Question: Lots of mini-modding getting annoying.

[FreakyLocz14]

I've seen a good number of members tell other people their thread/post doesn't belong somewhere. For example: "This belongs in X section".

I see links posted to other sections where the user says the thread/post belongs, which can be helpful, but people have been infracted in the past for mini-modding so it wouldn't be fair for certain members to be allowed to do it and others not to.

 

[Sydian]

Basically what TS said. You report those who are mini-modding and they'll get theirs. Different mods handle it different, though. If I see it too often by the same person, they'll be infracted. A one time thing doesn't warrant one, unless it's something incredibly rude and makes the person that posted in the wrong area seem like a complete idiot.

But yeah. I don't know why this needs a thread. You just report those who do that. It's just that simple.

 

[Melody]

Well, being only a member, there's no way for us to tell if any of the staff have taken action on that person at all. And even so, not every offense warrants an infraction. Oftentimes the member is being helpful, or is trying to be. Sure, that doesn't invalidate the fact that mini-modding IS SPAM but it doesn't make it always a terrible crime.

All of that being said, I'm all the time coming across threads where the only useful thing I could say is "This thread goes in ___". In these situations, I simply don't post in the thread unless I've something useful and on-topic to say. If I feel it needs to be moved bad enough, I report the thread. Most of the time I just roll my eyes and think "Gah, n00bs don't read now do they?" and I move on.

Now for 3 bad ideas for humorous effect.
Honestly I think the mini-modding might go down if more threads were moved quickly...but short of appointing new staff to handle nothing but thread moving (bad idea #1), I doubt that it'll be quickly addressed unless we double our mod staff (bad idea #2), which to be honest...we don't need, or have the mods we have pull 'double shifts' and mod PC twice as often as they do now (bad idea #3)..and I doubt they'd like that either.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

Couldn't we create a 'Junior Moderator" position which would be a moderator with limite moderating abilities? Like only moving and closing threads. If staff fears having too many mods this seems reasonable.

 

[Sydian]

Couldn't we create a 'Junior Moderator" position which would be a moderator with limite moderating abilities? Like only moving and closing threads. If staff fears having too many mods this seems reasonable.

Um. No. I'm not sharing my job when I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own, and I feel that there are plenty of staff. You can think of yourself as a junior moderator when you report stuff I guess. But being able to just lock and move threads just makes it pointless. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The mods we have now are doing just fine, so having "junior mods" would just be pointless.

 

[Taemin]

Couldn't we create a 'Junior Moderator" position which would be a moderator with limite moderating abilities? Like only moving and closing threads. If staff fears having too many mods this seems reasonable.

That's about what regular mods do..

There's no way to totally get rid of mini-modding, especially on a forum this big. It's always gonna happen, just like we'll have always spam. The best way to go about is to report posts, like the others said. If it gets too out of hand with a certain user, chances are they'll be talked to - but we can't totally stop it, it's just part of being a forum community. :/

 

[Legobricks]

There doesn't actually appear to be a rule on this site against mini-modding, nor is it listed among possible reasons for infractions. So, why any staff member should be infracting members for mini-modding to date is beyond me.

 

[Hiidoran]

There doesn't actually appear to be a rule on this site against mini-modding, nor is it listed among possible reasons for infractions. So, why any staff member should be infracting members for mini-modding to date is beyond me.

Actually, it's considered spam... and all of us staff members are very within our right to infract for it. :]

That is, if the situation is warranted enough. We're not heartless, you see. :x

 

[Planetes.]

sorry if I'm snitching but there's a lot of mini modding on the bw boards

 

[Legobricks]

Actually, it's considered spam... and all of us staff members are very within our right to infract for it. :]

That is, if the situation is warranted enough. We're not heartless, you see. :x

Mini-modders generally think they're doing something positive for the site's wellbeing, not at all something they'd call spam, so they do it. I might suggest a little rewriting of that clause.

 

[BeachBoy]

sorry if I'm snitching but there's a lot of mini modding on the bw boards

It's not snitching, you can do something: use that report button to aid the staff in capturing these sneaky devils! Reports are private, so non-staff won't know that you reported them unless you make that public yourself.

Also, Cassino, sometime into my moderation, I mentioned it (thanks to mini-modding in the name change thread) and later on as it died down, I think it was Arcanine who said that we used to have it, but it was eventually removed and labeled "count as spam."

Nothing really materialized of my thread after that.

 

[Melody]

Here's my take on it. Occasional Mini-modding never hurt anybody if the member is not offensive in mentioning the broken rule, and if the post itself isn't just mini-modding, and does not discuss the content of the thread at all.

That being said, if you write a nice long post that's on-topic, no one should infract you for mini-modding unless you've been warned about it too many times before. (I'd use a 3 strikes rule, to be honest, but your mileage may greatly vary, depending on the patience of the staff member)

 

[Hiidoran]

I'm just gonna go ahead and say something that comes to my mind every time this subject is mentioned, okay? Okay. :D

Many people, like Pachy up there, mention that a post is not necessarily mini-modding as long as the bulk of its contents are on topic. This argument is based on the fact that some members just like being helpful, but sadly lack the permissions to do much about it. Been there. D;

My question is, why should there be a need to make this public? Why can't members simply report the thread in question, post in it with relevant commentary (if it's not going to be closed or whatever), and then, if they really feel they want to be extra helpful, send a friendly PM to the creator of said thread or post - offering them some helpful advice from an experienced member to perhaps edit their thread or post to be acceptable or whatever it needs. That way, you're being helpful to all parties involved; it's exactly what you want! Unless, of course, there's some other reason you're making these public comments showboating that you're well aware of the rules...

Just my two cents.

 

[BeachBoy]

Here's my take on it. Occasional Mini-modding never hurt anybody if the member is not offensive in mentioning the broken rule, and if the post itself isn't just mini-modding, and does not discuss the content of the thread at all.

That being said, if you write a nice long post that's on-topic, no one should infract you for mini-modding unless you've been warned about it too many times before. (I'd use a 3 strikes rule, to be honest, but your mileage may greatly vary, depending on the patience of the staff member)

Actually, the occasional mini-modding can be harmful. One problem with mini-modding is the people who are wrong. For instance "This thread belongs in Other Entertainment! *reports*" is giving the wrong info, as it might actually belong in Other Chat. Or they don't understand a rule correctly so they go parading PC handling their version of it upon other members. I see it all the time. Mini-mods running into threads screaming locks and problems, when the only thing that actually needs to happen is a simple merge.

 

[mr. ck]

I've reported people for mini-modding as far as I remember, they've continued to do the same.
Some people post in every thread that's in the wrong section to correct them.
Even after reporting them, they continue to do so. Makes me assume that they aren't being warned or given any infractions.
They would even go ahead and answer the question that's in a "totally" wrong section, is this right?

I can see why the OP had to create this thread.

 

[Archer]

Mini-modders generally think they're doing something positive for the site's wellbeing, not at all something they'd call spam, so they do it. I might suggest a little rewriting of that clause.

I have to support this idea. It's important for the newer members to understand something that has always been a grey area.

I'm not judging whether it's right or wrong, but if mini-modding is looked down upon so harshly by the staff, then an amendment of the rules could help to reduce the number of newer members doing this.

I think it comes down the this: there is a line, past which helpful comments become mini-modding. If you don't know where this line is, don't go anywhere near it. A bit like anything, really.

EDIT: after re-reading my post, I've realised that I've dumped the blame on newbies, when this isn't the case. That only stemmed from mentioning the rules, which is what should govern their behaviour, whereas one would hope that older members would have a pretty good idea of what is acceptable, by now.