come down sometimes regarding the rules, blame the trolls that put them in that position.  Let's face it, if everybody treated each other with common courtesy and used common sense, there'd be no need for moderators at all, only a tech support team for the site.

 

AGAIN, I'm not defending the Nexus moderators specifically.   I've had no dealings with them, but I've heard alot of stories that make me question the quality of them.  I *do* know their "screw you, it's your fault if you get a virus from us" notice a couple months back really pissed me off.  Having a degree in internet security, I know sites are legally required to take reasonable steps to make sure their customers / visitors are safe.  Wandering off track again.  ANYWAY, my point is this advice applies to normal, fair moderators.  Like any group of people, there are going to be bad apples in the bunch.

[Pavaux]

I know the moderators here on LL are very kind people, I have never once seen an overly-aggressive post from one of them. I haven't been posting very much on this site, but even so, I have not encountered any trolls on LL, which quite frankly surprises me since all they would need to do would be to strike up an account and wreck shit before getting banned.

 

 I have only had one encounter (well that makes them sound like wild beasts) with a moderator and we didn't even chat, he simply did exactly what I asked, which was within reason. That to me makes a good moderator in my book, speak when needed, don't when not, unless he/she is simply on the site for their enjoyment. Sure hope I typed that right, looks like a mess back there.

 

 But, yeah, I can definitely see the need for people to know who moderators are. Many people are either scared of them or don't have the slightest scrap of respect for them, which is absolute nonsense, moderators dedicate their time to this site and get nothing on return. Why the actual hell would they treat anyone like that? I'm a strong believer of treating those as they treat you, on and off the internet. And in my case, even treating them as they treat others.

[Shadowhawk827]

That's why I like this site.  The moderators and members all seem to have brains.

 

I mainly wrote the post for helping people deal with moderators form other sites.  I imagine even the Nexus has some decent moderators that can be dealt with using a bit of common sense and empathy.