Mod Voice
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@Pavel Sometimes someone just bothers you though, you know? I have a couple people I blocked not because they’re bad people but because they just irritate me and it’s better for my blood pressure to not see it.
as previously stated, good day.
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@farfalla I’ll look into it. No promises, and not a lot of high hopes, but I will AT LEAST put the effort of two googles into it.
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Honestly, I think it’s a bit weird that admin accounts can block people. How can you admin if you can’t see half the shit you’re supposed to be dealing with?
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Now that I’ve taken a step back I realize I was probably being reactionary when I agreed to a separate mod account and it’s not necessary. I don’t even think there’ll be a necessity for a lot of “moderation”, at least I hope not. You guys can probably just get away with a highlight, but if conversations are getting so out of control that a mod needs to step in? I assume the thread can just get locked, and a separate post can be added with the explanation.
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@farfalla Two googles later, I’m not seeing anything obvious, but I put up a post on the official NodeBB forum asking about it.
she/they
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@bear_necessities said in Mod Voice:
I assume the thread can just get locked, and a separate post can be added with the explanation.
Eh, depends. I can see plenty of situations where a mod can wade in and be like “okay, calm it down” before things get to the state of needing a lock. I wonder how many hog pit shitfights would’ve cooled to a simmer if someone outside of the situation would come in and say “back to your corners and calm down for a bit.”
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@Tez Thank you bb but it’s not that big a deal, haha. I was just saying there can be reasons to want to block that don’t make someone un-admin-worthy. I think I fall on the side of just putting ADMIN: before anything. Easy.
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My suggestion for separate accounts is because historically, the community (at large) has had HUGE difficulties telling between. The ‘is that a mod voice?’ was definitely the biggest “thing” that was difficult about modding MSB. It’s the most absolute, obvious way I can think of to remove the point of confusion.
If folks can be better about other people being able to tell than historic attempts, I think it would be fine. I WILL say the suggestion is not because of the recent dust-ups over there, but instead something I have been advocating for for a long time, just to remove the stupid confusion and take it off the table.
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I very much dislike the idea of a separate mod account. Even with attaching a name, it is false separation and I feel it very easily dilutes accountability.
Honestly, my first thought is that, to mod, you cannot behave as confrontationally, familiarly or annoyingly as you would as a general community member. I do not mean to say you cannot have opinions, but whether you’re using your main account or some mod exclusive account, you have power on this forum. By accepting the position, I feel you also have a responsibility to act with more decorum. If you cannot accept that, then do not mod. Not because you’re a bad person, but because not everyone is oriented toward what the position requires (obviously just my opinion of the position requirements).
So my real suggestion is, if you’re a mod and you’re about to post something that is not mod-related, the standard for your tone needs to be higher.
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@glitch You’re a good egg and I’M TELLING EVERYONE.
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Honestly, my first thought is that, to mod, you cannot behave as confrontationally, familiarly or annoyingly as you would as a general community member.
I was thinking the same thing as I was ruminating on this whole mess this morning.
. o O ( If I was a mod - no wait, fuck that, i would never mod this community because then i couldn’t have fun there any more… )
It’s a thankless job. Good luck, guys.
On Dragon Wings · https://pern.gaslightswitch.com · pern.gaslightswitch.com port 4201
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I very much dislike the idea of a separate mod account. Even with attaching a name, it is false separation and I feel it very easily dilutes accountability.
This is a good point, but at the same time, I worry the insistence on labeling people as mods will subtly ostracize the mods and divorce their interests from users’ as they become the Them to our Us. I’m not sure how accommodate your concern and mine, though. Perhaps instead of dedicated mods, it should be a temporary, rotating position we all take our turns at so we all live in both worlds?
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@GF Honestly, I don’t see that happening much in this particular community. The users are (as we’ve seen) not likely to put mods on a pedestal or treat them much different. Pre-this current blowup, mods weren’t treated any differently, and I think it was just the personalities involved that had it blow up. None of the current administrators insist on any sort of ‘authority’ - when we act, we’ll tell you why, and take responsibility for it without demanding ORDER AND RESPECT.
Aside from the respect I’d like as just a person, of course!
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Two thoughts:
- As long as the community has trust in the mods, any decision they make about this will work as long as it’s made with thoughtfulness and intention.
- No mods should ever be making jokes about banning, locking threads, or any other mod power. Even when not in “mod voice”.
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@GF Honestly, I don’t see that happening much in this particular community. The users are (as we’ve seen) not likely to put mods on a pedestal or treat them much different.
Rather, I think we have an anti-authoritarian streak strong enough that instead of idolizing mods, we’d be more likely to treat them with suspicion or even hostility. Don’t forget, the comment that prompted mine is one that seemed to be distrustful that if a mod’s name isn’t attached to everything they do, then they will be tempted to deceive and abuse.
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Don’t forget, the comment that prompted mine is one that seemed to be distrustful that if a mod’s name isn’t attached to everything they do, then they will be tempted to deceive and abuse.
In our group chat thing, I raised a similar issue. When we’re setting policy or making decisions like this, I tend to err on the side of “okay, not us obviously, but what about someone else that’s brought on later?” i.e. How is someone else going to try and break this?
ETA: And this is partly why we’re asking for your input. The main reason being is that we serve the community, not the other way around, but additionally, it’s just a fact that you trust us for now, but new people may come and old may go, or the novelty of the new forum will wear off and we’ll lose our lustre or something.
So setting standards and policies now is a step toward not needing to blindly trust mods/admin so much.
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@Pavel I think the site’s owner should be quick to remove such a person from power, not necessarily permanently. Simply removing their power until a public conversation can be had and an agreement reached about the severity of their offense, which might be determined to be no big deal and worth reinstating them, would be a great show of good faith from the bosses.
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I think the site’s owner should be quick to remove such a person from power, not necessarily permanently.
That’s the ideal.
But we know that’s not a guarantee. The more we put down into actual words and doctrine, as it were, the better.
