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5 Things Every User should know about Moderating a Forum

Harmonic Revelations

Entry posted by Harmonic Revelations

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So I've seen people complain about moderators before. Me, having experience in this particular field, wanted to clarify a few things about the moderation here and why you should not complain. So I decided to compile a list of reasons that people who complain about moderation are not in the right in doing so.

 

#1: Moderators are not Paid

While on some sites they might be paid, on here, they are not. The moderators here use their own free time out of their own free will. So remember, you may be agitated by the things moderators do that you do not agree with, but you have to remember, they are doing this out of their own personal choice.

 

So they're pretty much moderating out of the goodness of their hearts, and people should appreciate the time and effort they put into it. Moderators don't absolutely have to moderate, if they wanted they could resign and let this place fall into Anarchy, and that would be fun for approximately nobody.

 

Pictured: A forum after all of the moderators went on break at the same time

atomic-explosion-4.jpg

 

#2: Moderators here are some of the most fair on the internet

The moderation here is some of the most efficient, yet somehow lenient moderation I have ever seen. This site's moderation is like a perfect equilibrium of moderation. Any less strict, the place turns into an absolute mess. Any more strict, this place turns into some kind of facist dictatorship. So if moderators here nail you for something you did, you probably deserved everything they did.You have to understand that every system we have in place on MLP Forums is in place for a reason. The character minimum may not seem like fun but it prevents this place from falling into absolute Chaos. If you actually respect the rules, you probably will not get into trouble.

 

Compared to other websites, these moderators are some of the nicest, goofiest, and most lenient around. I greatly respect all of them for the work they do. Other websites are much more strict, and this site gives you plenty of wiggle-room. in fact, I make extremely strange threads everyday with the consistency of abstract-art and I've never had a brush up with the moderators.

 

The moderators here are like angels, guys, except...they're not, and that brings me to my next point.

 

 

 

#3: Moderators are just people

As much of a shock as this may to come to some people, moderators are just human like the rest of us. Now before you go into a rant in the comments about automated moderation, be aware that I've been on a site like that. Literally every user on the website was banned in a week. Now you should know that while the moderators are not perfect, they are still some of the best around.

 

They can't do EVERYTHING, and they should not have to do everything. Users should act responsibly and in accordance with the rules. If you simply follow the rules, then everything should be alright. If there is a misunderstanding, start a support ticket, and I'm sure you can settle it. The staff team here is incredibly understanding.

 

But the fact the moderators are human leads me to another point, do not send them hate mail. It is a mean, rude, hateful, and generally distasteful thing to do. If you have ever sent a moderator hate mail you should be completely and utterly ashamed of yourself. Not only does that show disrespect for the rules, but it shows utter disrespect for the people who spend their FREE TIME to make this place a nice and friendly atmosphere for people like yourself. It makes them feel bad, I'm sure. You have to remember, there is a real person behind every username.

 

And that real person has real feelings you can most definitely stir if you're a complete jackass. Do you really want to be this dick, and say 45% of moderators are leeches?

 

us_mitt_romney.jpg

 

I thought not.

 

#4: Moderators don't make the rules singlehandedly

Moderators do not necessarily create every rule they enforce. While generally they all agree with it as a whole. For this reason, there is not really a finger you can point at anyone in particular. Even if you could, these rules are necessary to keep this place friendly. I shouldn't have to say much about this, since anyone with common sense could piece this one together.

 

The moderators generally pool together and make decisions, and believe it or not, these decisions are overwhelmingly for the better of the forums as a whole. They may not be perfect, but if something goes wrong because of one of their decisions, they can always revise it later.

#5: Moderators like to have fun too

Contrary to popular belief, moderators do not take up the position merely with the intent of crushing the dreams of everyone they encounter. Rather, they most likely do it out of their love for the site. They like to have fun just as much as anyone of us. However, when enforcing the rules, they have to be impartial, they cannot make decisions based on how much they like somebody, that would be extremely inefficient.

 

Moderators may occasionally enjoy silliness too, so I doubt they enforce the rules for the express purpose of making little girls cry. These moderators are some of the goofiest mods I've ever seen and the funniest people I know. In addition to that, they do their jobs, and they do them well. The moderators here may not be perfect, but they're the finest moderators I've ever seen.

 

Bless them.

 

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__________

Take these into consideration before complaining about the moderation team. If you really needed five reasons not to harass the moderators, you probably deserve what ever warning you to get anyway.

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Doctor XFizzle

#6. They are ninjas, silent assassins cloaked in the shadows of the night, waiting to eliminate all threats and issues....but they're still not a Timelord like Doctor XFizzle is. Nothing beats a Timelord. *puts on body deodorant spray*

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Shanks

Thanks for writing this I pretty much agree with most of it. As I have said in one of your previous blog entries I have some prior experience with forum moderation on another site and during my tenure most of my fellow moderators were nice people who were in it for the right reasons.

 

Unfortunately things fell apart after a change in site ownership and the place did become a dictatorship where people got banned for ridiculous reasons and people were made moderators that either couldn't handle the responsibility or abused their power. Though I let my rage get the better of me at first by going on several profanity fueled rants I eventually did the right thing and joined a bunch of my fellow moderators, resigned and left that place forever.

 

I am very pleased to see that such a tragic fate has not befallen this site and doubt that will happen anytime soon. Of course even when times were good I did get the occasional hate mail from people who didn't like or agree with something I did and except in the more severe cases I did give people fair warning before taking any disciplinary action. And of course there is breaking up the occasional flame war which is like jumping into a hornets nest and was one of the most common sources of hate mail directed toward moderators that I have personally witnessed.

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Freewave

Mods here are great and have the right balance. This is well though out, thanks for posting it!

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I am Lunar Fire

Right on. I have moderated forums before and I know how annoying it is to see people complaining about being moderated.

Rules are for the well-being of everyone, and mean you sometimes have to keep some things to yourself in order to make the whole experience more enjoyable to everyone.

I think you shold add this:

Moderators do not like banning people...

... but sometimes the banhammer has to fall. Moderators are there so a maximum number of people enjoying beaing part of the community. But sometimes, they just have to kick out people who are making it unpleasant to participate in said community.

And banning somebody is not a decision that is taken lightly. Moderators and admin will give out warning and talk things out with the faulty person at first, and will avoid using the banhammer too soon. But if the person behavior doesn't change, necessary action will be taken.

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Zygen

This list is like 100% true basically. Especially with the moderators being the perfect balance of lenient and strict. Definitely the best mods are here on this site. Alot of other mods on other sites are pretty intimidating just because they're very strict, the ones here aren't going to just senselessly ban you or something.

 

I also think the lenient ways of the moderators helps to make them more like real people in a way, I know its weird but without them being to strict you feel like you can actually talk to them as a normal user. Thats one of the things I love about the moderators here.

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Skycoaster

We have some of the best moderators on this site. I can say from experience that being a mod can be tough at times. (I was a mod on the old sims depot and rct depot)

 

Mods log a lot of time on their computers on the site keeping it safe and clean.

 

Good job everypony!

 

If I could brohoof this 100 times, i would!

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