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The role of the moderators
I'm curious to other people's views on this. Cause everyone's view on this is different.
What does the word "Moderator" on a forum basis much like our own, mean to you? Do you think they should enforce the rules, or bend the rules slightly in different aspects? And do you think that the mods on this forum are enforcing such things on the forum? Note: I have MMM's approval of this thread, so I am not breaking any rules before people question it. |
I think moderators should be as invisible as possible.
I think moderators need to enforce the rules without question. Moderators also need to follow the rules to the letter. Being a mod is a job, not an award. Mods do not have special rights outside of the powers they are given to enforce the rules. For the most part, I think the mods here are doing their job and are doing it well. |
I'll put my input too I think.
I believe mods should enforce the rules no matter what. Having an opinion is fine. But the people higher than you put the rule there for a reason. You can petition to be it changed, but until then, you have to enforce every rule. As for their role in the forum. They should be social in my eyes. Invisible is all and good, but the members need to know that the Mods are as human as themselves, and so the members will trust him/her a lot, and a good relationship of respect will be made between the members and mods. Atleast one mod needs to be social with the members of the forum. As for here. Yes, the JF mods, apart for a few, are doing a good job. |
When I say "invisible" I mean the work they do should be as invisible as possible.
When a post is inappropriate or a thread is spam, it is deleted without a lot of fanfare or attention grabbing activity. 90% of what I do as a mod is unnoticed by probably 90% of members. You are right. Mods are also members, and should be accepted and active as dedicated members of the forum, too. |
Generally, in most forums, it's admins who set the rules, and moderators just follow them but do not have the ability to change them. If a moderator is biased, a user can complain to the admin etc. However that wouldn't work for us because our admin never seem to get on his own website.
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I basically agree with MMM. Most of the things I fix up in the music section go unnoticed - I could simply refer to the scene we had a while back, where NO ONE gave the right mods the props for their work. I'd say a good mod can keep order, good friends and still be respected among members on here.
iPhantom has a good point too, and I'd love for the circumstances to be like he mentioned. Sadly the admins abandoned the site so far and left the mods in charge of everything. That basically forces us to rewrite rules, make sure that people who need to be banned are banned and so on. |
I would say that some of the work should go unnoticed; however, if it was a rule that was broken, the member still needs to be notified and whatever else needs to be done (which I think usually happens here). I also think the mods should be a big part of the community, at my home forum, the mods were just like members in social status kind of thing. Here I think mods are seen as a bit higher by some people. But then again, we never had problems with members breaking rules at that forum, and there wasn't a whole lot of "reinforcing" rules or anything. Here it's a bit different than that.
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I think the mods are doing a fine job. I mean, I don't like too many rules, but anything to keep the forum stable and not falling apart half of the time.
The only problem I have with some mods is that they get on their high horse way too much sometimes. I'm not saying not to do your job, just don't get too worked up over something that could be as small as an argument. We can handle ourselves, and even though some of the members on here aren't too mature to handle other people's posts, myself included sometimes, I think we could all handle ourselves pretty well if we really tried. Then again, it probably won't happen, who knows if some members of JF have the maturity to just drop it and leave things alone. I know sometimes I don't, but it's sometimes for a good reason. Anyway, the whole banning of a member to me is sometimes a little over the top. I know it's supposed to be teaching the person being banned a lesson, but there's the right time to ban somebody over a major issue, and the misuse of banning someone for a tiny little thing, for example, stating a brutally honest opinion. That's all I feel like posting for now. Take it as you will. EDIT: If you need me to clarify on anything in my post, please ASK instead of arguing/attacking/complaining/whining about it. I'd highly appreciate it. |
Current Sticky Rules for J Music:
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Is there a disk space issue with JF? Is the search engine having issues? Some enjoy a forum for its entire content of the subject, not the cherry picking of a few. Some value the complete age of the forum so it may also be used as a reference. How famous is the artist? The rules seem a little gray. I'm sure being a mod here is quite a burden but at the same time I think it really takes away when threads are cherry picked for deletion and the rules are not crystal clear or biast. Some wouldn't spend the time to post if it will possibly be deleted down the road because some just didn't get anything out of it. I would also think the posting rules and maintenance rules would be similar for all forums on JF, even though each forum has their own mod. But I guess this board is unique for lack of active admin. Just my opinion. |
Please forgive me if you think this post irrelevant, but how many times are we going to debate what it means/doesn't mean to be a mod? Haven't we discussed this over and over again?
A moderator should be someone who follows the rules down to a "T". They can not complain about the rules, at least, not out in the open. Such a thing would be setting a bad example. We are supposed to be "role models". The Mods cannot change aspects of the forum as they see fit. That is a community effort. This is not a dictatorship. It is a community network. A mod should only give positive insight on topics/threads. Being negative just because you don't agree with something or are mad/upset should be kept to yourself. We don't want people to think that a mod cannot maintain a cool head, and calm appearance. Any aggravation/discomfort can be expressed, but should be done personally, not publicly. |
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I am not sure where the problem is. |
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Like we see each other frequently or something? lol |
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The sentence I have quoted shows something very wrong, unfortunatly. If one needs 'permission' to ask questions, then something is sadly broken, a sure sign or symptom if you will of the classic internet power-trip. (when your actions mirror those of the Chinese gov. your doing something wrong) Long ago the BBS was born, people had to physically "dial-in" to different boards, among all the hacks, phreaks and 'pirate wares' was an entirely new form of culture. The first ever censor free and legal form of mass and interactive comunication. It was truly a revolution. you can find out more about it here T E X T F I L E S D O T C O M . There should be no rules, only guidelines. we live our entire existance under the rule of thumb, forced to abide by rules in order to stay within society. Thus sometimes it can be fun to impose rules on others, just as in real life you have rules forced upon you. however I fear if I were to look through the archives of this forum (and most others) I would find many times where Mod's have gone a bit OTT. When mod's delete and ban in the case of spam or grosly inapropriate content this is justified. However when the ban hammer is weilded because someone does not agree with you, has a differnce of opinion, questions your automatic authority or judgement (shock horror) , or simply states something that offends your own personal point of view. Then this is wrong (not to mention petty), and will lead to a degredation of the forum and the forming of cliques. but hey what do i know? i'm just a 'N00b' right? |
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Kanji, you say this is not dictatorship and mods should follow the rules, but the mods are the ones who make the rules and change them the way they feel like it, talk about no dictatorship huh. |
I think the roles of mods are clearly defined in this video:
YouTube - Cromartie High School - Internet revenge More (Full): YouTube - Cromartie High School # 15 OK Computer |
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Salvanas asked me what I thought of the question and I told him I thought it was one worth asking. "Permission" is a bit of a stretch of a word. Members never need to ask mods permission before making a new thread. I removed the link you posted. We don't need links to other forums posted here. Quote:
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It's not cherry picking, it's just getting rid of unnecessary threads. |
Out of curiosity, is Miyavifan no longer a mod? I can't see her as moderator anymore.
Has she been removed? |
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Is bandwidth really affected by having 2 or more years worth of posts as some forums on JF already do? I'm a little lost on the bandwidth issue / limit you write of. The question to more as "is there a disk space issue" Sure there are threads that need to be deleted that are off forum topic, but as I wrote, just because the threads are inactive or the subject is duplicated shouldn't void them for deletion as they may contain content valuable to some seeking such information. I thought the J-music rules were a bit over the top and gray for the reasons in my original post. "How famous is the artists" is cherry picking of one individual post for deletion. In this case, why even have a search engine if your only going to have 3 weeks of threads. |
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"How famous is the artists", is a bit cherry picky, but it's really going back to being inactive. If only the OP knows who the artist is, it's not any good of a thread. But if they artist is famous and is known by the majority of the members, it's likely to be a better thread. It's really just going back to the inactivity of threads. |
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Duplicates, yes to an extent. I would think a thread about an artists went on for a couple of pages back in 2007 and a new thread on the same subject started in Oct. 2009 would would be fine. The 2007 one had valid information and discussion that can be referenced, the 2009 is also valid because it prevent people from resurrecting a dead thread. At the same time you don't want more than 1 *active* thread on the same subject. Maybe have the forum lock a thread after so long of being inactive, but don't delete. Perhaps our definition of an inactive thread is different. I'm thinking of an inactive thread that has *some* on topic replies, but hasn't been posted on for some period of time. Wouldn't someone want to get some insights on how a particular artists was seen by the users of this forum at an earlier date, or just information about the artists in general. I didn't realize that artists had to had a certain popularity level or be known by the mod before being posted on the forum. If its on the topic of J-music forum, popularity shouldn't be a factor. |
I think the intention is not to erase band threads but more like "What was the name of this song?" and threads that have only a short-term usage.
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I'm with the consensus here, I think. Mods have to stick to the letter of any rules, which themselves have to be sensible (as are those on JF) to ensure that they are not being seen as favouring any individual or group of people. There is always going to be a grey area where it is simply a matter of interpretation, but I hope that the mods are able to explain to people why they consider it necessary to moderate or delete any posts they consider to be against the rules of the forum. That said, I understand pressures on their time, of course.
I also agree that there is no point in moderators (on any forum) making too much fuss about what they do, unless there is a general security issue or some such thing. I can't think what that might be, but there might be, for example, a scam going on where the moderators have to warn the naive against divulging their personal details or something. |
Honestly, if bandwidth is such a problem, then all the threads that involve Korean/German/American/ anybody and everybody who has nothing to do with Japanese music should be deleted. Those threads take up more space, and are make no sense when the title of that particular forum is called Japanese music.
If you think it's necessary to cater to people who enjoy bands that have nothing to do with Japan, you should have a forum dedicated to non Japanese music, because as it is now, those groups/bands/people are polluting the JAPANESE music forum much more so than threads that have been inactive. |
The threads about groups/singers from other countries are not "polluting" the forum.
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A Mod is simply someone that enforces the rules... All this talk about gaining respect through communication, participation and friendliness etc with users is all extra. The simple fact that someone takes their time to enforce rules is enough for me to give them their respect. I don't walk down the street and respect only the policemen that have a chat with me. The simple fact that the police exist and do their job is enough for me to respect the whole police force. Before someone says it, this however, doesn't immunise them from the possibility of losing my respect. Break a rule, or abuse your power, and I won't respect you or your work! |
a moderator is like an officer of a forum, thats my POV. They have limited priviledges but with that they also have a huge responsibility. If you fail to uphold your responsibility well, you're a bad moderator...
p.s: Hi, jfers =) |
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mhm. this here is an excellent mod. doing her job well and also keeping good friends and still be respected among members here 8) three gold stars to my lady Nan ;) i just really came to add my 1 cent. P.S Sal, good thread 8) |
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I kindly disagree with this. No offense to you, or to do this in spite of you. I really think that the Japanese Music section should really only be from Asia, not just from Japan. All the other singers/groups from other countries shouldn't be on here, they just cause more spam and stuff on the Music forum. Honestly, if you want to talk about artists from other countries besides Asia, I'd rather people go to the JF chat room that we have, which can be found in Misa's signature. It's not that hard to fix. |
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I'd be fine with it being only from Asia, really, in the music section. |
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._____. No offense, once again, but I think you sort of contradicted yourself, dear. |
or, "General" Discussion can be the new home of the music from other countries 8)
i still think "General" should mean General. since you've already got subforums or whatever for Japanese topics - Japanese Fashion, Music, etc. General should remain General. 8) |
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But then we'd probably have arguments that they'd be polluting the GD as well, so that's why I suggested the JF chatbox because there, everyone can talk about it still without polluting anything on the actual forum itself. |
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A. A forum with our mods who keep JF the forums clean from spam, trolls and pointless threads, but strongly enforce the rules which they wrote even thou some are a little bit absurd, delete threads that do not break the rules and close others even if they're active or have any signs of flaming. or B. A forum with no mods meaning, the forums filled with spams, pointless threads that break the rules, but are active and lively, and few flame wars in serious discussions. A difficult question, but I'd choose anarchy and chaos. |
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Asian music, I could accept it, however foreign music and English music? Nah, they can stay out. Ah well. IT don't matter, neither of us are in any position to change it anyways. |
I was just trying to say that we could suggest it to the moderators of said sub topic :3
In reply to Aniki, I sort of agree with it but don't. The mods can still do their job, but just not be so harsh and give us a little leash every once in a while. Sometimes they're like the really uptight parents that are anal retentive about every little thing, but it's their job and I can understand that. |
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