Moderator(s) needed here....

I was just reading through this thread -> http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45961 and came to the conclusion that it is finally time that I put in one or two moderators on this site. The crap I am seeing is GOING to end. Read that thread and watch the antagonism going on in there.

So here's what I want in a moderator or three:

• Will be here frequently enough to be effective and cover as many of the posts as possible. More than one may be needed, of course.
  
• Able to be impartial and fair. WHO makes a post is irrelevant. The CONTENT is what matters.
  
• Able to take the abuse that such a position will entail. There can be some risk to your own business and sanity, of course. YOU will be the bad guy to everyone you have to reprimand.
  
• Can be fairly autonomous. I don't need someone contacting me about every little issue. I will set up a special forum for mods and myself to discuss especially thorny issues, but for the most part I want someone who can do what needs to be done without my having to sit in the back seat giving directions all of the time.
  
• Must be someone(s) who are already respected here in this community and the majority of the members here will support their nomination to this position.

So here's what I want to do. Using this thread, I would like any volunteers to chime in as well as members to make nominations of other members they think would be qualified for the job. I'll give this some time, after which I will create a multiple choice poll of all applicants. The poll will run for a reasonable amount of time, and based on the votes cast on the candidates, will select from one to three members to be moderators on this site.

Some will not agree with this decision, of course, but after viewing that thread, it is apparent to me that some people are hell bent on being antagonistic to other members here and that HAS to cease. The moderators WILL have the capability of banning other members, and will be instructed to use that power sparingly but encouraged to use it as necessary.

Of course, there is always the chance of abuse by a moderator, which is where I will step in as needed. I will not entertain frivolous claims, so I suggest anyone coming to me with such a claim to make CERTAIN all their ducks are in a row and they are prepared to send me comprehensive evidence to support that claim. I want DETAILS, not vague unprovable claims.

Anyway, I do hate to have to set this site on a more structured and controlled course, but it appears that some members here are giving me no choice in the matter. If anyone has in mind to make this site just unpleasant for other members, I will be only too happy to see you booted out of here for your efforts. Enough is enough.

So please, let me know who wants to apply for this job as well as who you would LIKE to see there.

Thanks. And to all of you affected by the antagonistic crap, I apologize for not stepping in sooner. I had hoped it wouldn't be necessary on this site. So as they say, "My bad"....

I'm on here fairly often, I think I'm mature enough to help, so I'd be happy to moderate if you think I'm suitable, Rich

I'm always willing to help; I'm supermod at www.reptileforums.com, ssnakess.com, in reptichat now, as well as a bunch of smaller places; so it's all not new to me.
Also I am here just nearly all day long.

Hi Rich.

I re-read that thread, and I think it would be helpful for potential mods and members alike if you gave us your opinions on what went wrong in that thread. I haven't seen any temp-bans issued to the participants (yet), so I'm genuinely interested in how you view the exchange. I definitely see problems in the thread, but I don't know if my view lines up with yours, and I'd like to know.

Some may view the attempts by some members to get the original poster to stop using chat-speak and improve her writing/spelling as antagonistic. While there may be a hint of it, I was more put off by the o.p.'s dismissive and rude replies. I know you didn't author the following, but you must have approved it, or it wouldn't be stickied. How do you feel about members attempting to correct the writing styles that this passage discourages?

New Members Sticky said:

3) PROPER SPELLING AND GRAMMAR – This is a VERY important thing. If your posts and questions are filled with misspellings and poor grammar, you won’t be taken too seriously and no one will want to read your posts. This means you won’t receive nearly as much help. A little effort goes a long way. Chat speak in posts is typically not well received.
If you’re not a great speller, there is a spellcheck you can use before submitting your posts. If you’re not a grammar expert, just make sure you capitalize the right words and use periods/question marks.

Click to expand...

Here are a couple of other passages from that stickied document. I'm wondering who you think crossed the line in that thread, and who (if anyone) you think deserved the 3-day ban that these passages describe. In my opinion, there were a small number of posters coming close to the line, but only one crossed it. What do you think?

New Members Sticky said:

7) CROSSING THE LINE - Members who let disagreements get out of hand, post inflammatory responses (personal attacks), or use foul language will receive a 3-Day ban from the forum. This is a time to cool down, collect your thoughts, and come back and become a valuable contributor to the community. If it happens again, you will receive a permanent ban. It may seem harsh, but rules have to be in place to keep the forum a positive place free of animosity amongst its members.

Click to expand...

New Members Sticky said:

5) FOUL LANGUAGE – Cursing is not only ill-received by forum members it will also earn you a 3-day banning from the forum. If it continues you will receive a permanent ban period.

Click to expand...

While I don't believe my posts were antagonistic, I do apologize for continuing the thread with my posts. I do not believe the thread was handled well by some members, but I will not point fingers as it is not my place. I actually did skip most of the posts on the thread, because I had no interest in getting involved in the whole chat speak argument.

At that, I am 100% willing to offer myself as a "candidate" for a moderator position. I believe I have handled Fauna's Cornsnake forum moderation well and would like to help you here as well.

Will be here frequently enough to be effective and cover as many of the posts as possible. More than one may be needed, of course.

Click to expand...

I am available at all hours of the day and am online frequently. I practically live on my computer when I am not taking care of the animals or working (pathetic, I know).

Able to be impartial and fair. WHO makes a post is irrelevant. The CONTENT is what matters.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I believe I have shown that I can be impartial on Fauna despite my personal feelings about certain members.

Able to take the abuse that such a position will entail. There can be some risk to your own business and sanity, of course. YOU will be the bad guy to everyone you have to reprimand.

Click to expand...

Been there, done that with Fauna (and survived! :crazy02: ).

Can be fairly autonomous. I don't need someone contacting me about every little issue. I will set up a special forum for mods and myself to discuss especially thorny issues, but for the most part I want someone who can do what needs to be done without my having to sit in the back seat giving directions all of the time.

Click to expand...

Can do! As long as we have the opportunity to discuss serious issues with your privately and/or with fellow mods, I believe this system could work very well here.

Must be someone(s) who are already respected here in this community and the majority of the members here will support their nomination to this position.

Click to expand...

No comment. :sidestep:
________________

I would also like to nominate Dean & DAND... :grin01: If they'll accept...

I will be one, besides this last week, i am normally here at least 5 times a day. If you do not see me fit for the position i understand. I would also like to apologise for my involvement in the thread.

sorrt i acidentally hit sumbmit reply instead of spell check and i still wanted to add more. I Also have had issues with users in the past but i do not hold any grudges( me and Dean went at it a while long while ago). I am the youngest child of four, i can take abuse.

I think DaemoNox would be a perfect choice for a mod.

Rich,

You can toss my name in the hat. I'd be glad to help out here too.

I would also be glad to offer my services if needed.

Hey Rich,
I also supermod another site Aquafacts.net. If you need help, i am here if you need it.

Go ahead and put my name down too.

Thanks for the site Rich.

I'll chime in and say if you need me I'm here. There are a lot of good people that have already volunteered and I'm hoping there's a few more that I think could do the job (but I'll wait and see if they volunteer).

~Katie

If we have to have one I think Mike (MBDorfer) would make a great moderator, I have never seen him take sides, reprimand or belittle anybody.

Roy Munson said:

Hi Rich.

I re-read that thread, and I think it would be helpful for potential mods and members alike if you gave us your opinions on what went wrong in that thread. I haven't seen any temp-bans issued to the participants (yet), so I'm genuinely interested in how you view the exchange. I definitely see problems in the thread, but I don't know if my view lines up with yours, and I'd like to know.

Click to expand...

I would like to know also. While I will only have one vote (or one vote-set), I am going to take this very seriously as I am particularly interested in the health of this forum. It will be harder to judge someone's appropriateness if they have not posted anything in such threads previously, but to whatever extent I can determine that their judgments align with your wishes I will use that to vote. Basically, I cannot imagine the situation improving from this unless there is a level of harmony amongst the moderators and site owner/you, and your response to the above question impacts my interpretation of who can best enable that.

Thanks,
-Sean

I'll volunteer too if you need me Rich.

Just wanted to say that I'm glad this is finally happening. I think this will be a great help to you, Rich. At least this way you don't have to handle all of the little crap like dealing with spam posts and other issues.

Wow! I've ignored that thread until I saw Rich's name as the last reply (since I have no snakes for sale, I really can't help fill any snakes wanted), got curious, saw the lock, became even more curious and I had to read it from start to finish. Too bad I missed a chance to post as a Private word with evil_cornsnake_lover may have made her realize many of the later posts were simply good-natured banter amongst friends. A few explanations may have prevented her lashing out like she did.

As for your request for moderator volunteers, many good people have already volunteered their services. Even though I cannot guarantee that I will be able to keep up with all the threads every day, with some help from the members (PM or e-mail notifications about a problem thread) and the other chosen moderators, I would try to do my best to keep CS the best forum site on the net. I'm not perfect and have had some problems, and have made posts I perhaps shouldn't have. I do generally try to think my responses through, read and re-read posts before submitting, and on many occasions, simply refrained from posting until later, if at all. Thumper's father gave good advice..."If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." (Yes, the children and I recently saw Bambi again.) I fully understand and accept the potential "hate mail" I could get, as well as the potential loss of business. But considering that I'm not in this for the money (have been in the red since '96) and that I also have inherited my father's voodoo doll and voodoo instruction manual ( :dgrin: ), I think I can live with it.

So, I am officially announcing my running for the nomination for the position of Cornsnake.com Moderator. (May God have mercy on my soul.)

Rich,
A. I have to admit I was shocked at your post requesting moderators for the forum. I hadn't read through the linked that thread at all until tonight, so I wasn't aware of the words spoken there. Interestingly enough, it didn't seem to spill out into other areas (BONUS!!), and hence my surprise at your request.
B. I have to agree with what I think Roy was getting at . . . why wasn't/isn't ECL put on a 3 day ban for her words in that thread?
B 1/2. I personally think ECL is a 'known' troll that's fishing for controversy . . . but I could be wrong on that account. :shrugs:
C. I would be willing to offer up services in moderating, but do believe I'd nominate others over myself (in not particular order): Roy Munson, desertanimal, mdorfer, jazzgeek, DaemoNox, Susan, DAND, blckkat, lefty_mussolini . . . just to name a few. Of course any one of them would have to WANT the job!
D. Would it be possible to make the moderator(s) you choose anonymous to the forum itself? Obviously you would know who they are. This may appear as a quality that would appear negative (ie. Someone abusing the power because noone knows who they are), but I think it would give someone the ability to do their job with impunity as you want it done. The mod would be anonymous, but obviously their actions would not, and ultimately, you'd know who did what.

Just some thoughts,
D80

Drizzt80 said:

D. Would it be possible to make the moderator(s) you choose anonymous to the forum itself? Obviously you would know who they are. This may appear as a quality that would appear negative (ie. Someone abusing the power because noone knows who they are), but I think it would give someone the ability to do their job with impunity as you want it done. The mod would be anonymous, but obviously their actions would not, and ultimately, you'd know who did what.

Just some thoughts,
D80

Click to expand...

I initially thought that as well, but changed my mind once I realized that a well-known moderator would have more success in calming a situation down than an unknown member.