Communicating with a specific mod....

[GeoffS]

Okay... so we all know that when you get a PM from a mod, you sit a little straighter and pay attention. However, how can you be assured that your response is going to the person that sent the original? If I do something that a mod takes issue with and an exchange of PMs occurs, how do I know that I am dealing with the original mod that started the communication?

In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter as all of the rules would be applied consistently across all the mods, but I'm sure there are a whole bunch more mods than there are parents in a normal family, and I certainly know how hard it is to apply family rules with consistency with just a pair of 'mods'.

I guess the question is, would it make more sense to have a title MODERATOR that is applied to the chosen few who are mods so that we know who we are speaking to, and so that we know who to go back to when we have a question about a judgement call? A profile of MODERATOR would still be maintained for generic questions, as would the email address.

I'm just not sure that the anonymity serves the community well...

Geoff

 

[Jen]

I agree...........


I would like to know what mod or mods that has sent me a messege and be able to reply back to that same mod


Jen

 

[Azraele]

I think contact with a specific mod would in a way, violate the anonymity rule. The mods seem to be set up as a ruling group, sort of an oligarchy. You have to respect their decisions, regardless of which mod you talk to. If there were some way to tell the different mods apart, then people could single them out.

The best way to ensure that a mod knows what you're talking about when you respond to a pm from them is to quote the message, and include important informaton in the pm. Other than that, you can always ask if you're talking to the same mod who sent the pm.

 

[GeoffS]

Well... what is the purpose of the anonymity rule? I don't think that I have ever seen that at any other forum before.

Geoff

 

[Azraele]

The purpose of anonymity is to protect the mods. Say user "X" posted an inappropriate pic and got banned by Mod A. X decides to send nasty pms or email to Mod A, is constantly harrasing, and generally makes life miserable for him/her. Since the mods are volunteering their own time to moderate these boards, it seems in their best interest to protect them from vengeful users.

 

[GeoffS]

That is a glaringly obvious example that I should have though up myself.

The counter argument is that the user will just flood the moderator PM instead... I'm not saying that we need to know everything about a mod... keep their email/aim/icq/hometown hidden if need be... but it's always nice to put a 'face' to a name instead of thinking that you are dealing with big brother.

Geoff

 

[Azraele]

I think the original argument for this was not to distinguish between mods, but rather, people wanted to know who the mods were. If they knew the username the mod posted under normally, the harrassment could spiral way out of control, with pms being delivered to their personal pm box, etc.

As for your idea of differentiating between mods, but keeping their posting identity secret, I think it's as simple as the mods want to appear as a united front, which they couldn't do if people could single out say the Mean Mod from the Fun Mod. Being able to single them out may also increase any given mods workload based on how "popular" that mod would be. Modding is not a popularity contest. it'd just create too many problems.

 

[GeoffS]

Mod-ding should not be about popularity... I agree 100%. If all the rules are applied consistantly, there cannot be favoritism... they would all be equally bad or fun.

I don't know how, or even if, the anonymous nature of being a mod can be addressed. I do know that it does cause some problems... I have seen posts where people ask when user X can be unbanned, and the response is "Well, I didn't ban him, so we'll have to see what the other mod has to say".

I'll reiterate what I said in PM to you... I know the job is thankless and difficult.. I work as a manager of an IT department... if anyone can sympathize, it's me! Part of the reason that the job of mod is thankless is that we don't know who to thank. If I'm going to send a thank-you for something that was done for me, I want to make sure that the recipient get it. If that can't be made possible, then it's a thankless job in part because we don't have a way to say thank-you that will get to who it is meant to get to.

Geoff

 

[Azraele]

I think what it boils down to is advantages of differentiating between mods vs disadvantages. There are prons and cons to each side of the argument, and I think we've hashed those out fairly well, lol

One thing I agree with you on is the ability to give mods thanks for a job well done (though some of those who've been in trouble with them may disgaree, lol ). The mods and users both joke about the mod vacation fund, but in all seriousness, I'd like to see them rewarded in some way for the hard work and effort they've put into these boards.



<< where people ask when user X can be unbanned, and the response is "Well, I didn't ban him, so we'll have to see what the other mod has to say". >>


The mods do seem to have good response time when this happens, though.

This is OT for this thread, but one issue I think really needs to be addressed is the moderator email. It's painfully obvious that it simply doesn't work well. If the mod email was 911, and I had an emergency, I'd be dead before they got back to me (no offense mods ). Perhaps this is something that could be looked into?

 

[Rand]

<< If I'm going to send a thank-you for something that was done for me, I want to make sure that the recipient get it. If that can't be made possible, then it's a thankless job in part because we don't have a way to say thank-you that will get to who it is meant to get to.

>>



In such a case just do what I do, publically thank all the Moderators and single out the one that specifically helped you. He/she will see the thread and know you've thanked him/her.

 

[GeoffS]

<< In such a case just do what I do, publically thank all the Moderators and single out the one that specifically helped you. He/she will see the thread and know you've thanked him/her. >>



Well... I keep hearing about bandwidth problems... writing a post that everyone needs to see instead of a message seems to be an inefficient way of going about this.

Geoff

 

[Rand]

<<

<< In such a case just do what I do, publically thank all the Moderators and single out the one that specifically helped you. He/she will see the thread and know you've thanked him/her. >>



Well... I keep hearing about bandwidth problems... writing a post that everyone needs to see instead of a message seems to be an inefficient way of going about this.

Geoff >>



I doubt a single "Thank you" post to the Moderators would unduly impact bandwidth.