Moderator guidelines?

[Mac900]

OK -- so here's a question for Teddy & Ranilo.

I don't know if the powers that be at DML central designated you guys as moderators all on their own or if your moderatorness was solicited. It doesn't matter really. The question has to do with how moderator power is exercised.

Is locking a thread or disciplining/banning a member a personal discretion kind of thing or are there specific guidelines handed down to you? A couple of cases in point:

Over on the the Rocky Mountain Hooligans club Masked Marvel was banned for his attacks on other members of the group, other DML members and the DML itself. Pretty nasty behavior as explained by Mike Moore and understandable too. Coincidently T-Byrd is no longer a moderator, although still a member in good standing, and the reason given has to do with time and energy commitments. Was that her choice or was it the DML's? Casually interesting.

Today a thread on horsepower wars was locked by DucPainter, presumably because the thread was about to get nasty. Here's the deal on that one though. A few people were bouncing close to the political line but things still seemed to be in control until one guy got real ugly. There was one short seemingly innocuous reply and, boom, thread locked. Why not just tell the one poster that they were way off base with their reply and that there would be consequences if that tone were to continue?

With all due respect, and I have always appreciated DucPainter's comments BTW, sometimes it seems that the trigger gets pulled pretty quickly.

[island_duc]

Hey Mac,

For some reason, I was asked what the club name was and who the mods would be before we got our own link. I "volunteered" myself and Teddy. I reasoned that i'm on here a lot anyway and I don't suspect we'll be getting a lot of volume, so I don't mind. Plus, we all know each other and everyone seems to be pretty level headed, so I doubt we'll need much policing. I volunteered Teddy because he seems to know a bit about web design, graphics, etc. (Teddy correct me if I'm wrong!) which i thought might be helpful. Plus, it seems like he's on here a lot as well. Having said that, if someone else would like to be a mod, by all means, please PM me and we'll see what we can do.

As for the guidelines, I'm sure there's some somewhere, but I wasn't pointed to any link specifically. I'll check into it. I've been a bit busy this week (more on that later) so I haven't really checked it out. I jumped on it when the offer came to set up the link, so I wanted to act on it right away.

For those of us that are off, I hope you have a happy Monday.

[Mac900]

Lordy, lord. It has nothing to do with anyone else wanting to be a Mod, least of all me. I have served my time being on the board of directors/president of clubs in the past and I'd rather have nothing to do with that stuff anymore. I don't mind organizng a small ride with some impromtu beers afterwards but that's about the extent of it.

Nope. I was just wondering if there was a "sub club" of moderators, so to speak, and if you all got together to police the site. I seriously doubt our place would ever need much control.

[teddy037]

there is this over in general... basically a users' guide... I'd imagine that it's up to each mod to take these into account as far as ctrl'ing posts/thds/members.

all I've gotten re:mod hats are flak from you guys and randy [cheeky] so it's not like it's some secret society or anything.

besides, we're only mods on this one local, and we all know each other. so I don't see much action being taken on anybody in here

[spidey]

<pokes head in>

Originally Posted by Mac900

Nope. I was just wondering if there was a "sub club" of moderators, so to speak, and if you all got together to police the site. I seriously doubt our place would ever need much control.

There is a different group of mods with powers over the whole site. The local mods basically run the local boards (where there aren't many problems b/c everyone knows each other). They only have powers over the local board. Basically almost anyone can become one if they ask to set up a local board and volunteer to mod or volunteer their buddy to mod. In most cases, it's just to keep the local board organized (like stickies and stuff). Local mods aren't given any sort of guidelines or anything. They have blue stars on their local board and greent stars everywehre else.

The global mods or the board mods are a different group, and talk amongst themselves often about board/policing issues. They're selected by admin (Jeff & Michael) and have powers over the whole board. The global mod core largely leaves the local boards alone and up to the local mods unless something gets out of control or unless the local mods ask for assistance or advice on a situation (comes up more on the larger local boards).

That said, the DML guidelines govern conduct on the board--both generally and locally.

[elTristo]

That was far too concise an answer. Where is my beloved ambiguity and speculation?

[Mac900]

Originally Posted by elTristo

That was far too concise an answer. Where is my beloved ambiguity and speculation?

Speculation? ? ? Rumor has it that Teddy & Ranilo are on the VerticalScope payroll now > > We get our own club corner, Teddy & Ranilo are designated moderators, VerticalScope buys out the DML --- coincidence? ? I think not...... > > [laugh] [laugh]

How's that for stirring up the pot? ;D ;D

[teddy037]

yes... I must admit... I am quite the corporate whore. ;D

why do you think I never ride on weekends? I'm too busy workin' for the man

[Mac900]

Did you know that "w h o r e" turns into "sleeper" when the post filter is on? [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

[elTristo]

Wow... Mac with the ho joke. My hat is off to you, sir! [thumbsup]