Poll: Should Key's Remain as Moderator?

[Magusigne]

Guys,

Recently you have heard that Key's, a well-respected elite member who is the Anandtech forum Moderator, has been offered the undoubtly amazing position of receiving free nVidia hardware to help better the products and provide a link from forum members to nVidia through him.

Do you think he will be able to remain impartial? Intentional or Not? Will you doubt his abilities and judgement? Or do you think that receiving his hardware will have no affect on his abilities as a Moderator?

We already have a 9+ page post on this, so I figure we can break it down with a poll.

PS. DerekWilson has completely sanctioned Key's Moderator/Nvidia tie.

Please Keep this civil and to the point.

EDIT: Some people do not care at all. Therefore Added C. Of poll to be fair.

-----


lock.

seriously guys, we've already got a thread started by keys discussing this issue. that is quite enough threads on the subject.

keys was selected to be a mod by AnandTech, not forum members. his position as a moderator is not in question. if he does something that breaks our moderator guidelines, let me know and i'll deal with it accordingly. up to this point I have had ZERO complaints about keys and have actually gotten great feedback about his ability from other members of this forum including apoppin who was elected to be a mod as well but resigned his post.

I'm very surprised this wasn't locked already. we have a strict policy on not calling mods out and any discussion about the appropriateness of a mod or his/her actions is to be discussed ONLY in Personal Forum Issues.

I'm not going to ban anyone here for this, but this is absolutely the LAST warning on it. Follow proper channels if you have a complaint. Let me know if there are any actual issues that come up.

One more time:

NVIDIA Focus Group Members do not exist to promote or sell NVIDIA products. Members are actively discouraged from trying to sell NVIDIA hardware.

Moderation has everything to do with an ability to identify actions of members, topics and posts that violate our guidelines and deal with them appropriately. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PERSONAL PREFERENCES.

Whether you think keys will lean towards nvidia hardware or not because of the situation, THIS WILL IN NO WAY AFFECT HIS ABILITY TO MODERATE APPROPRIATELY.

/thread

DerekWilson
Forum Administrator

 

[surfsatwerk]

I think a poll about this is stupid. There is already a thread to discuss this issue and expecting the "powers that be" who run the forum to remove Keys because the Internets tell them to is absurd.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: surfsatwerk
I think a poll about this is stupid. There is already a thread to discuss this issue and expecting the "powers that be" who run the forum to remove Keys because the Internets tell them to is absurd.

You have a point. This is of course not a democracy, but I am just curious how the general population feels. The overall tone of his post is getting lost in all the pages of posts.

I just wanted a clear and concise way of putting it all together.


(Also I am extremely jealous)- but thats besides the point, he earned it thats for sure.

 

[AmberClad]

Despite the opinion I posted in the original thread, I don't think this poll is appropriate. Keys was selected to the moderation position by the admins, was he not?

Hypothetically speaking, if this were BFG10K who was the mod in question, I'd say sure, let's have a "recall" vote/vote of no-confidence, whatever you want to call it. We voted him in, we have the right to vote him out as well.

Edit: I also don't particularly like the selection of poll options. I have no idea what I would vote even if I were inclined to do so. On the one hand, I don't doubt his ability to remain partial...on the other, I really don't care for the idea of a mod (and by extension AT) giving a more prominent voice to one company over the other.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Originally posted by: Powernick50

(Also I am extremely jealous)- but thats besides the point, he earned it thats for sure.

I'm in complete agreement with you about this.

 

[tcsenter]

Where's option #3? "No, I will question his judgement because his judgement has been questionable in the past."

Keysplayer violated the new guidelines prohibiting a moderator from moderating in a topic that he is participating in, gave me a vacation without any warning, for an offense that is no worse than I have found in at least two other discussions where all he did was give the offenders a warning (none of whom were me).

Yes, I sifted through about 50 discussions looking for similar incidents where he was involved, and yes I have brought all of this to the attention of the moderator team. No, they have never even replied once to this evidence. So much for the moderator 'reforms'.

I'll look through another 3000 discussions if I have to, I'm betting there are more examples. He is a piss-poor moderator, period.

 

[Demoth]

Expressing an opinion on a fansite forum about anything regarding percieved conflict of interests is appropriate. I also like the fact this poll allows for the community to express their views and remain anon if wanted. Fear of retribution is one of the many intangibles a mod carries with the title. While I do not expect any action taken because of a poll, I do think some consideration of the community should be taken by the site owners.

Now, I am a suspicious person to begin with, so I am expecting this poll to stay up if the results are favorable to Keys or close. However, if the numbers show a very heavy trend of a no confidence vote, I am thinking maybe this poll will be locked down for being a duplicate post on the same subject as the previous post.

That is the problem for me and probably my own short coming. Everything iffy done by certain mods here will be screened by my mind for any motivation other then what is right. Everything Keys does, says or dosen't say will be taken by me with a huge grain of salt because I know he is a paid spokesman. And yes, free hardware is payola, for some more valuable then a regular paycheck. Not only is the focus member getting the face value of the hardware, but getting something before everyone else, including review sites, is like having little gold bricks shipped to you on a regular basis for enthusiasts.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: Demoth
Expressing an opinion on a fansite forum about anything regarding percieved conflict of interests is appropriate. I also like the fact this poll allows for the community to express their views and remain anon if wanted. Fear of retribution is one of the many intangibles a mod carries with the title. While I do not expect any action taken because of a poll, I do think some consideration by the community should be taken by the site owners.

Precisely my points.

 

[magreen]

I voted yes, he should remain. Though I don't agree with the wording of the poll -- I believe Keys will be somewhat biased towards Nvidia in his posts, and yet I still believe he should remain a mod.

Yes, receiving payola from nvidia will undoubtedly color his judgement on whether to favor nvidia or amd. That's human nature. And so his recommendations on hardware and his general posts will have to be seen in that light.

However, a moderator's job isn't to judge which is the better hardware or hardware company. If it were, then yes there would be a conflict of interest. Rather, a mod's job is to moderate discussions for violations of civility, decency and forums rules. A pro-nvidia bias won't significantly affect his judgment on what is and isn't a violation of forum rules.

 

[CaiNaM]

i think you guys should get a life.

unless/until this percieved "conflict of interest" becomes a problem, it should be a non-issue, and keys should be judged based on his track record here, and not by a bunch of people huddled around trying to think of ways this may become a problem.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: magreen
I voted yes, he should remain. Though I don't agree with the wording of the poll -- I believe Keys will be somewhat biased towards Nvidia in his posts, and yet I still believe he should remain a mod.

Yes, receiving payola from nvidia will undoubtedly color his judgement on whether to favor nvidia or amd. That's human nature. And so his recommendations on hardware and his general posts will have to be seen in that light.

However, a moderator's job isn't to judge which is the better hardware or hardware company. If it were, then yes there would be a conflict of interest. Rather, a mod's job is to moderate discussions for violations of civility, decency and forums rules. A pro-nvidia bias won't significantly affect his judgment on what is and isn't a violation of forum rules.

I agree with you, but I believe that they should be total unbiased. At least for such an important position don't you think?

 

[TheBeagle]

Good Afternoon Everyone.

This whole thread (issue) is rather amusing. Although some members/posters seem to believe that this Forum is some sort of a democracy, in fact it is NOT! Now that revelation may come as a surprise to some folks, but life is full of little surprises. Sure the Administrators of this Forum many times seek input from the members, and that's a good thing. However, that "input" is a matter of grace and not a matter of right. There is a very BIG difference between those two concepts, and any "entitlements" that might flow, or NOT, from either.

The management of the Forum has an absolute right to conduct the business of this Forum in any manner which they deem appropriate - end of discussion! And if a member has an issue with someone who has been entrusted with some oversight position on the Forum, then the complaining member should take up the issue DIRECTLY with the Forum Administrators. However, attempting to cause some kind of a plebiscite to occur on this Forum (obviously in hopes of engendering some support), is way out of line. This whole thing appears like a back-handed attempt at some sort of character assassination.

I am quite dismayed by this crass attempt by a Forum member to do harm to a Moderator. Like I said, if you have a rightful complaint, take it directly to management, but don't try to cause a schism on the Forum. Cheap and slimy politicians do those kind of things!

Best regards to everyone. Have a nice day. TheBeagle :beer:

 

[Magusigne]

Although some members/posters seem to believe that this Forum is some sort of a democracy, in fact it is NOT!

Read Post #2 Please

The management of the Forum has an absolute right to conduct the business of this Forum in any manner which they deem appropriate - end of discussion

Of course they do! However this action might have reprocussions elsewhere

I am quite dismayed by this crass attempt by a Forum member to do harm to a Moderator. Like I said, if you have a rightful complaint, take it directly to management, but don't try to cause a schism on the Forum. Cheap and slimy politicians do those kind of things!

Feel as you may, I am not trying to "harm" a Moderator. I just think that things aren't being taken as seriously as they should. Keys is a great moderator and however it is the belief of many members that this conflict of interest could be quite damaging. This poll is just a summary of how people think on the forum.

Sure I could have worded it whatever way you would like, but the point remains the same.

 

[angry hampster]

I say "who gives a shit?" Keys has always been a wealth of information and I faithfully assume that he will continue to do so until he proves otherwise. Stupid noobie

 

[LordGestle]

I'm not familiar with his postings, but the simple fact that even though "he" may not be biased, we do know his corporate sponsor is. I'm not a fanboy of either camp, and actually own cards from both camps, but the simple fact that individuals will be receiving free hardware to evaluate I think this will make future opinions biased.
Example, how would you compare the competitors product fairly when you have no motive to purchase it as your getting the items for free? That and from what I was reading it's basically best case scenario is "truthful" marketting, ie no fud. However, will he have the same motivation to stop fud from the other camp when he's not being compensated for it? And how would his corporate sponsor feel towards that if he did?
To me someone being the moderator is to have an unbiased opinion, which I don't think is possible when you are receiving gifts from one of the main players.
I don't dislike Nvidia or Ati for having these programs. Making a better product is better for the consumer. However, I do have an opinion of them targeting moderators.

 

[Arkaign]

I voted no. Keys has always been a good mod AFAIK.

People keep talking about bias. Well feck me rennin, isn't everyone at least a *little* biased? We're all human after all. I say keep the good mod, he doesn't speak FOR AT anyway, mods are merely here to keep the exchange civil and focused.

 

[JACKDRUID]

Key's doing a great job moderating, I trust his judgment.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
I voted no. Keys has always been a good mod AFAIK.

People keep talking about bias. Well feck me rennin, isn't everyone at least a *little* biased? We're all human after all. I say keep the good mod, he doesn't speak FOR AT anyway, mods are merely here to keep the exchange civil and focused.

Yes. Everybody is biased to some degree. I believe even nRollo made a good point about him recommending guns to people but never a remington.

I think the problem though might be an "official" tie which everyone will see in his sig and therefore think twice about such things.

So, I'm pretty torn on this issue personally. I mean regardless it will hurt public perception of this forum but..who knows?

 

[Shortass]

Everyone is biased, at least to a degree. The fact that he will have 3 retardedly awesome (nvdia) cards in his rig won´t change anything.

You guys are blowing this WAY out of proportion. He did fine before, he´ll do fine now.

 

[Wreckage]

Keys should stay. At least judge him by his work here and not elsewhere.

 

[magreen]

Ummm... Arkaign, a no vote means you think he should not remain, i.e. he should leave.

I think the wording of the vote has confused the jury! . (Not that it's a jury)

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: magreen
Ummm... Arkaign, a no vote means you think he should not remain, i.e. he should leave.

I think the wording of the vote has confused the jury! . (Not that it's a jury)

Doh.

The Topic Title confused me and my single-cell amoeba of a brain

Well, Keys I support ya.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: magreen
Ummm... Arkaign, a no vote means you think he should not remain, i.e. he should leave.

I think the wording of the vote has confused the jury! . (Not that it's a jury)

Doh.

The Topic Title confused me and my single-cell amoeba of a brain

Well, Keys I support ya.

Sorry.. Its kinda like florida...pretty soon dead people still start voting!

 

[Vinnybcfc]

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
i think you guys should get a life.

unless/until this percieved "conflict of interest" becomes a problem, it should be a non-issue, and keys should be judged based on his track record here, and not by a bunch of people huddled around trying to think of ways this may become a problem.

QFT

Im sick of witchhunts and trolling in this section of the forum, havent been bothered to post/read other than when the 9800 leaks were taking place

 

[SniperDaws]

FFS Anandtech need to start doing some real Vetting cos there are some right wankers in this forum, i left Guru3d cos of this kind of bullshit.

As childish as it is Keys you have my support mate