Spider

I will respond to your post later, when I have more time to do justice to your arguments.

Shareholder, relax - it is NOT just you. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Judging by some of the bizarre thread movements and lockdowns in this very forum in recent days, it seems even the 'moderators' don't fully understand why they are doing it either. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Weren't you a founder of FlyersPlaces.com along with Dorian and Rudi? Did that ever have or need 'moderators'?

The founders of Flyers'Places were, Catman, Shareholder, Rudi and myself.

FP did not need moderation...but really it was due to the low membership count and low traffic. I really feel that any bulletin board that gets as big as FT does need moderators.

Dorian



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The Global Lounge Project - open source airline lounge listings - managed by Dorian
flyers'places - restaurant, bar & hotel tips - acquired by nFT
The Star Alliance RTW Price Chart - by Dorian
The Star Alliance Gold Comparison Chart - by Blondebomber

So true! Why do we really need moderators for more than the rare movement of a thread, which is seriously out of place. I could write my on my views of moderation but the basic thing is: why do we need them all of a sudden, and why so drastic a change?

We do need Moderators...there is no doubt.

Last year things got so out of control on FT that many long time posters left.

Why did this happen? Here are some reason that I have thought about:

• FT grew very rapidly due to press coverage
• Randy & Co. are too busy with core business
• No dedicated FT employee or board
• FT is a community...therefore disruptable
• Some people are over-sensitive
• Virtual nature of the Internet

We need Moderators, not to necessarily moves posts around, but to be the firefighters for those times when needed.

Dorian

And of course also, Dorian, perhaps the MOST critical reason, IMHO, that we simply, absolutely refused to moderate ourselves! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Doc hit that one right on the nose!

Since a moderator has 2 logins, does this mean a moderator can have a dual personality? In other words, the moderator's personal login allows him/her to express his/her inidividual opinion and vent frustrations if any, and the public-service persona (aka: moderator) is used to take the moral high ground and the policing role.

At first I felt a bit insulted that we needed to be policed. On the other hand, I can see that the nameless and faceless "moderator" login allows some protection to the moderator, and allows FT to replace the moderator when it's necessary.

I now think it doesn't matters that the moderator remains anonymous, but the job performance does matter. I would suggest that we keep a tally on the performance of a moderator, and also have a term limit on the moderator role. After all, who will police the police? So, how about giving the moderator a performance review on a regular basis, and also have FTers rotate the job every three months?

I totally agree... 100%.... the problem over the last year has been there is too much freedom (sad to say...) and the inability to use wisdom on when to post and not to post.. when to give someone attention and when not to...

Moderators are a necessary evil (no insult meant)

After all, who will police the police?

Right now, Randy & Co.

In a few weeks (hopefully) the appointed + elected TalkBoard.

Dorian

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The Global Lounge Project - open source airline lounge listings - managed by Dorian
flyers'places - restaurant, bar & hotel tips - acquired by nFT
The Star Alliance RTW Price Chart - by Dorian
The Star Alliance Gold Comparison Chart - by Blondebomber