Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate
Okay, Okay. I think there's still some misconceptions about how we mods do things around here:
(a) We ain't on the boards 24hrs a day
This one may seem fairly obvious but I think it's important to keep in mind. Someone brought it up before and used the comments (and I'm paraphrasing) "I'm reading a thread that's going downhill and wondering if the mods are reading this and why aren't they doing anything?" - well sometimes we
aren't reading it, for the simple fact that aren't around to be reading it.
And I'm sure there are times when none of the mods are on at all. That's why we ask that you be patient. Don't respond to flames or trolling - sure it's hard (I had problems with it myself before I became a mod), but it's worse for us to come into a thread and have to give out multiple warnings to people who really aren't troublemakers because they couldn't wait.
(b) We split up the forum
As you may have noticed - it's a big forum. We can't possibly read every single thread at all times - especially after a new episode airs - so we split the forum up into groups of letters which each mod is assigned to and every month we rotate letters.
That's not to say we can't jump in on others threads if we see a problem
but I know if I'm busier than usual and only have limited time to check the board, I tend to just quickly read through my own letters and trust the others to take care of their letters. And those letters are also the first ones I check when I come into the forum.
(c) We don't like to give out warnings
Despite calls to the contrary in the
M.A. forum, we don't like to give out warnings. It's a pain in the neck - you have to hit the warning button, enter the warning, check the warning list to make sure it went in okay.
I'm here to discuss the show too, not read the warnings list.
(d) Bias
This relates to point (c) as well as you'll see in a minute hopefully.
We also get a lot of calls of bias against us - from both sides.
"We're going to easy on the bashers."
"No you're warning the bashers constantly and letting the gushers slide"
I've heard both - hell being a self-professed gusher I'm sure I said the first before I became a mod. I know as a regular poster that certain people's comments would upset me and I'd wonder why the hell the mods weren't doing anything about it or they didn't do it quick enough or whatever.
Then I became a mod:
And the Facts are:
This is a forum for all people, no matter what their opinion on the show, to come and discuss it.
Now we
try to be as fair as possible. Try being the operative word. We're human (I hope
) and we can't help but make mistakes, or judge things through our own coloured perceptions.
Something that a gusher might say to a basher that the basher finds offensive - well, other gushers might not see why - And of course the reverse holds true as well, something a basher might say may be offensive to a gusher but the other bashers might not see why.
That's where the whole
borderline posts come into it and it's not an easy area to judge sometimes.
So now that I'm a mod and am obliged to be fair and impartial - sometimes I have to try and distance myself from my own views when I read a thread. Hopefully I'm being somewhat successful at it.
And here's the important bit - sometimes I have to think about it. Or I want another opinion so I go and talk to the other mods I see online. This can cause delays with jumping into a thread and taking action.
And that's yet another reason why we ask you to be patient. And if you can't be patient -
ANNOY US (that's what we're
not paid for
)
PM's, email. In fact sometimes PM is better than the notify mod button because you can explain why the dodgy post upset you.
(e)Sometimes we handle things in private
We use the PM function too sometimes and PM posters we think are getting close to the edge of a warning or we think are going overboard.
(f) The 'notify mod' button
This sends an email to all the mods in the forum - we look at them all (many a time I've gone into a thread on the basis of a notify mod email and seen that it's already been taken care of by another mod). Sometimes we don't agree that what you've notified merits a warning so nothing happens. But if we aren't online or aren't looking at our email the minute you press it and it comes through we can't act straight away - we get to it as soon as we can.
Well I've finished being long-winded and boring for now. I hope this sheds some light on things.
(traf niarb rof detidE)
