On the issue of moderator selection

[DerekWilson]

There have been some members who have taken issue with some of our moderator choices, and we wish to address the issue here.

With all of the changes we have made, our goal is to create a forum environment that centers around our membership and provides the best resources possible while maintaining a decent level of civility. In opening up much of the way we do things to the public we wanted to inspire some faith in our new system. For those that remain skeptical, here's our position.

Regardless of what you may or may not think you know about who did what to whom under the previous system, the past is behind us.

Any decisions that were made by our moderators while under the old system were made under a completely different set of unwritten rules and circumstances. Though we will not talk about the specifics of what went on under anonymous moderation, many of the assumptions people have made are wrong.

Moderators will be held to exactly the same standards in their personal posting as everyone else. While our moderators were selected for their contribution to the community, they are not going to be expected to be role models or be held to a higher standard than other members. They are unpaid volunteers who love the forums and we would not want to punish them by restricting their use of the forums.

AnandTech is confident in its selection of moderators. We would ask that you put aside any past prejudices you may have had and see what happens going forward. We would not have posted our guidelines if we did not expect everyone (members and moderators included) to follow them.

We honestly feel that the moderation our team will provide will be fair. Please give us some time to prove ourselves going forward under the new system. If you have any complaints or problems with the way things are currently being handled, please direct them by PM to AnandTech Moderator by email to moderator@anandtech.com or by posting in Personal Forum Issues.

 

[yacoub]

addressed.

 

[olds]

I am confused.
Are you complaining that he abused his power or that he argued with you?
I see no abuse but I do see the argument, which is what makes up the video section. If everyone agreed on everything there would be no need for a discussion forum. He is free to disagree with you and you are free to disagree with him. As long as neither one of you crosses the line into abuse, I don't see the problem. The thread started to get off track with the reading comprehension comments but it didn't disintegrate into chaos.
He didn't lock your thread and he didn't ban you. He had an opinion that was counter to yours. I see where you decided to give up on the thread and he tried to get it back on track with his edit, but that is his job.
Maybe you guys had some bad blood in the past but he has a new assignment and we trust he will carry it out. That's why he was chosen. We felt he could live up to the task.

 

[yacoub]

addressed.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

AFAIK, only senior moderators can banz0r people.

 

[Chunky Monster]

yacoub,

One of the great things about the new moderation system is its transparency. If, at any time, you feel that a particular Mod has a grudge against you, is treating you unfairly or is acting inappropriately, there are avenues you can take. Junior Mods do not have access to things that the Senior Mods and Admins do. If you have a problem, drop an email to us. Make it clear and concise, backing up your claims (preferably with quotes, links and/or timestamps) and it will be dealt with. Same applies for Senior Mods, too. Find an admin to talk to. There are enough of us that a level headed, fair, stance will be taken.

Mods, both junior and senior, while posting as regular members should be treated with the same rules, respect and guidelines as you would treat anyone else. Please do not feel intimidated by the title of MOD. Rest assured that the chain of command is a fair and just one.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I want to throw my 2 cents worth into this...

The new way things are being done over all is IMO very credible and welcome by all of us!!!

Thank You!!

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
Moderators will be held to exactly the same standards in their personal posting as everyone else. While our moderators were selected for their contribution to the community, they are not going to be expected to be role models or be held to a higher standard than other members. They are unpaid volunteers who love the forums and we would not want to punish them by restricting their use of the forums.

I cannot disagree with this more. Personally, I do not think the moderators should've been made public, but I can appreciate the idea of how it will help the forums. However, now that all members and lurkers can associate one person with mod status, I think that changes the name of the game tremendously. It's my opinion that those in a position of power should be held to a higher standard, since they themselves set the standard. Moderators should set an example, not be the example.

The main plan of all the changes to the forum is to increase traffic. Whether or not it will work, I don't know. But as a society, even the internet society, us regular joes will consiously or subconsiously look up for examples. When you have moderators who act no better than the rest of the immature posters they are supposed to moderate, how can you expect the forum to get any better?

I understand this post won't change a thing, but it's just my opinion, and I wanted it to be heard.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
Moderators will be held to exactly the same standards in their personal posting as everyone else. While our moderators were selected for their contribution to the community, they are not going to be expected to be role models or be held to a higher standard than other members. They are unpaid volunteers who love the forums and we would not want to punish them by restricting their use of the forums.

I cannot disagree with this more. Personally, I do not think the moderators should've been made public, but I can appreciate the idea of how it will help the forums. However, now that all members and lurkers can associate one person with mod status, I think that changes the name of the game tremendously. It's my opinion that those in a position of power should be held to a higher standard, since they themselves set the standard. Moderators should set an example, not be the example.

The main plan of all the changes to the forum is to increase traffic. Whether or not it will work, I don't know. But as a society, even the internet society, us regular joes will consiously or subconsiously look up for examples. When you have moderators who act no better than the rest of the immature posters they are supposed to moderate, how can you expect the forum to get any better?

I understand this post won't change a thing, but it's just my opinion, and I wanted it to be heard.

I think your new systems is great. As for mod selections I don't know most but Keys was a great choice. I didn't use to like him but after AEG ordeal and his stance on 1 member showed me he has good intentions and was a fine choice.

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
Moderators will be held to exactly the same standards in their personal posting as everyone else. While our moderators were selected for their contribution to the community, they are not going to be expected to be role models or be held to a higher standard than other members. They are unpaid volunteers who love the forums and we would not want to punish them by restricting their use of the forums.

I cannot disagree with this more. Personally, I do not think the moderators should've been made public, but I can appreciate the idea of how it will help the forums. However, now that all members and lurkers can associate one person with mod status, I think that changes the name of the game tremendously. It's my opinion that those in a position of power should be held to a higher standard, since they themselves set the standard. Moderators should set an example, not be the example.

The main plan of all the changes to the forum is to increase traffic. Whether or not it will work, I don't know. But as a society, even the internet society, us regular joes will consiously or subconsiously look up for examples. When you have moderators who act no better than the rest of the immature posters they are supposed to moderate, how can you expect the forum to get any better?

I understand this post won't change a thing, but it's just my opinion, and I wanted it to be heard.

the fact red dawn is still a mod proves nothing is going to change. i agree with your opinion tho blurr, if i went on rants like RD has i would have been banned long ago.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: fisher

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
Moderators will be held to exactly the same standards in their personal posting as everyone else. While our moderators were selected for their contribution to the community, they are not going to be expected to be role models or be held to a higher standard than other members. They are unpaid volunteers who love the forums and we would not want to punish them by restricting their use of the forums.

I cannot disagree with this more. Personally, I do not think the moderators should've been made public, but I can appreciate the idea of how it will help the forums. However, now that all members and lurkers can associate one person with mod status, I think that changes the name of the game tremendously. It's my opinion that those in a position of power should be held to a higher standard, since they themselves set the standard. Moderators should set an example, not be the example.

The main plan of all the changes to the forum is to increase traffic. Whether or not it will work, I don't know. But as a society, even the internet society, us regular joes will consiously or subconsiously look up for examples. When you have moderators who act no better than the rest of the immature posters they are supposed to moderate, how can you expect the forum to get any better?

I understand this post won't change a thing, but it's just my opinion, and I wanted it to be heard.

the fact red dawn is still a mod proves nothing is going to change. i agree with your opinion tho blurr, if i went on rants like RD has i would have been banned long ago.

Got an example Fish?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: fisher

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: DerekWilson
Moderators will be held to exactly the same standards in their personal posting as everyone else. While our moderators were selected for their contribution to the community, they are not going to be expected to be role models or be held to a higher standard than other members. They are unpaid volunteers who love the forums and we would not want to punish them by restricting their use of the forums.

I cannot disagree with this more. Personally, I do not think the moderators should've been made public, but I can appreciate the idea of how it will help the forums. However, now that all members and lurkers can associate one person with mod status, I think that changes the name of the game tremendously. It's my opinion that those in a position of power should be held to a higher standard, since they themselves set the standard. Moderators should set an example, not be the example.

The main plan of all the changes to the forum is to increase traffic. Whether or not it will work, I don't know. But as a society, even the internet society, us regular joes will consiously or subconsiously look up for examples. When you have moderators who act no better than the rest of the immature posters they are supposed to moderate, how can you expect the forum to get any better?

I understand this post won't change a thing, but it's just my opinion, and I wanted it to be heard.

the fact red dawn is still a mod proves nothing is going to change. i agree with your opinion tho blurr, if i went on rants like RD has i would have been banned long ago.

I might agree with you...somewhat. Red Dawn and I have quite different ideologies and have gotten into heated discussions in the past with each other in P&N. We don't see eye to eye except on the very rarest of occassions. And, yes, maybe it's easy to think that his title might imbue him with a bit of favoritism.

However, imo, I've never seen RD abuse his mod status. Regardless of whether or not I agree with him or what I think about his viewpoints and statements in a non-mod capacity, I still think RD remains fair and impartial as a moderator.

 

[BD2003]

I have no issues with the actual people chosen as mods, I just think its strange that some of the mods assigned to a category don't regularly post there.

For instance, in console gaming, it took a few weeks for someone to actually do something about CasioTech. There actually needed to be a post begging the mods to actually look there. I can only assume that the person assigned to the category doesnt actually read that forum very often. Who is the mod for console gaming anyway? Whoever he is, I dont think I've actually seen him post there once.