Petiton: the reformation of the moderator system and new moderators

[panchoman]

Hey guys, i've been talking to w1zzard today about the moderator system and everything, and he asked me to post some of my thoughts here and see what the rest of tpu has to say about them, so me and Jc316 wrote a short little petition about the reformation of the mod system and getting new mods, here you go:

Recently, many moderators(mods) on TechPowerup! forums (tpu) have been inactive and show low activity for the recent few months. And because of this, we have only a few active mods on tpu. We need to have new moderators and a new system in place. I propose that we have a system like this.The inactive mods like Dippy, and DOS need to be retired. They need to be contacted to see if they still want to be mods and if they do, retain the powers for future use. The supermods are fine the way they are, it's a good bunch working it.The normal section mods need to be revamped for better section useage. I have seen mods that rarely visit their sections, mainly because they have no experience in the section.We need more ambitious mods that LIKE the section that they are moderating
We have 13 normal moderators, and I can see only 4 or 5 that are active, that is very uneffective. Half of the time, you can't find a moderator when you need one, which is why I starting this petition. It is my belief that this will help the forums.

Please sign your name if you agree with Jc316 & myself.

[3991vhtes]

Agreed.

3991vhtes

[Hawk1]

Agreed.

Hawk1

[KennyT772]

Agreed.

hell you know who I am.

[Darknova]

Agreed.

Darknova

[SK-1]

Sounds like a great idea.
Agreed
Mr. SK-1 jr.

[regan1985]

agreed!

i only post when i feel the need to

[PVTCaboose1337]

Agreed! I like you guys alot!

[DaMulta]

.................................................. ..........Are you guys really having that many problems?

I read about every thread on the TPU, and I don't see all of the major problems. If one does come up it's taken care of every time.

Name a problem that wasn't taken care of.

[Jimmy 2004]

I can sort of understand what you mean - the individual forum moderators don't seem to have quite as strong a presence as might be expected, although this is partially to do with the big APK vs Newtekie incident quite a few months back. TBH though, are there any real problems with the forums?

Having casual moderating does allow for quite a bit more freedom on the forums, whilst the supermods system helps to maintain control on the rare occasions when things do get ugly.

I agree with you that a slight change in the way things work could improve the forums slightly, but TBH I'm perfectly happy with how they are at the moment, so I don't mind things staying the same.

[lemonadesoda]

Agreed, and here are some suggestions:

1./ Moderators should be "discouraged" from over-posting in their chat participation of threads. Moderators should be there to moderate only, fairly, and if anything, ADD by constructive comment or useful research (as in "expert"). Moderators "over posting" should be reprimanded. Moderators are TPU diplomats, not gastapo.

2./ Point 1. does NOT prohibit from a PERSON who is a moderator, ALSO having a "user" login for their regular forum participation. But there needs to be a chinese wall between 1 and 2.

3./ Forum rules need updating. Its a 2-way thing. What a member can do / cannot do, and when they can be expected to get moderatored, and what "kind of moderation" they can expect, EQUALLY, moderator guidelines should be posted.

TPU is great. But it WAS better. By it's very popularity, it has gotten diluted and needs some re-fertilization.

[tigger]

Agreed,and agree^^

Tigger69

[PVTCaboose1337]

Originally Posted by Jimmy 2004

I can sort of understand what you mean - the individual forum moderators don't seem to have quite as strong a presence as might be expected, although this is partially to do with the big APK vs Newtekie incident quite a few months back.

That was A LONG time back...

[d44ve]

eh, just make me the mod of the mods and I will straighten everything out

[panchoman]

Originally Posted by d44ve

eh, just make me the mod of the mods and I will straighten everything out

do you agree with the petition though?

[imperialreign]

1./ Moderators should be "discouraged" from over-posting in their chat participation of threads. Moderators should be there to moderate only, fairly, and if anything, ADD by constructive comment or useful research (as in "expert"). Moderators "over posting" should be reprimanded. Moderators are TPU diplomats, not gastapo.

2./ Point 1. does NOT prohibit from a PERSON who is a moderator, ALSO having a "user" login for their regular forum participation. But there needs to be a chinese wall between 1 and 2.

agreed. Although, IMO, mods should be allowed to participate just like everyone else, but they need to be able to know when things are crossing the line and getting out of hand, and need to be able to go from 'user' to 'mod' with the flip of a switch.

But, the downside, with full general user rights like everyone else, it increases the "comradery" between mods and other users, which can possibly lead to un-fair or biased decisions later on.


TBH, I really don't see any problems with how this board runs itself (esp compared to other boards), everyone seems to get along fairly well (even the FANbois), and nothing overly explicit or uncalled for (not safe for work) gets posted.

**just a suggestion: perhaps, though, a site wide rule about the fanboism (I know I'm guilty of it, too); but if a post is overly fanboish and uncalled for (minus when someone is just trying to be funny ), especially when another (new) user is asking for advice . . . granted, there's not that big of a problem here because that's partly why I joined these boards - you don't get flamed from a thread for saying "I prefer ATI" or "I prefer nVidia", etc. . . . but, I think to really keep things that way, fanboi spamming and flame wars should be dealt with a bit harsher.

as to the petition . . . meh, I only partially agree with it . . .

[pt]

agreed aswell
and afaik dippy is in the army, so we won't see him until next year

[PVTCaboose1337]

I personally thing we need to write out a list of objectives of which to accomplish.

[panchoman]

Originally Posted by pt

agreed aswell
and afaik dippy is in the army, so we won't see him until next year

well see then we can make dippy a retired mod, a mod will full power, just retired. need a new word, retired doesn't wuite fit but you get the idea. so while dippy is away, we can have a new mod take his place.

[3991vhtes]

Originally Posted by imperialreign

**just a suggestion: perhaps, though, a site wide rule about the fanboism (I know I'm guilty of it, too); but if a post is overly fanboish and uncalled for (minus when someone is just trying to be funny ), especially when another (new) user is asking for advice . . . granted, there's not that big of a problem here because that's partly why I joined these boards - you don't get flamed from a thread for saying "I prefer ATI" or "I prefer nVidia", etc. . . . but, I think to really keep things that way, fanboi spamming and flame wars should be dealt with a bit harsher.

as to the petition . . . meh, I only partially agree with it . . .

I like the freedom of being able to express fanboi-ism

although some times, it just gets plain annoying >_<

[zekrahminator]

Originally Posted by lemonadesoda

1./ Moderators should be "discouraged" from over-posting in their chat participation of threads. Moderators should be there to moderate only, fairly, and if anything, ADD by constructive comment or useful research (as in "expert"). Moderators "over posting" should be reprimanded. Moderators are TPU diplomats, not gastapo.

2./ Point 1. does NOT prohibit from a PERSON who is a moderator, ALSO having a "user" login for their regular forum participation. But there needs to be a chinese wall between 1 and 2.

I understand what you're saying, but one of the main things that makes TPU so popular is the sense that people can wind down and have a little fun...giving that up is a tall order.

[SpoonMuffin]

mods should simply be users with the power to moderate others, they should also be people who are an example of how you should act, who act as they expect others to act, who are an example of the best the community has to offer, and who live by the rules not make up their own and slectivly enforce the rules.

the main problems i have seen on tpu have been mods who make things up as they go and who slectivly enforce the rules, who get offended when somebody says something about them or to them that they dont agree with, threts, banns.

the rules for mods should be as tightly enforced as they are for members if not more so, a mod is an ambasador for the community and should act the part, if they dont they shouldnt be a mod period.

[3991vhtes]

since lemonadesoda isn't at this thread, I call first dibs on zek's badge!

[imperialreign]

I like the freedom of being able to express fanboi-ism

although some times, it just gets plain annoying >_<

that was kinda my point, I think I just worded it wrong.

I mean, it's one thing when someone just says something joking around, and it's rare that flame wars start here over it anyhow. . .

but, a new user asking "which should I buy, HD2900XT or 8800GTS?" shouldn't have to see any bickering between any of us - opinions, performance results, links to reviews, etc is fine, but posts like: "8800GTS cause it pwns the 2900!!!" shouldn't be permitted in that type of thread.

How many of the recent ATI vs nVidia threads that have popped up have de-railed before the end of the first page?

[panchoman]

hmm seems like you guys are calling for a reform of mod rules as well, that can be part 2 of this petition, but someone needs to compile all the mod rules that people are suggesting and put it up, im too lazy atm