Randy,

Here is the main message that I recently sent to a moderator. I am not being critical of that moderator. I am trying to start a debate as to the process and purpose of moderation on FT.

You recently closed a thread in buzz concerning FT moderation. You said that it belonged in the Randy Petersen forum. My question then is why not move it there instead of closing it? I have done some moderating on another site, it is not an easy job. We had clear defined rules and those are the ones we used. I applaud the efforts made by Randy and all the Moderators in trying to keep some type of order on FT. I think that the results however are mixed and that you would find many different opinions as to the improvement of the site under our current overall moderation. This debate would be a good one, but only if the bulk of FTers learn about it and participate in the process. How can we get a debate like this going in say the Randy Petersen forum and yet have a broad participation by many FTers to see if a) the process needs improving, and b) what improvements could be made to the process.

I had proposed in another thread that posibly forums could determine if they needed moderators and then select the number of moderators needed through an election process. I know this is not a perfect solution and in fact we may not even need a solution as the majority of FTers may not feel that a problem even exists. I just feel that the FT of today is certainly not the open free thinking community of three years ago. The openness to share opinions and ideas brought out many strategies to earn miles and points as well as added comfort and ease to travelers. Is moderation in its current process hurting the original intent of FT? That is the debate isn't it? I only hope that we can enclude as many FTers in that process as possible.

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dallasflyer