Lonelygirl15

silvermoon · Guest

I'm going to throw out a suggestion here -- whether it will work on this forum or not, I'll let others decide.

On an old forum I used to run, we had "mailboxes". Basically this was a section decicated to each person that was active on the board having a thread that was just their own, to do with as they wanted -- sort of like Spacie's thread where her and her friends hang out and let it all hang loose, lol! You can say and do whatever you want, short of personally attacking a specific member and no one can really complain (don't like someone's sense of humor? Don't go to their thread) Post pics of your kids, your dog, your tattoo, make jokes, throw out your wildest theories about lg15, use it as sort of a mini-blog and use it as a place to meet up and discuss things when a off topic convo starts up on another thread.

Of course, these are all public, and really personal stuff should still be kept to PMs, but they are also nice to chit chat on. And of course, you can basically act as your own moderator on your own thread. Don't like someone's joke that they posted on your thread? Ask a mod to remove it, and they will, no questions asked. We actually had a specified moderator for this area, who worked no other area, just to handle "mailbox" issues (which ended up few and far between).

This worked on my site, which had at one time almost a thousand members, but only about 200 actively posting. If someone didn't quit the site or didn't post in such-and-such a time period, they were PMed that they were in danger of loosing their mailbox. If they didn't post in such-and-such a time after that, the mod would delete their mailbox.

So anyway, I thought I'd throw the idea out there. Do with it what you will. Wink

Luminous · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject:

licoricesniper · Casual Observer Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 116

I will say that I do agree that there seems to be a higher level of flaming and name-calling on this forum than on some others I visit. I will say that I do agree with those who feel that this is unfortunate and that they feel like they are afraid of posting their views and ideas because of the possible schoolyard backlash they may face.

That said, I personally have come across this very thing. I have made posts simply stating my opinions or ideas and I have had people on the forum go out of their way to say that my ideas were stupid in so many words without elaborating on why they think they are stupid (ie..flaming me). Sure, in a perfect world people wouldn't do this, but I honestly don't let it bother me and I certainly haven't let it impede on any future postings I have made here. I just simply don't care. If someone disagrees with something I say and they state their reason in an adult manner, I welcome this and respect their view. (After all, who wants everyone to agree with everything they say all of the time?) If someone replies to what I have said and they are just being a jerk about it, without elaborating, I ignore it. I have a lot of respect for people who act like adults and zero respect for the rest.

I know that there are people in this world who are overly sensitive and things that wouldn't bother me or someone else would bother them. Bieng sensitive is not a bad thing. I guess I am just saying that I have thicker skin and I don't let a few idiots in the bunch ruin my time or experience. I never have and I am not about to start doing it here.

Just ignore it. Flames keep burning when people keep fanning them. Just let it be and it will burn itself out.
_________________
www.lost.eu/30522

DO IT!!!

silvermoon · Guest

Luminous · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:36 pm Post subject:

licoricesniper · Casual Observer Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 116

licoricesniper · Casual Observer Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 116

Luminous · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject:

licoricesniper · Casual Observer Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 116

Gemma's advice isn't all bad advice, right? Very Happy

anyways, back on topic now...

(DANG YOU LUMINOUS FOR LEADING ME ASTRAY! Laughing

)
_________________
www.lost.eu/30522

DO IT!!!

silvermoon · Guest

Kasdeja · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:29 am Post subject:

While I agree, understand, etc the 'neighborhood' thing...I think some are missing the point and others are forgetting the point...that regardless of what is acceptable in each neighborhood...there should still be consistency in each 'hood....like, no favorites...mods/ops shouldnt' partake in the drama, flaming, etc...and all that. That's the consistency I speak of...and regardless of the differences between the areas and retaining that, there still needs to be consistency there.
_________________

You cannot make another post so soon after your last; please try again in a short while.
Bagged, tagged, sold to the butcher at the store.

AutoPilate · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:46 am Post subject:

Like the difference between the consistency of creamy peanut butter and chunky.
_________________
Why was there BACON IN THE SOAP?!

Kasdeja · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:49 am Post subject:

Like...the same person flaming and chastising someone, even though they are a moderator but then letting someone else get away with the same thing. Or, like a mod/op instigating drama.
_________________

You cannot make another post so soon after your last; please try again in a short while.
Bagged, tagged, sold to the butcher at the store.

Luminous · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:04 am Post subject:

wintermute · Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:27 pm Post subject:

I was going to post earlier, before I had read every single post in this thread, but thought everyone who has contributed to this thread deserved more that that. I'll now weigh in after having read everything that' been posted in this thread.

This first thing I'd like to address is consistency. There are two levels of this.

First, there's the consistency that the moderators show all members. I'd like to think that I'm consistent with my treatment of everyone, regardless of our friendship status. However, I realize that is a failing of human nature to treat everyone equally, and the mods are, for better or worse, human. I don't think I would moderate any differently if I were anonymous or had a different username when I was "on-duty." And if anything, I tend to favor those who are not my "friends" when both are involved in a situation where my input is required. I recognize this failing in myself and acknowledge it, and hopefully that makes me at least a little more consistent in my moderator duties.

When I was first considered as a mod, TWJ asked my what I would do if I encountered a flame war. My reply was "Flamewars are a delicate balancing act, and I don't envy the mods. I guess it really depends on the severity. If it were a case where things were getting personal, I'd lock the thread. In other cases, I might let things play out to let them resolve themselves. Either way, I would try to remain impartial, and in the case I were directly involved or being attacked, I would probably leave it to another mod in order for it to be resolved by an impartial party. "

I guess TWJ liked my answer, because I was made a mod after that. His reply included this little tidbit about censorship, which I've tried to take to heart: "The censorhip policy is fairly liberal: it's all about context. Vulgar, hateful speech can be deleted or cause for thread-locking. Offensive words used to express excitement or humor, usually are okay." This is precisely why I have let some things go on further than some of the other mods may have. It's never had anything to with who the participants were.

Also, there's consistency between moderators. I agree that we need to project a unified front (except, of course, when one of us is wrong. But that should be dealt with between BK and the moderator in question), but I don't think we will ever be completely consistent across the board. We each bring our personality traits to the job, both good and bad. Even if we were given strict guidelines that read like the United States criminal code, there'd eventually arise a situation that wasn't covered. That would require a judgment call. Some of us would defer to Broken Kid as the Forum Administrator. Others would make a call to take immediate action. Most of us would give the situation the consideration it deserved before deciding which to do.

This is turning into a longer dissertation that I had intended, so I'll stop here. I'll address additional points when I remember what else I was gonna address Laughing

'mute

edit: Oh yeah. Popularity contests. I'll remind everyone that I wasn't nearly the prolific poster I am when I first made mod Laughing

I don't think post count should be a consideration either way Smile

edit 2: I try to hang out in the "Suggestions" and "Concerns and Complaints" sections as much as possible. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with everything, though Smile

_________________
Proud member of LG15 Defense Force.
Proud member of "The Five" (who have been "Tagged" by Hymn of One).

'vote 'mute in '16!