XP: Secret Mods?

Swazzle · August 2013

Simply Fated said:

@SilverSarahB - Were YOU recruited to be a secret mod? Don't be shy now.
I asked the same question and my post got deleted.

We should just start quoting all of each other's posts so they can't mysteriously disappear.

southernbelle0915 · August 2013

Simply Fated said:

Waaaait are post getting deleted? It's not a glitch. It's gotta be a KG or one of the new members of the Inquisitional Squad. No way is it a glitch and they better not try to say it is.

Simply Fated · August 2013

Swazzle said:

Simply Fated said:

Swazzle said:
@SilverSarahB - Were YOU recruited to be a secret mod? Don't be shy now.
I asked the same question and my post got deleted.

We should just start quoting all of each other's posts so they can't mysteriously disappear.
I've resorted to taking screenshots. I'm on my cellphone now, but once I get to my desktop, shits gunna get real lol.

FutureMrsN3312 · August 2013

HobokenBride2012 said:

Here is is again. Part of me thinks it was done on purpose because of what it said. The post said -I think we've uncovered someone that got the secret email and said yes...

Agreed! And if that's the case come forward and say it...

HobokensFury · August 2013

Swazzle said:

@SilverSarahB - Were YOU recruited to be a secret mod? Don't be shy now.

She fits the description. Long time lurker with only about 100 post. She joined in 2011 but just started chatting in the last month. Suspicious.

MobKaz · August 2013

It's like Freaky Friday all over again. These Friday glitches are becoming quite the convenient norm.

In the past, moderators were prominent and unpaid. To now suddenly operate a forum with a covert moderating system will only breed mistrust and contempt. To reward/pay/bribe these secret mods makes me think motives are involved. It is also a slap in the face to the women who successfully performed that role in prior months/years.

My paranoia makes me wonder if some of the KG's themselves have taken on alter egos.

FutureMrsN3312 · August 2013

My post that was mysteriously deleted went something like this...

This all started with miscommunications. Perhaps TK should have put out a PSA to feel members out on this idea or just notified us that these changes were happening. It's not just about what they did, but how they went about it that isn't sitting right with people.

When I volunteered to look after a board, I wasn't looking for some type of reward. I thought it was my way of giving back and helping something that has helped me greatly. When you send me a message to go behind people's backs and be untruthful and sneaky that's when that "reward" becomes a bribe in my book.

That's all I can remember from my tangent at the moment...

Simply Fated · August 2013

It doesn't make sense to put money towards these gift cards when there are people willing to do it for free. In fact, people WERE doing it for free. The love of the forums were reward enough.

I can totes see the KGs taking on AEs, especially after making a rule against it.

MairePoppy · August 2013

That's an interesting theory, mobkaz.

mobkaz said:

It's like Freaky Friday all over again. These Friday glitches are becoming quite the convenient norm.
In the past, moderators were prominent and unpaid. To now suddenly operate a forum with a covert moderating system will only breed mistrust and contempt. To reward/pay/bribe these secret mods makes me think motives are involved. It is also a slap in the face to the women who successfully performed that role in prior months/years.

My paranoia makes me wonder if some of the KG's themselves have taken on alter egos.

Oh wait......that would be a violation of the TOS.

NYCMercedes · August 2013

My post from 2:55 was deleted, too. How do I know it was 2:55? Because its still in my replies but the thread skips from 2:36 to 3:31. I quoted this from her, " TG realized they have screwed up and each time they try to make "improvements", they fail miserably and are worse than the last idea!" Magically dissension is being wiped out by the SS......eta...it was @oliveoilsmom who I was quoting.

MobKaz · August 2013

It is clear that several new posters have been testing the waters and "performing" in absentia. Whether they took that role upon themselves or were asked is difficult to say. I do hope any potential secret mod considers the historical perspective of this forum. This would not be the first time the KG's have recruited covert operators. And particularly when working covertly, you discover that you are not only dispensable, it is hard to prove you, or the role you played, even existed.......

OliveOilsMom · August 2013

FutureMrsN3312 said:

My post that was mysteriously deleted went something like this...

This all started with miscommunications. Perhaps TK should have put out a PSA to feel members out on this idea or just notified us that these changes were happening. It's not just about what they did, but how they went about it that isn't sitting right with people.

When I volunteered to look after a board, I wasn't looking for some type of reward. I thought it was my way of giving back and helping something that has helped me greatly. When you send me a message to go behind people's backs and be untruthful and sneaky that's when that "reward" becomes a bribe in my book.

That's all I can remember from my tangent at the moment...

JIC.

NYCMercedes · August 2013

I wonder if it was deleted be

Simply Fated said:

Simply Fated said:

@SilverSarahB - Were YOU recruited to be a secret mod? Don't be shy now.
I asked the same question and my post got deleted.

We should just start quoting all of each other's posts so they can't mysteriously disappear.
I've resorted to taking screenshots. I'm on my cellphone now, but once I get to my desktop, shits gunna get real lol.

Still waiting for an answer @silversarahb

TerriHugg · August 2013

So the regulars like stage got kicked off?

SilverSarahB · August 2013

Sorry, guys. I went to work...I know it's crummy to have cut out of the discussion while people are still active on the thread.

No, I haven't been recruited or anything...probably for the reasons mentioned. I've posted comparatively few times on comparatively few boards and don't spend much time on this website as a whole. Half the time I'm told my advice is whack, as I'm sure some of you have seen looking into my past posts. And I haven't deleted any posts, nor have gone to any secret meeting or learned any secret handshakes.

As for why I'm so invested...I'm not personally invested, really. I'm someone who visits when I'm stressing about my wedding planning (which is why my posts have increased the past few months, from a rather sparse time before that) and wouldn't be particularly bothered if the forum disappeared all together. This post just seemed like a drama fest with a bunch of similar opinions on a topic--opinions I don't share. Even though I'm not a daily poster on this forum I thought my opinion would still be valid in the sense of "I don't think this is so crazy and I'm probably not the only one who thinks so". Now, you guys have corrected some of my incorrect thoughts or understandings on how things do run or have run here, but the bare-bones of this is I am someone who does not think that this is a big deal. After that, I've just been a part of the discussion from that standpoint.

WildMagelet · August 2013

I was a club board mod previously and had volunteered to monitor a few local boards without an active mod (one in particular gets a ton of spam from a local vendor) but never heard a response on those inquiries. I lurked before I joined, but have been a member for over two years with over 1000 posts. About 1 in 5 of those appear to be topics I started. (Not a lot in the grand scheme of things, although I lurk far more than I post.) I still report spam when necessary. I think there's far less bullying than people report and that some people are oversensitive and don't like being disagreed with. I got the "secret police" PM and would probably be willing to do the spam fighting & topic promoting like I used to do, but I still think that mods are better public - both for accountability purposes and so users know who to direct their concerns to. I certainly wouldn't have considered myself more qualified than some of the international board moderators - but maybe they are as someone suggested looking first for old mods that are still active after the most recent exodus who don't "cause too much trouble" or whathaveyou and were then going to open it up to volunteers, idk.

I, personally, enjoy the bluntness of users like Stage and Linger, as they've saved me and others from some pretty terrible ideas. [For reference, my first post was about goldfish centerpieces *shudder*] E is my favorite board to read on a regular basis. Their banning, along with the GBCK of several other long-term members of the community are a real loss. If I wanted puppies & rainbows all of the time I would have left and joined another community.

Off topic: I miss KPS.

Edit: Spelling

kjlamb · August 2013

@TerriHugg I PMed you

TKzilla · August 2013

I googled "Inquisitorial Squad gif" and found this instead:

AprilH81 · August 2013

So it sounds like we have two people brave enough to admit they got the PM. Anyone else?

I didn't get one...

RebeccaB88 · August 2013

I did not get one. But I'm not surprised by that either. :P

GypsyWife_ · August 2013

Not me. But there's a couple silent regs that haven't said Anything yet.

KeptInStitches · August 2013

I think I've pushed enough buttons to not warrant one at this point.

Simply Fated · August 2013

Simply Fated said:

I would LOVE to know what other forums have used this method and whether it's been successful for them.

I decided to go out on my own to find out.

For the most part, this concept is considered a joke by most of the legit sites and administrators I've spoken to. Full disclosure, I'm an administrator and this shit would never fly with my users if they found out.

Allegedly Digg used secret moderators and it caused quite the scandal when it was suggested that the moderators were tampering with which stories ended up on the top vs the bottom.

The sites who have been successful with it said the mods have two accounts. One for their regular account and one moderator account. The sites who have been mostly unsuccessful are the ones where the mods only have one account for their regular usage and their moderator usage. Guess which one we have guizzzzz?

The biggest issue most people have with it is that the users are being held accountable for their actions to the moderators, but the moderators aren't held accountable for their actions to the users. It's a huge double standard.
Even more, it has led to cronyism, which of course has led to users figuring out who the mods are. In these situations, the sites without the admins often online have crumbled shortly after. The sites with admins regular present in online affairs have had to answer to the users, so those sites have either crumbled slower or are still alive and kicking.

The only really main benefit I can find is that if Secret Moderator reprimands Sally, then Sally can't hold a grudge against Janie, aka the Secret Moderator. They go on posting together.
The obvious problem is when Sally complains about the moderator to Janie. Those sort of occurrences is what usually leads to the breakdown of the system. Janie either defends the mod (ie she's secretly defending herself), lies to the user ("OMG that mod is such a bitch!") or admits she is the mod. Not really very good choices.

This should come as a shocker... but, in general, the only sites where this has gone off without a hitch are sites where the users aren't close to each other.

FWIW, when I googled "secret moderators" the first (second?) site I got was a minecraft fansite where the people volunteering to be secret mods were teenagers.

Aaaand this is how I spent my Friday night.

View Raw Image" href="http://oi42.tinypic.com/1ihqmf.jpg" class="thickbox">

Viczaesar · August 2013

I'm impressed with your commitment, @SimplyFated (@Simply Fated? Do we leave the space in or take it out?)

Simply Fated · August 2013

Viczaesar said:

I'm impressed with your commitment, @SimplyFated (@Simply Fated? Do we leave the space in or take it out?)

Thank you!
There's a space inbetween the words. Before we switched the forum layout, my username looked like Simply Fat. Posters commented on it lol.

Viczaesar · August 2013

Oh, I know there's a space between the words in your user name, I'm just wondering how it works with the @ tagging - do we take out the space or leave it in? It looks like in my post above @SimplyFated worked for tagging you but @Simply Fated didn't.

Peaseblossom55 · August 2013

I didn't get a request to mod either, not that I would anyway.

MairePoppy · August 2013

@Simply Fated thank you presenting this info. I hope @KnotPorscha will read it and comment.

Simply Fated · August 2013

Viczaesar said:

Oh, I know there's a space between the words in your user name, I'm just wondering how it works with the @ tagging - do we take out the space or leave it in? It looks like in my post above @SimplyFated worked for tagging you but @Simply Fated didn't.

Oh yeah, I guess you leave out the spaces. Good to know!

I'm sorta just waiting for the KG to come forward and say that it's something that's been done on TN or TB. Imagine the shitstorm?

A way to avoid shitstorms like that, tell the users you're using secret moderators. In most of the successful instances where the sites use secret moderators, the users know about it. This way, there is no breach of trust. You don't have secret "spies." You just have secret moderators. Users know they're there, but they don't know who. It's not ideal by any means, but it's not as shady. What TK has done is completely shady. It's lying by omitance.

Someone asked... either in this thread or the one in the KH forum about whether or not we can volunteer for this position. KP said we could...
BUT how could we if we didn't know such a thing existed?

So, that's two lies.

Third lie?

"Our mistake, and we’re owning that!"

@knotporscha Owning that to whom? Not to us, just your secret moderators. Can you at least own that?

Dreamergirl8812 · August 2013

Hey KG, can I be a secret moderator? I won't tell anyone.

XP: Secret Mods?

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