contacting a moderator

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:53 PM

Jeri's right - if you want to talk to somebody, you can talk to me (although I don't believe I have "outed" anybody who hasn't already identified himself or herself as a volunteer moderator). If you need a second opinion, contact Max or Jeff. Why should you need a whole list of everybody who does everything here? When you buy a beer in a tavern, do you have a right or reason to know who washed your glass? Can't you just look at the glass ourself and decide whether it's clean?
That's one of the reasons why we've stopped allowing threads discussing our editing policy. There's no way we can answer all questions publicy or keep everybody happy.
Therefore, I'm closing this thread. If you have further questions, contact me privately.
-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]

footstompin.com seems to have similar issues

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:52 PM

Jeri,moderators have power ,therefore people will treat them differently.
the good reason that they should be identified,is that everyone then knows,that these people enjoy a privilege,that they are not ordinary mudcatters,they are people who are not likely to be suspended from mudcat.,that can say what they like without consequence.

Not true, I have had my wrist slapped by Joe for what he considered an improper post. So your your concept of the 'Untouchable' moderator is a figment of your imagination. Mudpiskie

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Jeri
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:41 PM

Somebody else once wanted to know who all the moderators were, and that request was denied. I think they're pretty much known and Joe just outed one who wasn't. There's no good reason to identify people. To complain about them, to complain TO them, to treat them differently, maybe. But no good reason.

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Megan L
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:40 PM

Why do we need to know any of them apart from people being nosey or wanting to make life difficult for them.

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:22 PM

That's the page I always have open kat
G

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Muswell Hillbilly
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:20 PM

I fully agree with the Capt. in all fairness.

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:15 PM

Other than Max and Jeff (who do more tech stuff than moderation), I'm the only moderator who has a Mudcat e-mail address. You can ususally tell if I'm here. If I'm not, watch for posts from our volunteer moderators - people like Big Mick, Jeri, Bill D, Katlaughing, Giok, and others.
who are the others?.
I think it is only fair that people know who all the moderators are.

---

Those are most of the active moderators who handle day-to-day problems. There are others with editing privileges who handle other matters. If you have a problem, I'm the person to contact. I'm your one-stop source of information. If you want a second opinion, contact Max or Jeff.
-Joe Offer-
[e-mail].

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:05 PM

Besides which it is pretty fast and easy to first check "messages since last visit" and see what may be trouble or not. I think most mods do that.

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 01:05 PM

Also, most problems reported in the Help Forum, were already resolved by the time moderators saw them in the Help Forum. The Help Forum made us spend a lot of time tracking down problems that had already been fixed, or dealing with perceived problems that really didn't need to be fixed. If there's a problem that hasn't been fixed in an hour, contact me and I'll respond - I may not respond in the way you want me to respond, but such is life.

I get an endless stream of requests to intervene in those long, contentious threads that the Brits seem to take so seriously. Frankly, I have to say that I ignore or deny most of those requests. When a large number of messages in a thread are contentious, there's no way for us to fairly pick and choose which messages should be deleted. In cases like that, we let the thread continue until it gets out of control, and then we close the thread. Unless it's an unusually contentious subject, people are free to start a new thread with a more civil tone. The old, closed thread is still there for people to refer to, so nothing is lost. Therefore, I tend to be deaf to those who kick and scream about a thread closure, since I consider it to be a reasonably mild action.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: MMario
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 12:41 PM

we had one (The mudcat helpdesk) - it was abused and closed.

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Wesley S
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 12:40 PM

But it would seem effective to have one message center that all of the moderators could check when they got online. That way the first available moderator could check a situation to see if there was a problem that needed attention.

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 12:35 PM

Hi, Tom -
In general, we moderate as a group, and the editorial actions of individual moderators are not identified. We find it helps reduce the manipulation of playing one moderator against another. Moderator comments are highlighted when they are added - you'll see that they are in a different color from the text of the message where they appear. In general, we tend to limit our comments. If you have a question about an editorial action, I'm the person to contact, since I am the Official Public Contact Person.
Also, please be advised that we generally do not allow discussions of editorial actions in the Forum, because there's a lot we moderators can't discuss publicly. If you have a question, ask privately. It's much easier for us to give an honest answer that way. I often hear complaints that Mudcat editorial actions are arbitrary and inconsistent and unfair. I suppose it's true that every human decision has elements that are arbitrary and inconsistent and unfair - that's life.
Maybe people will understand our editorial policy better if they understand that our philosophy of moderation is functional and responsive, not disciplinary. We do not allow personal attacks - but we do not review all messages and evaluate them for content. We're most likely to delete a personal attack if the person who is the object of the attack complains directly to me in a personal message or e-mail, and gives specific information about the particular message in question. Most of the complaints I get are more vague and general, and there's not much we can do about them. In general, we try to leave things alone here. When things get contentious, we tend to tighten up on moderation. When things are peaceful, we lighten up. I suppose that could be considered inconsistent from some perspectives - but from a functional perspective, our moderation is very consistent. When things get hot, we try to cool them down - that is our guiding policy of moderation, and all other considerations are secondary to that. Despite what some people may say, I see very little unfairness in our moderation. Very few messages are deleted simply because a moderator disagrees with the ideas stated, and I have seen very little favoritism in the practices of our moderators. They all know our policy: that moderation is to be done only for one purpose - to keep the peace.

-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: GUEST,Tom Bliss
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 12:30 PM

Would it be possible for moderators always to identify themselves as such when they are moderating a contentious thread? It's all very well speaking softly, but if no-one knows they also carry a big stick their words may be lost in the melée.

Tom

Subject: RE: contacting a moderator
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 12:19 PM

I'm the Public Contact Person, so the best thing is to contact me by personal message or e-mail. I'm usually able to respond in a matter of hours, if not immediately - and most problems here are not immediate emergencies (or if they are immediate emergencies, we tend to notice them ourselves).

Other than Max and Jeff (who do more tech stuff than moderation), I'm the only moderator who has a Mudcat e-mail address. You can usually tell if I'm here - Click on my name in any message I've posted, and you can see when I posted last. If I'm not, watch for posts from our volunteer moderators - people like Big Mick, Jeri, Bill D, Katlaughing, Giok, and others.

I confess that I was on vacation June 15-30. I was in Portugal, Spain, and France - and I stayed offline because Internet service was too darn expensive in my hotels, and because I was having too much fun to bother going online. I had free Internet in every motel when I drove around Lake Michigan last year, so nobody noticed I was away from home. I've found it's not a good idea to publicly announce my vacation plans in advance.

-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]

Subject: contacting a moderator
From: Mo the caller
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 12:13 PM

If we see a post we don't like we can complain to a moderator. E.g. send a pm to Joe.
Is there some other way so that the message gets to whichever moderator is available and isn't on holiday?