Trigger Happy Moderator, Part II
 

Ok, here we go again...

The fact that a thread critical of the moderator has been shut down so fast, without letting the debate run its course is much less than ideal in my mind.

I much appreciate the importance of a moderator in extreme cases such, as the truly aggravating "Prof. Haase" example. However, please note that it was the members of this board who asked for the removal of this guy, and not a moderator acting with assumed universal knowledge.

I do not think that there is this urgent need to shut down threads on a weekly (or more often) basis, as is the case here. What is the problem if there is a thread that is not perfectly on topic? This is -after all- a community of people who come here for information, but also to have some fun (at least I do)...

If we were all so pressed for time that we couldn't afford the two seconds necessary to use our "back button" to get out of a thread that didn't cover a perfect LH issue, or that started to stray off-topic, then -I dare say- we probably wouldn't come to FT in the first time... Yet such forbidden threads can have great informational and entertainment value, as evidenced on the BA board, especially when it goes wildly off-topic.

FT was already enormous fun over the last two years without a moderator. The presence of a moderator should make it more enjoyable, not less.

Most of us will accept censorship in very few (if none) aspects of life, and even less so if are aware of it, such as is the case with the visible "closed thread" flag.

I really urge the moderator to think about this, and not make the LH board known as a board of regulatory compliance and blandness. It's a great board, and let's keep it that way.

Maybe we should let threads just take their course, and if people find it of such low importance, they simply won't respond to questions. This will make the moderator's life more enjoyable, too, I am sure.

Honestly, when was the last case that a thread closing made sense?

If you read the original thread correctly, Patron moved the thread into Randy's forum. The discussion continues there. Opening this thread was totally unnecessary. Go to the original thread and contribute there. (Randy will read his forum regularly - the LH forum rarely.)

Our moderator has moved the discussion to the BD forum, he has not closed the topic at all.I am more than happy with the job Patron is doing, he even answered the original question, if LH has blackout periods.

I don`t see any reason to discuss the award availabilty for BD Diamonds in the LH forum.The discussion belongs in the BD forum, where everybody can contribute to the discussion...

no censorship, no closing of threads happened here. Your post was just moved to the 'authorities in charge' to deal with your concerns.

Thanks all, for the replies.
I correct myself: the thread has not been closed, it has been moved.

I do think, however, the moving of the threads about the moderator to Randy's forum is one part of the issue. I honestly think it should stay here, for us to discuss, and for us to resolve with the moderator. I really think the moderator should derive his style from the community he is moderating (and respond to suggestions there).

Why should we involve Randy into something that we can govern as well by ourselves, except in extreme cases?

This thread is about moderation (and not about M&M); the best place to discuss such issues is the Only Randy Petersen forum and for housekeeping purposes I move it there.

Patron
Talk Team Moderator

Dare not critisise Patron or you will be banished.

Patron - you really need to get a grip of yourself. You are coming across as an over officious eejit.

[To avoid upsetting the International community I've replaced the offending (to some) word]

For those not familiar with eejit check here for the definition. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Gaza (edited 05-06-2003).]

Rudi - The original thread that was closed and the subsequent thread complaining about it being closed were posted by me, not Danny. He is merely voicing a concern that some Moderating is way too officious.

If I had posted my original question on the bmi board it would most likely have gone unanswered. The reason that I posted it on the LH board is the people there are probably much more knowledgeable about award availability on LH for both M&M and *A carriers. There was absolutley no need to shift it to bmi.

Is it really necessary to use such vulgar vocabulary?

edited: see above

[This message has been edited by LH738 (edited 05-07-2003).]

I do not consider it vulgar. The profanity checker seems to agree with me as it didn't throw it out.

Believe me, I could think of much more vulgar things I could call Patron! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

I know British vernacular and slang better than some I guess, and 'twat' is not very offensive. In SOME countries the word has a totally different meaning and I agree it is not a wise word to use on any International BB, no matter what the issue.

Flyertalk is a place to discuss miles and travel related topics.

If you want to discuss community related topics, than there are some special forums like Community or OMNI or maybe this place here, but certainly not the LH forum.

If I visit ft LH, than I want to read or post about new miles&more offers and not about your thoughts about moderation. IMO Patron has moved this and the last thread exactly to the right place.

Please keep the airline forums clear of such posts in future. And this is my view as a frequent user of the LH forum, not as a "moderator-collegue" of Patron.

I must agree that the moderation was OK. As long as there is a reasonable trail to keep following the thread, then it doesn't matter where the moderator chooses to put it.

Some things fall in a gray area and it is OK to question the moderator on that but I wouldn't get worked up over this moderation.

And this is the right place to discuss moderation, although I have probably spent more time discussing than I think is necessary. Important to support our moderators (a usually thankless and unpaid job) as they keep the boards a great place to visit. Also important to provide our posters with the information they need and I think gaza has received that OK? (including some valuable info from our moderator about no blackout dates in LH)

My thoughts were directly related to (IMHO) the incorrect exercising of a Moderators power on a post I had made on the LH board, therfore I posted my concern about that on the LH board.

Some Moderators need to have a look at a dictionary.

Moderate - 1 : to lessen the intensity or extremeness of 2 : to preside over.

Moderate also has a noun - Moderation. Patron should consider using his powers in Moderation.

By moving the thread to bmi and then cutting and pasting some of my comments in to a new thread he opened, Patron has created more of a mess than if he had left the original thread where it was. All I am asking is that he shows a little moderation in his Moderating. If he has concerns about a thread he can monitor it and if it is veering wildly off topic then he has every right to close it.

{b]Patron[/b] did put useful info in the thread before he closed it but that in turned spurred more questions (e.g. is *A awards from same inventory as M&M) that would have been better answered in the original thread.

ralfkrippner wrote:

"If I visit ft LH, than I want to read or post about new miles&more offers and not about your thoughts about moderation. IMO Patron has moved this and the last thread exactly to the right place."

I think ralfkrippner makes a very good point. But he does NOT have to read it or anything else about moderation, as the topic is clearly labeled "Trigger-Happy Moderator", and there is no inconvenience to a non-interested party, unless the topic is mislabeled. The reason is that one doesn't need to open such a thread. The mere existence shouldn't be a problem in my mind. If it were mislabeled, then that is a different issue, and a good solution might be for the moderator to come and rename it (but leave it there).

Remember the beautiful threads on AIRRAIL (which were great, IMHO)? Some people didn't want to read those either. But should that mean that we move them somewhere else? I think this is such a diverse community of people, and everybody might have a slightly different reason for coming to this board. Some people might be looking for information about offers, others for info about upgrades, and yet again others just want to complain about or complement LH, etc...

Please remember that this is totally not intended to be a "partisan" discussion about how one feels towards Patron (there seem to be people with strong feelings on both sides of the aisle). I really think it is important to come to some sort of a popular agreement about how much moderation the majority of us wants. After all the moderator moderates for the benefit of the users of the board, and for no other purpose.

Danny. Are you aware with your comments that ralfkrippner is himself a moderator on at least 2 forums -- Community and KLM. I visit both a lot, and his moderation skills are exemplary. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I imagine the FIRST thread ANY current Moderator might click on to here is one headed "Trigger Happy Moderator" ... human nature to read that up front. (In case it is about YOU for starters!)

danny , you have the right to have fun as much as everybody has the right to choose not to but collect information were it belongs!
if you want to use the net for a laugh , try www.jokes.com and if you are interested
in a forum that is being laughed to death frequently , stay with the BA section .
( the number of posts on topic there are rarely in excess of 5 before they start 3 or so pages of discussions about british humor or whether pucci galore would shave her legs in public ).
- pucci, no offence intended, luv-

get a life, mate , this is NOT your family but just a bunch of people , who - whether they like it or not - have to fly a lot and try helping each other out with useful information.
i have seen whole boards going down the drain when people started to call it even their "family" and one would find all sorts of discussions about daily life , latest news or pop music rather than anything one would have expected there .
believe me , the number of people here who are interested in pearls of british ( or scottish or german) humor is very limited .

but if you cannot do without , at least accept that a moderator has the right ( and the task ) to move posts to where they belong and if you search hard enough , you will find that there is a forum for almost everything on this board , so why don't you place it there yourself first place ?
travel board , airport board ,dinner board -
what else do you need and why do you think it is yours to tell us that we should have enough time to go through all possible nonsense to find a few posts that actually contain something usefull ?

p.s.: patron , keep on the good work !

It seems quite obvious patron's style of moderation is popular with the majority of the LH forum's mostly German users.

AC, BA, LH, and QF are some of the forums where regulars strongly identify with their country and flag carrier, and beat off disruptive outsiders using tried-and-true national favorites, be it British humor or teutonic adherence to guidelines.

A little more planning by the 'guest', and tolerance by some of the 'hosts', would no doubt spare time to all involved.

You need to spend more time in the QF forum. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Dave

Patron does excellent work. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Around 20 posts, and half of them are complaints about moderators.... Danny, you need to contribute first, make a name for yourself in this community and they perhaps you can get on the soapbox...? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Qantas forum has moderation issues at this time so it is not immune by any means.

True, but then there are those who care about such things, and those who do not....