Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger ?

I would say hers is being nice to people and you don't really need to be a mod to do that.

Originally Posted by tore

We have enough people who can kick ass. Let's mod someone who can kiss some

Originally Posted by TheBig3

It ends up being a lot of work. The biggest thing you should know about being a Mod if you (anyone) is considering it is that a lot of people go through natural cycles of being engaged with the site, and not being engaged. Mod's with a sense of responsibility will have to fight through the low-points to come here and maintain the site even when they want a break.

We had a Mod who was gone for almost 90% of his tenure at one point, and it was nothing but a death-grip on power. A good Mod in my mind will be fair, slow to take actions against established members, and enforce the rules equally across the board. Moreoever, when they find they can't commit to their responsibilities any longer, they'll step down. That last one is absolutely key.

Being able to change your own avatars is nice, approving your own journals is fun, but if you've ever been here when no Mods are on and spammers are running wild, its pretty ****ty to know 1 or 2 Mods are traveling the globe without internet access but won't step down because of an ego trip.

Edit: I'd also like to add that they should be engaged with the community. I think, like police officers, the difference between being a part of the community, or just overseeing it is a world of difference. When Mod's are active in discussions all over the place, it gives them a better sense of where people's positions are so when someone makes a stupid mistake, its judged in the larger scheme of the constributions and not as a one-off misstep.

Originally Posted by tore

^Or how about, instead of getting a new mod, you guys just make Jans work twice as hard?

I'd like to see him post more.

Originally Posted by tore

^Or how about, instead of getting a new mod, you guys just make Jans work twice as hard?

I'd like to see him post more.

Originally Posted by Plankton

Very insightful. Thanks for really showing me what you all go through. It's more of an unsung hero position than I figured, especially when you need to do your job and get a whacked out ****er that won't go away. I've laid fallout email addys in place before for signing on to not so trustworthy sites, etc. and I can imagine that could go a long way in a mod's world. Common sense can go a long way as usual, salutations to the ones that make the everyday browsing here spam free.

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Big3 is extremely correct on this one.
I'm in that slump right now, but it's mostly because I'm living my real life job almost 24/7 and everything else is sorta becoming peripheral. The good thing about a mod position here is that you can do that and it won't be held against you. Consider the fact that Satchmo is still a mod here and I haven't personally seen him mod anything in over a month, and that's being generous. I'm not just calling him a sacred cow (he totally is), I'm just saying that the staff members place a moderator's value above their output first and foremost.
The positive note is that new mods invariably equal new motivation and new ideas, and the current mods are stimulated by any sort of food on the table and will definitely stir up and contribute to administrative discussions as they arrive.

With that said, it's a flexible position. Really, the main requirement is that the candidate be "right" for the position, and not so much "always available to fulfill the duties of the position".

Of course, being right for a position you never attend to has its obvious disqualifications, but we don't keep a time-sheet or anything.

Originally Posted by Tuna

Didn't sleepy jack get the boot from his moderator position for not doing ****? That's what he told me and I think he was pretty upset with a certain mod for it.