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Calling out: Lack of moderators in OT?

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  • Sep 21st, 2011 6:27 pm
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May 8, 2005
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actng wrote:
I report posts all the time but they probably become a drop of water in the ocean. it seems to me most reports get ignored. obviously, i can't prove this nor should i have to.

there needs to be a better process reflecting/following up reports which are actioned against.
I agree.

Some sort of acknowledgment from a mod that a ' reported post ' was reviewed would probably be helpful - i.e. an acknowledgment something like ...

[INDENT]" Your Reported Post Has Been Reviewed - No Action is Deemed Necessary " [/INDENT]

or

[INDENT] " Your Reported Post Has Been Reviewed and Confirmed - Appropriate Action Has Been Taken " [/INDENT]
" The placebo effect is the most powerful supplement of all "
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" The best training in the world can't overcome a lousy diet "
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Deal Expert
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Aug 22, 2003
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actng wrote: I didn't have a position or interest in this topic until i read these two posts. Sorry for singling you two out but it seems like the report post function / process is broken. I'm not sure if CSK merely meant she left the password for the email account at home and she doesn't have it, or whether she's a new mod and she was never given the password. But the fact that he reported the post and two mods don't know which threads he's talking about is kinda ironic, given how Keelie is so adamant that users need to report posts...

I report posts all the time but they probably become a drop of water in the ocean. it seems to me most reports get ignored. obviously, i can't prove this nor should i have to. there needs to be a better process reflecting/following up reports which are actioned against.

It meant just that. I was surfing from an arena on public WiFi and don't use my private email used for reported posts on my touchpad. :facepalm: You have to realize, we often get hundreds of reported posts emails a day. When a post gets reported, it is sent to every mod's private email account that they signed up to RFD with. Ironically, I was doing some modding at that time with posts/threads that had issues that I came across while reading. I just didn't have access to my email to see the reported posts.

Frankly it was a bit of a jab back as well. Mods are volunteers. We have lives. I actually found it quite offensive to be told that I shouldn't/can't have a life outside of RFD because I am a mod. :rolleyes:
Thinking seriously about the 4 S's...Sun, Sand, Surf and ... Booked for Sept in Mexico and booked Samana DR for Jan!
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May 12, 2004
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AcidBomber wrote: -> ot-guidelines-updated-1009785/

"Political & Religious threads
Political and Religious threads are still not allowed. This is a clause that will allow mods and admins to keep some current event topics open that may infringe on our no religious and/or political topics. For example, UBB, G20, the protests are all political in nature but also important to us as Canadians. If this clause gets abused, we will go back to the original no political/religious threads. This was for you the user to be able to discuss important current events, do not abuse it."

the rules were modified because people thought we were too strict with the 'No politics' rule.
if the topic is highly controversial, or if the replies get hostile and nasty, it will be locked/deleted.
personally i dont have an issue with it if the discussion stays civilized.

So would someone reporting a post that's offensive to them not make something controversial? What's 'highly' controversial? 2 reports? 5 reports?

If no action is taken, would the course of action for this user be to post hostile and nasty replies in order to get the thread locked? If so how many hostile replies are required for something that should have never been in the first place to go away? Are 3 hostile replies sufficient?

...too much left to the interpretation of a select few...hence why I seldom visit off-topic. It's overrun by a handful of freak show hopefuls left running amok while the mods sit idle in order to act politically correct and interpret vague and indefinite rules loosely, even when contributing users demand action.

We're repeatedly told to report posts, but from the outside looking in my perception is that these reports go in a big black hole. Being told to report posts appears to me as a "stop wasting mods' time we're not interested" tactic. Why? Because out of the many dozen posts I've reported I have not received any feedback once!?! I value my time too much to waste it writing 'emails' that will end up in a big black hole.

So people stop reporting because nobody seems to care; user reports post, mod tells users to use the 'report post' function, users report post and never hear back, rinse and repeat...thus the never ending circle..until users get fed up and stop sending these post reports to the big black hole. The result? Head over to off-topic for a few minutes and see for yourself.
Deal Guru
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Apr 24, 2006
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Not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting other users to chime in, but I guess it shows something.

As poedua mentioned, you either have political discussions or you don't. Jungeon is turning OT into stormfront with conspiracy about the US, the elite class, mubarak etc etc etc. How much longer do we have to wait for you guys to do something?

There, you have at least 5 people who complained that the rules are inadequate as it pertains to political/religious threads. Is that enough, or do you need more?

Or just tell us that the threads jungeon is starting is in line with the rules and he can spew his political agenda. Didn't know OT was a blog, but good to know.
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Dec 4, 2003
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It would be nice to hear what the most Senior Moderators, JLunar, JayPatel and temporalillusion have to say about all this... :cheesygri

(((actually I just want to know if those 3 moderators truly exist on this site because I've never ever heard a peep from them before ;) )))
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Feb 23, 2008
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poedua wrote: I agree.

Some sort of acknowledgment from a mod that a ' reported post ' was reviewed would probably be helpful - i.e. an acknowledgment something like ...

[INDENT]" Your Reported Post Has Been Reviewed - No Action is Deemed Necessary " [/INDENT]

or

[INDENT] " Your Reported Post Has Been Reviewed and Confirmed - Appropriate Action Has Been Taken " [/INDENT]
I think this is the only time I agreed with your post, I hope it wont be the last time.. ;)

This is a great idea and should be put in place, I already brought this to their attention, having such system in place will boost the beliefs of the community and encourage them to use the report a post function since they know that atleast some action will be taken, instead of just ignoring it which causes members to lose interest and faith in reporting posts in future.
mrperfect wrote: Hello.
When a user reports a post does the notification goes to all moderators? After a moderator takes a look, do they leave a followup note to let other moderators know if or any action was taken or not?

Having such system in place will greatly increase the transparency, accountability and mitigate factors such as favouritism or personal opinion so that members can take comfort in knowing that their issue has been approperiately dealth with according to RFD standards.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted - Ezio Auditore.
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gretzky99 wrote: It would be nice to hear what the most Senior Moderators, JLunar, JayPatel and temporalillusion have to say about all this... :cheesygri

(((actually I just want to know if those 3 moderators truly exist on this site because I've never ever heard a peep from them before ;) )))

JLunar last login: Sep 12th, 2011 07:55 PM

temporalillusion last post: October 2009!!!

sleepyguy last post Aug 5th, 2011

dealforme Last Activity Sep 12th, 2011 11:20 PM

I've never bothered to look at this data before...but it's pretty clear the veteran mods don't give a crap what happens here (I wouldn't either if I was them) even moreso considering they barely participate in this forum.

Doing it on a volunteer basis is no excuse for not doing it at all. If I volunteer for a specific charity and tell them I'm going to put in work and don't show up for 10 days, let alone 2 years?!!? They'll simply tell me to stay home even though I was working for free. Why would they count on me to do some work when I won't even show up? Same thing here, they're counting on these mods that come once in a blue moon to do the work...the current moderation situation clearly reflects that.

We've got an old cast that doesn't give a ****. We've got a new cast of moderators and an admin with no clear direction, unable make a decision and needing to decide everything on a committee basis..

I'm tired of the mods don't get paid excuse all the time...blah blah blah...cry me a river. Nobody forced you to give your time so save the pity party. If you didn't want to do it actively and appropriately you should have declined. Simple as that (I would never accept to moderate anything personally). Half-assing something like this when thousands of members come here for healthy discussions is doing this site a disfavor.

Not pointing any fingers...just stating my opinion.
Deal Addict
Jun 26, 2008
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I agree forum moderation has been lacking lately. I think BST has gone rampant with dealers yet it never gets busted. Is NSX the only mod that does BST? RFD needs to step it up or this can get out of control and users will think it is a common place for some behavior and when users believe that it will spread to mods and some rules will mean nothing.
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Jun 26, 2008
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I agree with cas77 old mods need to be cleaned out.
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NSX is my favorite mod.

I cant speak for other mods tho.
Deal Addict
Jun 26, 2008
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jetway1212 wrote: NSX is my favorite mod.

I cant speak for other mods tho.

You PM him with your problems things get done. Done quickly.
Deal Expert
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Nov 2, 2003
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we should also have votes/nominations for mods.
i'm really sick of seeing all the complaints against the new mods. i mean there was only really one that was exceptionally unacceptable and that was dealt with... but clearly the user base isn't accepting the new batch of mods.

aside from my recommendations for a training / mentoring program for new mods, maybe we also need to put in place mods that the userbase will respect just for who they are. and there's no better way to do this than to promote users to mods that are voted by the users... then there should be less complaining. obviously the user will need to accept the responsibilties before getting put on the pedestal.
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Jun 29, 2009
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actng wrote: we should also have votes/nominations for mods.

disagree.

How do you tell who'd be a good mod from forum posts? A popular poster doesn't necessary make a good mod. Plus, popular posters are usually very opinionated, so how can we expect them to be fair if the thread in question pertains to certain topic that they're passionate about? For example, there was a thread about Canadians living abroad, and CSK's mom posted some opinions that I strongly disagreed against (and earned a few infractions points at that) before she became a mod. When I saw she got promoted, I was worried that if a similar situation arose, my opinions were just going to get silenced. Luckily it hasn't happened, but I can't say the same thing about other posters who already have fan-bases.

RFD is a business, not a democracy. Either you trust the Admins to pick competent mods, or you leave your opinions on your own blogs.
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sylpherware wrote: disagree.

How do you tell who'd be a good mod from forum posts? A popular poster doesn't necessary make a good mod. Plus, popular posters are usually very opinionated, so how can we expect them to be fair if the thread in question pertains to certain topic that they're passionate about? For example, there was a thread about Canadians living abroad, and CSK's mom posted some opinions that I strongly disagreed against (and earned a few infractions points at that) before she became a mod. When I saw she got promoted, I was worried that if a similar situation arose, my opinions were just going to get silenced. Luckily it hasn't happened, but I can't say the same thing about other posters who already have fan-bases.

RFD is a business, not a democracy. Either you trust the Admins to pick competent mods, or you leave your opinions on your own blogs.

and how is your theory/system working out for ya?
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Dec 4, 2003
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da_way wrote: I agree with cas77 old mods need to be cleaned out.
I've always said that when Ryan packed up his bags and left RFD for good, the old Mods that he hired should've taken a hike too. :cheesygri

Oranr should've cleaned house once he got hired and selected his own team of new mods.
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Jun 26, 2008
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gretzky99 wrote: I've always said that when Ryan packed up his bags and left RFD for good, the old Mods that he hired should've taken a hike too. :cheesygri

Oranr should've cleaned house once he got hired and selected his own team of new mods.

It tells people to contact mods if we have problem so what if someone contacted a deadweight like jaypatel no response... the mod issue need serious work. We need new mods and for each new mod there should be a probation period to prove themselves.
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Jun 29, 2009
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actng wrote: and how is your theory/system working out for ya?

I haven't had any trouble with any mods so far, CSK's mom included.
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Jun 7, 2001
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The mods here at RFD have a pretty tough job. Fine line too. I could never do it....I know my limitations. :lol:

Dave
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sylpherware wrote: I haven't had any trouble with any mods so far, CSK's mom included.
+1

Mods aren't perfect. I know I certainly haven't agreed with all their decisions.

But that said, for the most part, I think the present mods are doing a pretty good job.

And, I highly doubt a new crop of mods would fare much better than the mods we have now - you could replace all the current mods with new mods and I suspect you'd get just as much complaining, bleating and whining directed at the new mods from disgruntled / ' sour grapes ' members as is directed at the mods we have now.

In that regard, nothing would change in my view.
" The placebo effect is the most powerful supplement of all "
" The pain of discipline weighs ounces, the pain of neglect weighs tons "
" The best training in the world can't overcome a lousy diet "
TRAIN HARD !!!!
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DavidY wrote: The mods here at RFD have a pretty tough job. Fine line too. I could never do it....I know my limitations. :lol:

Dave

And a ' thankless ' job IMO.....they can't win.

Half the forum think they're too lenient, the other half .....too strict. :lol:
" The placebo effect is the most powerful supplement of all "
" The pain of discipline weighs ounces, the pain of neglect weighs tons "
" The best training in the world can't overcome a lousy diet "
TRAIN HARD !!!!

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