So you are a moderator.

Started by Nihilego August 31st, 2011 5:56 AM
  • 1674 views
  • 46 replies

Nihilego

[color=#95b4d4]ユービーゼロイチ パラサイト[/color]

Male
scotland
Seen September 28th, 2018
Posted March 16th, 2018
8,874 posts
12.1 Years
Imagine you've been made a moderator in your preferred PokéCommunity section, or elsewhere on the internet. How would you go about doing your job? Would you be a very harsh mod or mainly stick to verbal warnings? Would you try to change the way certain aspects of your section (or the community as a whole) works? How quick would you be to infract members for breaking the rules? Would you be very formal and business-like or relaxed and friendly?

For existing moderators, answer these with respect to how you moderate now.
s͎̭̚ ̪ͭͩy͔͚̰̻̗̩̺ͣ́ͨ̌͡ ̩̳̙̖̖̺͡m̷̱̘͎̝̘̣͒͌͒̚ ͇͖̔̐̔b̝̪͚̞̦ͬ ̢͔̱̟̞̝͙̮͌̅̈̓̿̿i͐̈̃͊ͯ̎҉̟̠͓ ͕̥̣̪̠̃͑͞ỏ̵͕̠̱̬̬̞͛̋ ̨͈̻̱̟̱͓̪n͒̒͂͊̀ ̻̰̰̜̅̃͒̂͞tͭ̍̈́ ͙͇̘͕͍̜̖ͫ̌̊̿ͫ̂̀:̵̾͒̔͂ ̟͉̜̽͒͌͜p͎͇͎̦̺̙͒͆͋́ͅ ̨̠̠̘͚͖̺ͫ͛̎̉a̲͍̫͖͗̄ ͓͖͍̯̤̼͙̿̆̂̂̄r̬̟̮͖̥̼̆̓͑̃̾ͬ̉͟ͅ ̬̼̗͊͛a̛̯̮ ̮̬͍̙̮̤́ͪŝ͊ͬ̒̎̃ ̧̝̮͎͙͆̓ì͈̹̻̱̾͝ ̘͉͕̭̊ͤ̉̓tͩͯ̉̐ͨͬ̚͏̻̺̖̮ ̞̘͂̋̋ͯ͑ͦ͗e̞͔̎̇ͫ͊͗

Ho-Oh

used Sacred Fire!

Age 31
Female
QLD, Australia
Seen June 5th, 2022
Posted April 23rd, 2022
35,988 posts
17.5 Years
It really depends on what the issue is. Harsh let's see, I try to lock threads -nicely- that belong in Quick Questions and I know the answer to, and as for threads that belong in other sections I need to link to I try to be nice then too lol. BUT. When it comes to character bypass which happens surprisingly a lot in B/W, because it's intentional bypass (spacing to bypass) I infract for that, since the people know what they're doing. Same goes for if people partially censor the really bad words. As for spam I only infract if it's constant and adbots I kill off as soon as I get to them. Most of the time I just delete posts and leave it really, or if it's a thread; make a post suggesting what direction the topic should go and edit the thread title accordingly. But really, formal/business, idk. In infractions I'm really formal as I noticed but overall I try to come off as friendly, soo. Aaand I think that's all I deal with in B/W?

As for changing the way my section works, yeah I've done that a few times by the limiting discussion threads etc with Kaori back in March.
Age 28
Male
Oregon
Seen September 24th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
17,520 posts
13.1 Years
I would go about in the middle route as in friendly but not too friendly then I wouldn't be doing my job and I'll be taken advantage of.
Things I'll change...I would add more disscussion on subjects if it allowed.
As for the infractions, it would depend on what they did, if it seemed like they spammed on purpose I'll be quick to delete the post and give them a warning, second time infaction, fourth time ban...
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Kevin

kevin del rey

Age 24
Male
Virginia
Seen February 3rd, 2021
Posted July 5th, 2015
2,686 posts
12.8 Years
Hm... I'd probably be a straight-forward moderator. Not rude, but still serious about the job. Let's say a thread gets locked by me... I'd probably just say "Don't revive month-old threads. *Locked*" and hope that doesn't look mean or anything.

And for visitor messages and stuff I'll still be friendly (well at least as I am right now) so yeah...

As for infractions and the like I'd probably stick with warnings... I wouldn't want to abuse power but if it's too major I'll be forced to infract someone.

So I guess I'd be friendly but still serious at the same time... That could work, right? XD

Shiny Celebi

Seen August 25th, 2015
Posted October 17th, 2013
2,377 posts
12 Years
If I was a moderator I would try to be fair. I would want to be a friendly mod that is eager to help the other members with whatever they need and the same with the other staff. If I didnt know the answer to a question someone asked Id find out. Id take my job seriously, maintaining my section and contribute to the discussion in the threads with the other members too. I wouldnt be heavy on the infractions, trying to warn rather then infract and only when I felt it was absolutely nessesary. Id try to be formal too when I must.

Oryx

CoquettishCat

Age 30
Female
Seen January 30th, 2015
Posted December 27th, 2014
13,184 posts
12.2 Years
Yeah, I don't think I'd be a rough mod. I'd probably give 3 warnings at least to a single person about a continual problem before infracting them, just because things happen, sometimes people forget rules. I know I've broken rules accidentally in the past myself.

I feel like I post enough around the site, and I still would as a mod, that I don't think anyone would see me as "Mod Toujours", more like "Toujours (who happens to be a mod)", so I would definitely come off as friendly imo. Except for in OC because I'm opinionated


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Guy

just a guy

Age 31
Male
Florida
Seen March 26th, 2016
Posted January 22nd, 2014
7,127 posts
14.7 Years
Normally I tend to be very lax when handling any sort of issue on here, whether it be locking a thread, moving it, and so on; I'm very lean too. I don't infract for everything and it's normally not the first thing I go about doing when I have to handle someone's error. I usually talk with them first, and then if they continue I go with an infraction. Only if they're deliberately causing trouble will I give them a yellow warning or infraction depending on how bad the situation is and how many times they've done it before.

I'm not really formal though. If you look at most of my locks I sometimes tend to play around or am just really nice when closing a thread. Deleting posts I try to make fun when I can by sometimes giving a witty reason, but still making the reason clear enough to understand. I might only be a bit formal when I'm talking over something serious with someone and I want them to know I'm not joking, but other than that, I'm just very lax.

I see my role on PC as a privilege and benefit of enhanced enjoyment on the forum. I don't try to look at it as some sort of job or else what's the fun in that?

As for how I would take charge of my forum, well, let's just say I've always been a hands on person and I'm always looking for ways of improvement. When I was modding the HG/SS forum with bobandbill and I, together we worked on revamping all the stickies. As for the discussion there, there's not a lot of you can do to change it other than make sure everyone and everything stays in line. However, when I was put to mod Pokémon Anime, I'd like to say I was part of some major changes that took place in that forum.

Nick

Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted July 28th, 2021
17,572 posts
18.6 Years
I think I'm very formal, and that gives me the impression that I'm strict. In most cases, I'm not in any way strict, especially when compared to other staff members. I'm very lax, very understanding, and I try my best to make sure that I'm approachable and relatable when dealing with issues.

When I deal with issues like spamming (unless it's excessive) and bypassing the censor (unless it's disrespecting someone), I tend to delete the problem most of the time and leave. I rarely infract people these days. In the past, when I was first made a mod, I would look for a reason to do something mod-like, mainly because I was modding an inactive forum and wanted something to do. Over time, I started doing that less and less. These days, if you get an infraction for me, it's justified. In fact, to put that in perspective, the only times I tend to infract people is if they're being disrespectful or they're trolling someone. Out of all the infractions, those are the only ones I care about.

I also do my best to be an outlet of sorts. If someone sends me something that needs attention, I'll give it attention. If I can't do anything, I'll forward it to the proper people. If someone reports misconduct to me, I'll look into it and discuss it with the appropriate people.

Miss Doronjo

Gaiden

Age 30
Male
Toronto, Ontario
Seen August 20th, 2015
Posted September 4th, 2013
4,473 posts
12.6 Years
When modding, I'm more laid back than strict about it; when locking threads; I try to be as nice as I can about it as well as give them future advice on where to post threads such as the one I've locked, etc. I dunno; sometimes I feel I'm just a little too judgmental, which I'm honestly trying to grasp on each person's side of the story. I guess its because I feel I'm not very comfortable bieng a mod yet, but fine; I want people to know if there's anything that's wrong with the way I mod, or if I'm being unfair, just tell me; I promise I won't bite. :3

Hawthorne Guardian
Moderator of Video Games
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Pokémon:PhoenixRising
Sylvie

Arcanine

There is no "-tina"

Age 34
In your fridge eating your food o.o
Seen November 9th, 2012
Posted October 31st, 2012
24,271 posts
19.7 Years
When someone gets an infraction from me (and that's very rare) it depends on a few factors.
~ Have they been warned before? If so then I'll likely give an infraction because after that warning (doesn't matter if it's breaking the character limit) they should have read the PC rules. If they care enough then they should have taken the time to read the rules.
~ Have they been here awhile or have a good number of posts? If so then again I'll give an infraction. Because you can't claim ignorance to the rules if you've been here for 6 months, or have high number of posts. You're going to tell me that you didn't take the time to read the PC rules or read the forum rules? I can sort of understand if it's a forum they never go to and it's their first time posting in there... but still if you're breaking a main forum rule and you've been here for awhile... you'll get an infraction from me.

As for locking vs deleting... I'll lock a thread and keep it there as an example for other members. Also if a thread/post is deleted the member might ask what happened to their thread/post and will repost the thread/post (since I don't do much Mod work, nor do I delete I don't know how often this comes up).


Over the years I've went from being easy on the members, then harsh, then easy, harsh, and so on. Now I guess I'm sort of in the middle and I really don't care if someone gets mad at me because they got an infraction when they haven't gotten a single warning. I do what I see is right and if it's that big a deal or that big a prob then one of the SAs will come along and overrule me and I'm ok with that as well.

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Age 30
Male
Seen June 28th, 2019
Posted December 13th, 2015
3,801 posts
13.4 Years
If I was a mod I'd do my best to be understanding of the community and their respective problems at the time when it came to the forums but also to look at the whole picture and be able to decide if anyone was in the wrong or not without a bias getting in the way of my judgment at the time.

Basically, fair enough to take into account what the situation may be at the time but unshakable for the most part when it came to my final verdict on a respective matter.

Mr Cat Dog

Frasier says it best

Age 32
Male
London, UK
Seen September 29th, 2017
Posted July 12th, 2017
11,344 posts
19.1 Years
As much as other mods have said that they're lax, I could definitely give them a run for their money. It's mainly because C&M is one of the more relaxed forums, and a hard-line stance on everything would just make people resent posting in there. In terms of infracting people, I've only given three out (and only one of those being a red card): you have to be reeeeeeeeeeeally annoying to get something out of me. Normally I'll send a PM outlining areas of improvement, but sometimes I won't do that.

When I do have to do something, like lock or move a thread, I'm quite formal, however. For the most part, I'll explain the error and maybe offer a solution (like posting it in a different forum, checking the rules etc) so that members won't make the same mistake again. A little bit of wit might seep through, but it's becoming an increasing rarity, unfortunately.
Male
Seen September 24th, 2011
Posted September 14th, 2011
29 posts
11.7 Years
I've been told that in regards to controlling things, I'm organised and efficient- as well as harsh, Nazi-like and very unforgiving. So I suppose I'd make an overall bad mod because if I were, I think half of the community would end up banned within a week... I'd have a lot of fun, however.
Me in a nutshell:
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Truality

Left for good

Male
Seen May 17th, 2013
Posted December 4th, 2012
1,006 posts
11.8 Years
I have an immeasurable amount of patience, and currently being a global mod on a very large site, I know it makes a very good plus. However, I like to keep a good mix of humor and helping tendency in my responces. On PC, a section I'd love to mod is Pixel Art, and I would try my best to reorganize some things about it and bring more attention to that section. In fact, I'll try to do this as I am now via suggestions

I wouldn't be completely strict, but not lax as wax either. Especially when I'd see a member breaking the rules while it's obvious that they are aware of their actions and enjoying it at the same time. In other words, I like to have a balanced set of actions. After all, moderating can be both fun and hard on the one having it, as well. Oh, and one more thing; personally, I try to spend more a lot more time online on the site where I mod-naturally-than when I just browse it as a normal member.
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marcc5m

what

Age 27
Male
Scotland
Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted February 17th, 2023
1,116 posts
12.3 Years
First couple of times, I'd just delete the post, or lock the thread, and tell the user what they did wrong. If it happens a third time, I would warn them that if they carry on, they would have an infraction coming their way. If they carry on...well, yeah. I'm honestly not a very strict person, and I believe that people should be given another chance, until it just goes to far that they're really just asking for trouble. Small things like character limit bypass and generic, SPAMmy replies aren't worth an infraction straight off the bat; especially if they're a new member. So yeah I'ma nice guy, blah blah, vote me for president.

Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
Higher staff would never mod me. I'd be so terrible. But if I were a mod of say, General Pokemon Gaming Discussions, I'd probably be pretty lax, till things got crazy. Infractions wouldn't come too often, unless it was for major or repetitive offenses. It'd probably piss me off if the same rules were constantly getting broken, or if people were posting threads in the wrong section, so then I'd post announcements that would, of course, get ignored. As for changing things, I think it's run pretty well right now thanks to that one guy that's modding it right now (I forgot his username, but his theme is hot). Also, formal is just not my style, unless absolutely necessary, which I'm sure would be a rare case in its own. But that's all I gotta say about if I was a mod...
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Xyrin

WOW REMEMBER THIS??

Age 24
Male
purdue
Seen September 17th, 2022
Posted October 17th, 2013
1,065 posts
15 Years
I would totally be lax. What I do on my forum. All you need to do is PM a guy and say "Hey. You broke a rule and here's how you fix it" unless it's something like disrespect or trolling. Then you infract or warn them. No need to infract for everything.

Furret


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Sammi

Age 33
she/her
The States
Seen 5 Days Ago
Posted November 8th, 2021
14,085 posts
18.3 Years
Uh, I'm another one of those people who's really relaxed. Hell, even when I'm yelling at people I feel so informal about it. (When I'm not making myself look stupid anyway. XD) I don't really want to come off as some strict person, because tbh that's not really what I am. The last thing I want is for members to go "omg that forum's modded by a real meanie and I never want to post there."

I'm an awfully forgiving person; I've never been the kind of person to give warnings/infractions unless they reaaaaally have it coming. I'd rather talk things over and try to get them to learn before jumping the gun and leaving something on their record. For the most part I usually just delete the offending post and hope they notice.

To be honest, I'm probably not helping change OVP for the better as much as I should. So far the biggest thing I've done is re-start Poll of the Week (and I took forever doing so...). I guess I also re-did rules but it wasn't that exciting. *shrugs* It's not that I don't want to; I care about OVP and don't like seeing it dead. It's just that I'm not good with ideas. D:

I'll make a proper signature when Pokecommunity gets a proper slogan

Kenshin5

Wanderer

Male
Oklahoma
Seen September 18th, 2013
Posted March 25th, 2013
4,391 posts
14.9 Years
Depends on the type of offensive, length they have been here, the forum the offensive occurred in.

Warning somebody for something that is minute just seems overboard. Too me before I do anything I would look at their user history. Do they have prior warnings or infractions, if they do then are they over the same thing that is in question at the moment. Then to proceed to either lock(pending the topic is dead or gets way off topic or delete the post and detail what they did wrong and what they can do to correct and build about that they messed up with).

I mean sure you could warn somebody for piddly things but that's not going to teach them to adjust their actions any more then it would if you just gave them a verbal warning telling them "You did this in violation of said rule, so refrain from repeating said action in the future" That's all it takes no warn no infraction. Now if it's blatant trolling, flaming, or flame baiting then that seems to be a different story.

As for how I would conduct myself seems pretty simple. Do the job set out. I would be there to essentially maintain order, so I would lay down the law in accordance to the rules. I would probably come off quite generic and robotic about it at times. Else where I try and make it as interpersonal as possible, because it is not my job to let emotion slur my ruling on a matter.

Like Machiavelli said "It's better to be loved then feared" so do you want to be a ruler that is loved or one that is feared? It seems like two extremes and most staff probably strive for a middle ground or at least I do. I wouldn't want to be a push over, but then again there is no reason to be a complete hardass to get the point across.

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Kairi

The Original $staff_title

Female
Seen February 3rd, 2021
Posted February 1st, 2016
10,285 posts
19.7 Years
Locking threads is easy (although back in the day we were way too kneejerk with the power). Participating in your forum, finding the real issues, and reviving it (if need be) is so much harder and more abstract. But we need it! That's why they tend to hire for a forum based on activity in it. If you can think of a particular forum that has a distinct feel, chances are it has a pretty active mod.

I tried really hard to do that for every single forum on the site, and I got burned out pretty bad. Once you get to the smod+ status, your focus does need to shift away from individual forums. I'm still not convinced we need that many higher staff, though.