Proposal: Let moderators and site staff have two accounts

[Haiprbim]

If someone holds a grudge against Moderators overall, it is his/her own issue.
If a Moderator changed his/her way of posting after being given the role, it is his/her own issue as well.

Personally, I honestly do not see why Mods should have two accounts.
To clear the facts up in the first place, a Mod is just a regular member that was entrusted with a few Forum Moderation powers because he/she was found trustworthy, active and possibly was giving an impression of having a good judgment.

Also note that the kind of people in that criteria are usually very nice, too.
So in the end, I personally think that a Mod is just yet another Member with whom you can discuss about different things and that only has that status for cases in which a bad/wrong post/thread was created.
For that, you do not need two separate accounts.

Thank-you.

[Kaijo]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

No one is above the law including the MODs... *shaking

Except they are, since there is no real transparency or check on their power. Rules are unevenly applied and followed. Thus seeing a mod posting *is* intimidating for a lot of people, moreso lately, since all it takes is a feeling that you are going over an invisible line before you to get permanently whacked. Why bother debating with someone who has that kind of unchecked power?

But I don't think a second, normal account for mods would be much of an improvement. They'll still whack you without warning if they feel like it.

Personally, if there was more transparency and communication with the forum users, they might not be seen so much as "Nazis" whose minds can never really be changed. A discussion forum is a forum meant for discussion; that means it will get hairy at times, but that's natural. You have to take the good with the bad, because censoring a discussion or speakers, defeats the very purpose of a discussion forum.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Except they are, since there is no real transparency or check on their power. Rules are unevenly applied and followed. [...]

This is a private forum, and the staff are accountable to each other and to the site owner. We were charged with serving the members of the site by upholding and maintaining the rules, and we do the best we can, but this sometimes means making and enforcing decisions that some members won't consider popular or, by their own definition, "fair". We're also only human with limited time, and we catch what we can (which is why there is some inconsistency -- if people would be more consistent in reporting this would also help, but there's inconsistency there too, obviously).

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Personally, if there was more transparency and communication with the forum users, they might not be seen so much as "Nazis" whose minds can never really be changed.

Some people will see the staff as "Nazis" no matter what. (I've had no end to the personal attacks lobbed my way over the years for enforcing team decisions, but that comes with the territory.) I think we've demonstrated on countless occasions that we do take feedback and make changes based on input received. But obviously not all input can be considered, as a lot of it is contradictory, nor will decisions necessarily be made on the spur of a moment. We try to be governed by overarching principles and make changes based on long-term patterns of behaviour, and not just based on what some people are asking for at that moment.

I've also personally tried as much as possible to be honest, transparent, and communicative. I'll tell you that this has not always gone over well. Even posting here in response to this post would doubtless be considered unwise by many. It certainly doesn't seem like you're here to start a conversation in good faith with all the accusations and insinuations you're lobbing. (Like, seen as "Nazis" by whom? By you? By other random people? By everyone? And for doing what? Is it even a reasonable belief based on fact?)

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Thus seeing a mod posting *is* intimidating for a lot of people, moreso lately, since all it takes is a feeling that you are going over an invisible line before you to get permanently whacked. Why bother debating with someone who has that kind of unchecked power?

Then don't? You're here by choice, not by necessity. The door is always open; you're welcome to leave at any time. Is that what you want me to say (despite it also being unavoidably true)?

Of course I think this insinuation is nonsense, and I know for a fact that no one has gotten "permanent whacked" for crossing an "invisible line" without sufficient warnings. In addition, everything happens in full view of the other staff, so there's no possibility of any member of the moderation or admin teams going rogue and causing damage without accountability. Of course, some people claim that it's still unfair, that the line is still invisible no matter how clear and visible we think it is, and then argue endlessly how they didn't know or they think they deserve yet another chance. And in those cases, the staff involved have to use their own best judgement. That's why the staff were chosen: for their ability to use their personal best judgement to make tough decisions that are still aligned with the overall moderation principles of the site.


All I can say that everyone tries their best to be fair and predictable in the way situations are handled. But in the end, it's obvious that there is no "balance of power" in that sense because it's a private site. It's also clear that we aren't catching everything because the forum is too big for the staff to keep up with every thread. But the staff have to define the sorts of discussions we will allow and what the parameters will be. And that means that some discussion will be rejected as unsuitable at the staff's discretion. We hope that as many people as possible will appreciate the result and want to discuss here within those constraints... but we won't please everyone.


Anyway, in another decision that won't please everyone, I'm going to lock this particular thread because I think it has been established fairly clearly that having a separate account for staff members is not really on the table at this time. If you really want to post about some other site or moderation issue, please create a new thread. (But if the topic is just "the mods have power and aren't accountable to me", well, that's how it is. We're trying our best to do well for as many members as possible, whether everyone believes it or not.)