Is it perhaps time to examine the issue(s) of moderators and guidelines again?
 

While this was posted initially here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...5&page=1&pp=15

it seems that some rather unfortunate remarks posted have prompted the premature closing of that thread.


Again, in view of various threads noted recently, where this appears to be an issue, may I please once again ask about the:

Future of "Moderators" and their role(s)?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/show...t=278908&page=1

I'm not at all certain that these issues were ever satisfactorily resolved.

Again, I am now, as I was then, very much in favor of moderators, and I truly belive that nearly all of them are doing an absolutely great job. Thanks! :)

And thankfully, as note, "moderators" are not apples, and one "bad" moderator does not spoil the entire bushel or 'em! ;)

Again, with the "new" board, and the recently expanded powers granted to our mods to now not only judge, but also to administer punishment to members, it seems it may well be time to put in place a means of oversight to insure a fair and balanced approach is the norm. IMHO, it would also serve us well to establish grounds for some form of censure.

Is it time to update the guidelines, make them public, and establish a means by which the TB will effective oversee the moderators as Randy had orignally suggested would be the case?

I hope the TB as well as the moderators will comment in addition to the concerned members. Thanks in advance for your ideas concerning this important matter.

-Mark
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiff
There was some brief discussion on this matter and with the input of the current TalkBoard members and Randy, this topic was tabled.

The moderators and their guidelines/abilities will remain as they are for now.


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Thanks Spiff! :)

Just curious, what exactly are they now?


And FWIW, again, as I'd posted earlier, having just seen this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...0&page=1&pp=15

I again wondered "Among the questions to be considered, IMHO, are the "qualifications", if any, the term length or whether it is perhap a lifetime appointment, and what, if anything, could lead to censure, or possibly even removal? Thanks very much!

Gary, BTW, like most all the FT moderators, has proven to be exemplary, IMHO!

Thanks once again all! :)

-Mark
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May we please have a clarification of the current policy? Thanks! :)

-Mark

The oversight for all moderator action is Randy.

The 'moderator guidelines' (Mission Statement and Code of Conduct) are published in the moderators forum.

Your last link is broken.

The policies haven't changed. Moderators still operate the same way as they did before, by using common sense and with the community in mind.

It's a shame that the policies of the moderator bashers haven't changed either.

FewMiles..

I think that we, the TalkBoard, have decided that we aren't planning on recommending any changes to the role of the Moderators.

This really is an issue that belongs elsewhere and I think Randy has also decided that he is fine with the current role of the moderators, though I do not presume to speak for Randy.

I'll leave this open, especially for Randy to post if he cares to. I won't hesitate to close this, though, if the discussion goes the direction it did on the similar thread...

Thank You Spiff.

William

Yes, thanks very much Spiff.

Yet again, I do sincerely believe that some clarification may prove helpful as I read threads such as this one:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...0&page=1&pp=15

I beleive there is enough clarification in that thread. I don't see anything there the Talkboard needs to get involved in.

But then again, I have a feeling you might be looking for more than just "answers" as this thread seems to be bumped quite a lot lately...

This is an issue that is outside the scope of the TalkBoard. It's Randy's perogative to make any changes to the moderators' roles or to the moderator personnel.

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Perhaps there is a substantive conflict of interest here then, in that you, like many members, are both moderators, as well as TalkBoard members?

Is this an issue or not?


I'm looking for more than "answers?" Really? Perhaps you will be kind enough to elaborate?

You may well know more about what I'm looking for than I do I suppose! ;)

Bumped alot lately? Really? Am I once again again being "disruptive"?

Perhaps you should again have me banned? ;)

Thanks for pointing out my apparent lack of objectivity here! :)

Have a great day all! :)

-Mark

I did not say you were being disruptive.

And why would I have you banned? A smiley doesn't make a remark like that any better IMHO.

As for the bump, I pointed it out because you seem to bump this thread (and it's predecessor which was locked) every time a moderator discussion errupts somewhere on the board.

No, there are several of us who are both TalkBoard members and moderators. Randy doesn't seem to think there's a conflict of interest and neither do we.

Nothing is going to change my opinion that the only ones who have any idea on how and what moderation ought to be are moderators.

If one wants to get in the know about moderation than one should apply to being a volunteer moderator and get accepted by Randy

Those who do it on a regular basis and have to think about a great amount of their time become quite good and I might even add, even-handed about moderation regardless of the tag team complaints about their abilities.

I would hope that perhaps two things could happen that would work towards improving moderation to a greater extent than it is now and hence the improvement of FT;

1) Make public castigation of moderation a TOS violation

2) Create a visible 'report inadequate moderation' hot link

This IMO would help to improve FT in two ways 1) It would take the onus off of any moderators feeling that it is neccessary to defend themselves in public and 2) a discussion of the complaint could take place by those who best know the who, what, when, why and where of moderation.

FWIW it will obviously make the FT conspiratory theorists upset but will make the FT coincidence theorists pleased. Frankly I don't really care one way or the other.

What I do care is that the moderators have the time to clean up the miles and points forums by either closing or moving the misposted threads. IIRC this along with stopping flame wars was to be their primary task and I find it a slap in the face for them that their primary task has seemingly become defense of their actions.

REPEAT - For those of you with a need to say something useful about the moderation 1) apply to be a moderator and 2) be accepted by Randy. Being an umpire always give the coach a fresh perspective on what it takes.

Great post, magic111, thank you! :)

:rolleyes:

above link doesn't seem to work. Don't know if it's just me, or if the target has been blocked for all. Hard to follow the conversation, though.