TalkBoard Member / Moderator: Alaska Mileage Plan; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: MDT / Amtrak: MJY
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Given the current governance structure of FlyerTalk, I do not have a problem with moderators being on the TalkBoard. TalkBoard does not currently have oversight of the moderating team, so I do not see much potential for a conflict of interest. If anything, the experience gained from moderating can (and, I would assume, does) provide a valuable perspective to the TalkBoard.
If Randy were to decide to make TalkBoard an appellate court and/or allow TalkBoard to pass motions affecting moderation policies, I would support conflict-of-interest restrictions. But as it is currently, I see no need for that.
I see FlyerTalk's governance system as much looser than B747-437B does--more like a small town. Moderators are police officers, the Senior Moderators are police sergeants, Randy is the mayor and chief of police, and TalkBoard is the town council. There really isn't a true judicial branch and official court of appeals (except that the higher-ranking police officers and town executives can reverse their subordinates' decisions), and the TalkBoard is somewhat limited to passing nonbinding resolutions rather than true municipal codes.
On principle, I would support formalizing things a bit more, which is why I said above that I'd support changes to the current policy (especially if it ever comes to the current ownership wanting to do things differently). On the other hand, like many small towns, there often isn't a need for really strong institutions, since most of us get along quite nicely, and any issues are usually taken care of fairly and evenhandedly by the existing chain-of-command. While some people may have had issues with moderation in the past, I don't know that anyone (save for a couple of people, perhaps) has ever been dissatisfied with Randy's final call. Vesting ultimate power in him seems to work quite well!
But as I alluded to, and as it's been pointed out by many others, this isn't some thing TalkBoard really has any say in, and so while it's always an interesting exercise, it's a rather pointless argument.
Without the help and contributions of the moderators, the threads and discussions would not be the quality that we see today. Their efforts are commendable and it can really be a thankless job at times. I appreciate that they do this for the good of the people and they should also feel proud for their commitment in making this a better place.
85 volunteers is a great number and the need for people will only increase over time. What seems to be lacking though is a set of standards that should be followed as the methods of moderating styles does vary from forum to forum. No volunteer should ever be micromanaged but it would be good for the moderators to come up with a methodology and how to apply this when a thread should be moved or closed.
All in all, they do a great job and without them we would not have this resource available.
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Moderators are a required evil (no offence to moderators). In a perfect world we would not require them, but since there is no such thing then we are stuck with them.....
The only thing that I do disagree with is the way that moderators are chosen but that is because of personal experience and I think they should really look at it more closely.
As I read the replies from fellow candidates, I'm troubled by some of the responses.
While I respect what others feel about being moderators and members of TalkBoard, that is not the question Randy posed.
If there are candidates that are bestowing their views about the moderators and TalkBoard memberships into a thread about a completely unrelated question, what does that say about that individual's ability to stay focused, stay unbiased and act in the best interest of FlyerTalk?
As I read the replies from fellow candidates, I'm troubled by some of the responses.
While I respect what others feel about being moderators and members of TalkBoard, that is not the question Randy posed.
If there are candidates that are bestowing their views about the moderators and TalkBoard memberships into a thread about a completely unrelated question, what does that say about that individual's ability to stay focused, stay unbiased and act in the best interest of FlyerTalk?
The same can be said about your post here (and mine now, as well).
I see every post in this thread as relevant to the question Randy posed. Even the ones saying that TB members should not be moderators and vice versa -- one could easily argue that time spent as a TB member is time away from being a moderator and if there's a perception that there isn't enough moderators then part of that could be because people are spread too thin.
While there are still good people willing to volunteer, that spirit should be applauded and those people should be embraced, not turned away in favor of people having 3+ boards to moderate as well as a position on the TalkBoard.
Others mileage varies, obviously.
__________________ I'm a member of TalkBoard. Please send me a PM with any suggestions.
To answer the original question (and no I am not going to post the seemingly obligatory, "they are great.........wonderful volunteers......etc" as that goes without saying for the most part and is just getting silly):
There are enough moderators, and in the past when there has been a lack of enough mods on a particular forum, this has generally been recognized and mods added.
Mods are humans, and I would say that 99% of them and their actions are generally good and justified. There are however the odd times where a mod may have a particular bias against a poster or a style and quite frankly may get out of hand. I know of at least two such instances and I also know that they were not pleasant for Randy. Therefore while I do not believe that the TB should have general oversight over Mods, their functions, etc. I do think it would be an interesting idea if the TB did serve as some sort of consultative "appeals court" if requested by Randy, when an "impartial" jury is sought. However for this to occur, there would have to be some sort of deliniation, between TB members who are also moderators, perhaps not as extreme as what 747 proposed, but perhaps that they would be recused from participating or voting in such matters.
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