What do you want in a moderator?

manateehugger

Hi all,

In case you haven't seen it, TK is apparently working to FINALLY reinstate mods. However, they've made a post asking for feedback a closed discussion and apparently think you should only make suggestions through PMs. http://forums.theknot.com/discussion/1030173/community-moderators#latest

I think if we really want to be an inclusive and positive community here, we should have an open discussion about what we think a great community mod looks like. Let's avoid throwing out nominations for now (since TK seems to want to keep nominations private) and just list generally qualities/attitudes/and systems of checks (in case of rogue mods) you'd like to see in your mod.

Andddd go!

manateehugger

And I know we all love to have fun, but let's keep the conversation semi-serious for now so we can develop a comprehensive list of suggestions and don't have to weed through gifs (I know, I know, I'm a party pooper).

beethery

Someone who will address wild shit-stirring, and get rid of spam/vendors quickly.

JCbride2015

Yes, definitely getting rid of vendors quickly.

Somebody who can pull the plug on troll threads like we had the other day, but won't warn/ban/delete blunt and snarky comments just because a SS doesn't like the opinions.

KatieinBkln

A good mod:

1. Deletes spam and blocks spammers quickly

2. Blocks personal attacks that are unequivocal (i.e. "You're a bitch!" not "Uninviting people is a bitchy move')
3. Closes zombie threads

4. Helps report potential problem-users to TK, but does not "flag" or ban out of hand without going through some kind of (to-be-determined) warning process

5. Is committed to keeping his/her own feelings separate from the flagging/banning process. No banning users you just plain don't like, whether they be long-time regs or whining newbs. 

AddieCake

People who will

~ ban vendors as quickly as they can

~ stop LEGIT personal attacks (ie a few months ago, Maggie was straight up called a bitch by another poster and nothing happened, I did not get the impression that poster was even warned.) 

~ be fair and consistent across the board with everyone 

~ not warn/ban people just for snark or for what newbs think are "rude responses" 

TK needs to clarify exactly what cannot be said. For example, can I say "You're being  a crappy friend" or do I have to say, "You're not being a very good friend" ? 

ETA: 

~warn/ban trolls or people who are just posting to start trouble, even if they are not the trolls we see who deliberately start threads on hot button issues. People who are just trying to rile people up and goad and bait people need handled as well. 

manateehugger

1. Is willing to commit to a regular TK presence (I understand people have lives, but I think highly regular presence, even if just to check in to ban vendors/remove spam quickly, is preferrable).

2. Does not play sides and is willing to tell both sides of an argument to cool it, regardless if they agree with the opinions of one side.

3. Gives prompt warning before taking any action against community members (except vendors and those screaming explicit personal insults - "You're a bitch," "You're fat and ugly in your sig," etc.)

4. Someone who is willing to step in with posters scream bully and personal attack to explain the rules and the nature of TK community while remaining impartial.

5. I think it might be good if banning decisions made by mods can be reviewed by TK (to prevent mod gone wild banning sprees of yonder years) but ONLY if TK can manage to have someone check in at least once a day to review decisions.

6. Someone who is willing to provide explanations to community members and open to reconsidering decisions made.

7. Someone who can define "trolling" for the TK community as tightly as possible and take action against those who fit that definition.

8. Someone who can close zombie threads but still provide explanation to the newb why zombie threads are looked down upon (so we aren't all just meanies saying post somewhere new!).

ETA: I also sometimes fantasize about a Jerry Springer board where posters who want to hash it out can go and the rules are generally off as long as it sticks to the posters who WANT to be involved and doesn't spill over to other boards.

chibiyui

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Mods should span multiple time zones, be able to remain impartial/not get power drunk, and articulately explain why they banned a poster closed a thread removed a post etc.

manateehugger

Another question too, I suppose, would be do we want roaming mods or mods dedicated to specific boards?

misshart00

I want someone who won't just make a bunch of stickies because they're either asked to or to avoid their job.

AddieCake

PDKH said:

Another question too, I suppose, would be do we want roaming mods or mods dedicated to specific boards?

I'm torn on this. 

misshart00

AddieCake said:

PDKH said:

Another question too, I suppose, would be do we want roaming mods or mods dedicated to specific boards?

I'm torn on this. 

Me too. I think I would prefer specific boards but if someone is spamming one board and that mod hasn't logged on, I would like someone to be able to swoop in and ban them.

offensivekitten2

PDKH said:

Another question too, I suppose, would be do we want roaming mods or mods dedicated to specific boards?

I think mods need to be limited to a certain number of boards, or they will inevitably have too much on thier plate and things will slip through.

I've modded before, and the most I've ever been able to keep up with is one extremely active board and two slower ones.

manateehugger

Let's also think about things we see daily on TK that we think aren't approrpriate right now and would like a mod to be take a stronger hand against. I don't want people to not speak up in this thread because they're afraid to go against the tide.

AddieCake

Consistency is important. Not calling anybody out, but in the past, there were things I knew I could get away with on so and so's board and not on another so and so's.

manateehugger

Do we think warnings against provacative or argumentative behavior should be on the board or via PM?

pinkcow13

PDKH said:

Do we think warnings against provacative or argumentative behavior should be on the board or via PM?

I agree with all the suggestions above.

In regards to this question I think maybe on the board. That way it would deter other users from behaving in the same manner.

rajahmd

1) Impartial

2) Active

3) Open minded

4) Fair

5) Honest

Those are my top 5 characteristics. Everyone else has made really good points.

I think we're less likely to get power hungry mods if they are roaming. I feel like past issues have come from mods being territorial over their assigned boards, like how Retread threatened to ban stage is she came on her board, regardless of her behavior on said board.

larrygaga

We need someone professional that won't let internet power over others go to their head.

offensivekitten2

PDKH said:

Do we think warnings against provacative or argumentative behavior should be on the board or via PM?

Ideally it would be in thread, but the KnotGods have been very clear in the past year that it is a no-go. They even have that policy on TN and TB. It's pretty clear that it's non-negotiable.

KatieinBkln

PDKH said:

Do we think warnings against provacative or argumentative behavior should be on the board or via PM?

Personally I'd think via PM is best, so as to avoid any back-and-forth. And frankly, if I were called out on something publicly, I'd be much more likely to push back and try to get other posters "on my side." Not such a mature thing to admit, but it's true and I think would be true for more people than just me. It also prevents derailing the original conversation.

AddieCake

PDKH said:

Do we think warnings against provacative or argumentative behavior should be on the board or via PM?

SITB

PM b/c if one of us gets warned, a speshul snowflake gets to giggle over it if they know it happened and use it to reference in the future, like "Even TK agreed with me....you already got a warning!" 

manateehugger

Oh, and this might be more of a TOS thing than a mod thing, but I think encouraging other posters to look at someone's wedding website or other social media on the boards should be considered a bannable offense under "sharing personal information."

PrettyGirlLost

I think mods should have limited "territory" so they do not get overwhelmed. 

I think there should be a few per board that span different time zones in different shifts, so that no matter what time of day/night, someone is "on call."

I think consistency, clear communication, and transparency are key- The mods need to explain concisely why ppl receive a warning, why a flagged post should/or should not have been flagged, and should be required to publicly explain why a user is banned, if they are banned.

The mods need to have a well defined and publicly disclosed definition of "bullying" or malicious posting behaviors.  Frankly, I do not believe swearing or making a statement like, "You are acting like an entitled child," "You are being a shitty friend" should constitute bullying or malicious posting.  Only direct "You're all fucking bitches" type of posts should be deemed malicious.

RebeccaB88

With roaming mods, I'd be concerned about the slower boards, that something could easily be missed if a mod didn't check it often.  We'd still be paging mods on other boards to check that one.

But roaming mods do make sense, that they wouldn't get too comfortable with just the vibe on one board.

They'd need to be available weekends, holidays, overnights, etc.  Which would be a huge responsibility for them. People have lives - work, vacations, plans, families. What if it's a holiday weekend and all the mods had plans or were on vacation?  Would there have to be a schedule of who's covering what holiday?  Obviously the boards slow down overnight, but spammers like to show up then. Would they be required to be on sometimes on the overnights? 

I think it would be tough to find experienced board members who haven't had at least one warning. I've been warned and I usually try to stay out of a lot of the hot button topics (to be fair, the warning was way back before the Great Exodus, when newbies were report button happy).  A lot of the board members who'd fit this category are newer members who may have not fully settled into how the board works and the unwritten rules.

There should definitely be a review process before banning (unless it's an obvious spammer) - maybe a temporary suspension until a KG reviews it?  (As if they'd ever get around to it.)

And obviously, @KnotPorscha needs an assistant or twelve. She's one person trying to do way more than one person's work. And that's why she's not excelling at anything.

rajahmd

PDKH said:

Oh, and this might be more of a TOS thing than a mod thing, but I think encouraging other posters to look at someone's wedding website or other social media on the boards should be considered a bannable offense under "sharing personal information."

This is a really good point. A clause like this would have prevented the fiasco this spring with that poor couple's wedding website.

KatieinBkln

PDKH said:

Let's also think about things we see daily on TK that we think aren't approrpriate right now and would like a mod to be take a stronger hand against. I don't want people to not speak up in this thread because they're afraid to go against the tide.

There are many times when a SS starts getting upset about how "mean" everyone is that I can practically see people rubbing their hands together with glee, and then "piling on" the poster. A lot of times people chime in perfectly politely (or even a with a little bit of snark) but sometimes I wish there was a way for someone to say, "Okay, guys, point taken" without it necessarily being a "you're banned!" situation. I think people here give excellent advice, but sometimes I think threads become more interested in "sticking it" to a poster who dared to question someone's tone/word choice/whatever and I'm really not okay with that, either. (Granted, I am also not okay with SSs doing the whole, "I feel sorry for your SOs; you're all terrible people" thing, either. It definitely cuts both ways.)

JCbride2015

RebeccaB88 said:

With roaming mods, I'd be concerned about the slower boards, that something could easily be missed if a mod didn't check it often.  We'd still be paging mods on other boards to check that one.

But roaming mods do make sense, that they wouldn't get too comfortable with just the vibe on one board.

They'd need to be available weekends, holidays, overnights, etc.  Which would be a huge responsibility for them. People have lives - work, vacations, plans, families. What if it's a holiday weekend and all the mods had plans or were on vacation?  Would there have to be a schedule of who's covering what holiday?  Obviously the boards slow down overnight, but spammers like to show up then. Would they be required to be on sometimes on the overnights? 

I think it would be tough to find experienced board members who haven't had at least one warning. I've been warned and I usually try to stay out of a lot of the hot button topics (to be fair, the warning was way back before the Great Exodus, when newbies were report button happy).  A lot of the board members who'd fit this category are newer members who may have not fully settled into how the board works and the unwritten rules.

There should definitely be a review process before banning (unless it's an obvious spammer) - maybe a temporary suspension until a KG reviews it?  (As if they'd ever get around to it.)

And obviously, @KnotPorscha needs an assistant or twelve. She's one person trying to do way more than one person's work. And that's why she's not excelling at anything.

LOL.  I got warned for calling Maggie an OMH.

JCbride2015

RajahBMFD said:

Oh, and this might be more of a TOS thing than a mod thing, but I think encouraging other posters to look at someone's wedding website or other social media on the boards should be considered a bannable offense under "sharing personal information."

This is a really good point. A clause like this would have prevented the fiasco this spring with that poor couple's wedding website.

Yes, this made me really uncomfortable.  There was another thread that same week in which the OP slipped and shared first names, and a bunch of us found their social media.  I didn't share it with anyone except the OP in PM, but lots of people on the board were pushing for others to share the links.  I think asking for info like that, as well as posting it, should be a warn-able offense.

AddieCake

Excellent point, P.  Nobody needs to be deliberately trying to expose someone's privacy or put them in any kind of potential danger or cause drama or trouble for them in their real lives. 

beethery

shrekspeare said:

PDKH said:

Another question too, I suppose, would be do we want roaming mods or mods dedicated to specific boards?

I think it would be better to have roaming mods. A mod dedicated to a certain board can become desensitized to the drama on a board, while a roaming mods may be able to give better perspective on what's appropriate and what's not.

On the other hand, if there aren't clear guidelines for mods, we could run into the issue of one mod thinking something is okay, while another doesn't.

I agree with this, plus it can help mods spot troublemakers across different boards.