An OPEN letter to KATIE6

And you are surprised, Erica, by the mods not responding because....?

Is there any possibility of having one of us civilian sisters do some moderating? 

I ask because it makes me think of other groups I belong to.  They have moderators, yes, but they are really just members of the group doing the mod job. 

That could be the person responsible for replying to what seems like an overwhelming amount of unreplied to emails (I myself am a "victim" of that-I know that the mods are super busy, but it often takes several repeat emails). 

Just an unformulated chemo-brain thought.  If anyone else is more coherent than I and can actually make something out of the thought, feel free!  

tee-hee Ann!!!  I'm caught! 

That's so oddly ironic.  Someone has been volunteering to assist this very thing for some time, and now it is a big icky issue rearing it's ugly head. 

If I had a clue on how to mod I would offer.  I am so inept in the area of computers it's shameful, though.  

Thanks AnnNYC!  It's a ton of work to be on a moderation team, but if there are enough people on the team in different time zones, it can work out well.  I love the mod team I'm part of - it evolved organically based on skill sets - and I'd be lost without my team, they're my touchstone. 

In any case, I think that there are several long-term (and some newer but strongly committed) members here (who are much more experienced with this board than I) who would make really good moderators. It takes the passion to be deeply involved enough to read a lot and to care, and a commitment to diverse points of view and really talking through issues, and not being personally attached to any one path, just a desire to see a system in place that really works.  Like any good relationship, it's about respect.  And conflict resolution.  And programming - having a great computer geek/board programmer helps enormously.

Anyways, moderating this whole board with just a two-person mods. team - I can't imagine doing that.  It's too much.  What if one person gets sick? Or has family or work commitments?  There's not enough back-up. Plus two people aren't enough to really develop policy and brainstorm.  IMHO.  Plus, if members were able to become moderators, with chemo/rads brain.....it 'd help to have a trusted team!  lol....

I think the whoopschangedmyname idea of "civilian" mods is great!  That does happen on other boards.  It'd be nice if there were an application process, with terms of service (6 mos? a year?) or somesuch.  For that to happen, I think it would require contacting the bco leadership, and my plate is so full right now.  But if someone else is inspired to get the ball rolling for an application process (or some other better solution), wouldn't that be great? 

We used to actually have the "Ignore this poster" feature before the boards changed. Several requests have been made to bring it back which have unfortunately fallen on deaf ears, it seems.

Personally, I think if the mods are "super busy," that activity is happening somewhere other than these boards because they have been MIA for too long. I think their idea of moderation changed to simply being a weekly check in of pm's when the boards were changed to this irksome new format. It really is too big a job for just two people, but as of late, it really feels like we don't even have THAT...

I have noticed the "block this user" button when I click on an individual's user name to see the profile.  I've never used it...so I don't know if it just blocks PM's or if it blocks every post.

Bugs

I posted in the 'request features' section that an ignore feature be added.  It's a lonely post in an echo chamber.  I suspect the people who need it most wouldn't use it, but I could hope that it could help people coexist here more peacefully.  I explored the 'block this user' feature.  Apparently it's just for blocking PM's.  I could still see the posts from the person I selected. 

And fwiw, I would gladly have my username appear anytime I use the 'report this comment' feature.  Clearly, it's inadequate.  I can't count how many times I've clicked on a thread knowing full well that it's spam, but I'm going there to 'report it', only to find that it's already been removed, except that the title is intact with the spammer's website listed.  Numerous requests have been made for the title to be edited.  I'm not sure it's even received the usual mantra of 'we're working on it'.  

In view of what's happened on this thread, the feature is clearly being used to silence an opinion that someone else doesn't like, which is hardly the appropriate use of the report feature.  There's a big difference imo between reporting spam and reporting inappropriate conduct of legitimate users, yet there's only an automated feature to handle both.  I certainly hope the admins are privy to who is using the report feature.  If not, it would simply confirm in my mind one more time that they chose programmers who don't appreciate the nuances of what message boards are like.  

I completely agree with felicia about the style of moderation here, or lack thereof.  I think badboob would make an awesome mod.