How do mods divide up the labor?

[Amethyst]

I'm curious what, if any, division of effort exists among the moderators. For one thing, I'm curious how mods (who are volunteers with their own busy lives, after all) stay on top of so many threads, and are on them so quickly (or at least it seems to me).

• Do you each have a block of posters (A through C, D through F, etc.) to keep track of? (If so...which one gets the A's? )

• Does a little bell go off on your smartphone each time a new thread is created?

• Or is it "first come first moderated," so to speak?

Amethyst

 

[MichaelB]

Hi Amethyst

No assignments, no division, nothing predetermined that I am aware of. We all just log in and out based on our own schedules, but seem to naturally do so during different times of the day, so most of the time there is a moderator around.

 

[REWahoo]

Amethyst, whenever someone clicks on the

to report a post the software sends an email notification to all the mods. Any and all mods who are available at the time can then respond - those who don't have their email set up to send forum emails to their spam folder, that is...

 

[ziggy29]

Amethyst, whenever someone clicks on the

to report a post the software sends an email notification to all the mods. Any and all mods who are available at the time can then respond - those who don't have their email set up to send forum emails to their spam folder, that is...

If we were given time or content "assignments" it would be too much like w*rk -- and I'd be outta there.

 

[MichaelB]

If we were given time or content "assignments" it would be too much like w*rk -- and I'd be outta there.

+1

 

[W2R]

+1

+2

Amethyst, our mod team has been really great and there is a lot of great teamwork going on; "mod team" isn't just lip service and team members work together to get things done smoothly. Whoever is here just pitches in as needed. As always, our non-trivial decisions are made by consensus so what may appear to have been done by one mod (for example post edits or removal, thread closures, mod input via "mod hat on" posts on the thread, and so on), actually involves all of us, not just that one mod. There is a lot that goes on that members do not see due to technological help such as our automated spam catcher (which doesn't catch it all, but helps). Non-mod members reporting spam and rules violations are a very big help to us too and luckily our member here care a lot and bring a lot of things to our attention that we might not otherwise notice..

 

[Sue J]

I used to be a mod on another, unrelated forum. I was one of maybe 4 or 5 mods.

We would just browse the forum normally and keep an eye out for inappropriate or spam posts and were able to move messages, correct links and edit or delete messages if needed. I was the only one in the eastern time zone so I'd usually catch the spam first and delete it and ban the spam poster. There was also a Moderators Forum where we could discuss changes or issues as they came up.

The forum was much smaller than this one. Activity and participation faded after a while and the forum owner didn't want to maintain it anymore so it was closed and we now use a Facebook Group. I don't like Facebook much but it's a way to stay in touch with the former forum members.

 

[REWahoo]

There is a lot that goes on that members do not see due to technological help such as our automated spam catcher...

Sheer luxury!

Back when I was a mod we didn't have any of that fancy stuff, we had to deal with every bit of spam manually - and there was a bunch of it. We also had to walk two miles to school in the snow, uphill and barefoot...

 

[Amethyst]

If I may be permitted one more question, does this triangle-clicking happen a lot (like, a dozen a day)? I have been a member for 3.5 years and have maybe clicked once. (Obviously, I only read a fraction of the posts, but I do read quite a few - fast reader). Then again, I never visit the political forum, which I suppose is the one that would cause most disagreements.

Apologize if I'm being a pest with my questions..."processes for doing things" have always fascinated me, and I do tend to be the kid with her hand up all the time.

Thanks,

Amethyst

Amethyst, whenever someone clicks on the

to report a post the software sends an email notification to all the mods. Any and all mods who are available at the time can then respond - those who don't have their email set up to send forum emails to their spam folder, that is...

 

[MichaelB]

Sheer luxury!

Back when I was a mod we didn't have any of that fancy stuff, we had to deal with every bit of spam manually - and there was a bunch of it. We also had to walk two miles to school in the snow, uphill and barefoot...

I hear someone calling for

AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW - Brooke-Taylor, Chapman, Cleese, Feldman - Four Yorkshiremen - YouTube

 

[REWahoo]

Been a while, time for an encore presentation...

 

[MichaelB]

Python version
Monty Python - Four Yorkshiremen - YouTube

 

[Janet H]

If I may be permitted one more question, does this triangle-clicking happen a lot (like, a dozen a day)? I have been a member for 3.5 years and have maybe clicked once. (Obviously, I only read a fraction of the posts, but I do read quite a few - fast reader). Then again, I never visit the political forum, which I suppose is the one that would cause most disagreements.

Triangle clicking happens at a varying rate. Some days not at all and others, a few times or more. For the most part members self-regulate and mods can spend time on fun activities [-](like finding the perfect video clip), inventorying their vast piles of bribes and considering how to invest kickback revenue[/-] fixing misspelled titles, moving threads to the proper location and welcoming newbies.

 

[FIREd]

Some of the mods are early risers on the east coast and some are late night owls on the west coast, so we pretty much get round-the-clock coverage. If a thread or a post gets reported at a time when there are only one or two of us online, then the thread or post is taken offline pending discussion by the moderation team. Each mod can weigh in the next time he or she has a chance to log in, and we make a decision by consensus. Then one of us executes the decision on behalf of the entire team (communicates with members, deletes/edits posts, assesses infractions, etc...).

"Triangle clicking" is rarely used by members, and that's a shame because it is really useful to us as a feedback tool. Often times, "triangle clicking" is used by a mod to alert other mods of a problem thread or post.

 

[Nords]

I'm curious what, if any, division of effort exists among the moderators. For one thing, I'm curious how mods (who are volunteers with their own busy lives, after all) stay on top of so many threads, and are on them so quickly (or at least it seems to me).

Apologize if I'm being a pest with my questions..."processes for doing things" have always fascinated me, and I do tend to be the kid with her hand up all the time.

Hey, look, mods! A [-]fresh meat[/-] new volunteer! Quick, tell everyone all about the pay scale and the cheap health insurance and the pension plan!

Amethyst, our mod team has been really great and there is a lot of great teamwork going on; "mod team" isn't just lip service and team members work together to get things done smoothly.

Ah, how soon we've forgotten the good ol' days when H0cu$ and Cut-Throat were moderating. Well, assigned as moderators, anyway.

Sheer luxury!
Back when I was a mod we didn't have any of that fancy stuff, we had to deal with every bit of spam manually - and there was a bunch of it. We also had to walk two miles to school in the snow, uphill and barefoot...

And... and... and we had to deal with Asian gay pornographic PM spam, too!

 

[Amethyst]

Sorry Nords - I'm still working for pay. Maybe after I reach the finish line
A.

Hey, look, mods! A [-]fresh meat[/-] new volunteer! Quick, tell everyone all about the pay scale and the cheap health insurance and the pension plan!

!

 

[MichaelB]

Hey, look, mods! A [-]fresh meat[/-] new volunteer! Quick, tell everyone all about the pay scale and the cheap health insurance and the pension plan!

Stock options. Need I say more?

And... and... and we had to deal with Asian gay pornographic PM spam, too!

We have to delete that stuff now...

 

[veremchuka]

The mods here do a great job. Too bad the clowns at the BH site can't learn from how things function here. We discuss all kinds of topics, sometimes polly ticks and seldom is a post closed. Over there, they close so many threads I seldom bother to go there anymore.