Moderators editing posts

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

What if you make the same mistake over and over again? What will happen then?

First of all, I am not stupid! The likelihood of me repeating the mistake again is slim and if I make the same mistake constantly over and over i'd be fired because that'd make me incompetent.

Which I am not :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by kk.

LOOOL :redface_b
my bad. i didnt realise what you were saying lol

and nick, its pretty obvious how to moderate :P. Expecially if you have done it before :)

Editing posts is simple, the problems occur when judging which posts need an infraction and which don't. Some problems can also occur when actually issuing the infraction, if not carried out properly, the user it was issued to is entitled to an automatic reversal as a result.
I'll give a fairly recent example of such a problem.
Now and again the word 'shiz' gets posted somewhere on the forum, we all know that this word isn't offensive or rude or even vulgar but its unusually close to a word that is all three of these therefore this can be construed as filter avoidance. If the rule wasn't clarified to the Moderators once this issue was raised, a new Moderator may issue an unjust infraction for this which would certainly raise a few flags in the SMod camp. ;)
Yes, previous experience is important when becoming a Moderator but, if you consider the current circumstances, a hacker isn't likely to have had previous experience of moderation on a forum with this many users and 4 million posts because they just wouldn't be dependable enough to be hired let alone maintain the position. :8

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

I am sort of offended from that comment about me not lasting as a mod. There is no evidence of that being anywhere near true, besides, I wouldn't want to be a slave for people who can't operate a normal community. There are no real mistakes in moderating, you have two decisions to decide from every time you read a post. NO one ever said moderating was easy, if you make a mistake you should know what or who you have to deal with. You are dealing with people your age, maybe younger or older.

Even though mods admitted they made mistakes, what is really the benefit out of that? They will probably make the same mistake again, again, again and again until they end up fired. If I were you, I'd fix that grey area since you seem to be defending mod's mistakes.

After being Staff on here for a year and a half I've seen Moderators change and learn lessons once the procedures have been made crystal clear. I had to have a couple of things cleared up after I first became a Moderator and I haven't made the same mistakes again. Now that I think about it I don't ever remember a single Moderator being fired for repeatedly making the same mistake, if mistakes are observed or are pointed out by people they are swiftly picked up on and, once the moderator is warned about them, learns to overcome them.
Also, 'No one ever said moderating was easy', doesn't that contradict what you've typed in direct response to my post? :S

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

I respect you Alex in a sense that you are a good guy but sometimes you dance on my last nerve when you post because you are always trying to find a backdoor to every problem. Why not go forward to find a method to fix this instead of always looking the other way. Admitting to your mistakes is like being given another chance, maybe too many chances most of the time. Moderators a human, we get that...but that isn't the point. If the users want a community that works with proper rules, then they should get it. They should not have to deal with moderators, with smods, with staff but they should have to deal with management because those are the people who will make changes. Why not all the mods bug out of feedback threads so that management can deal with these more closely.

It's not my place to get involved between you and Alex but I would like to point out that such a place does exist, its the complaints section. All threads created in the complaints section are answered by management who will then make changes if needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

They do things in a sense that it doesn't flow with the forum, all of this red text and infractions, it is all just a game to them. They try to be on top of the game on a daily basis. At the end of the day, they end up getting fired because they are too judgmental and will always find a way to use their power to look good in instances where a specific post/thread has no real rule breaking. It isn't their responsibility to be looking for previous rules hidden in the forum someplace. They are given a guide which should be updated every so often.

They do those things so that genuine rule breaking is highlighted for all, especially the rule breaker, to see. This response danced on my last nerve quite a bit too simply because its riddled with assumptions. You don't know the reason why moderators are fired, no one does, unless the ex Staff member tells someone via PM and then spreads the word, this assumption is not a valid argument to base feedback upon. Similarly, you also don't know the specifics of the Moderator Guide. FYI, it is updated frequently. It was updated yesterday, for example. I received a PM explaining the rule changes and why they were put in place. Once again, this assumption is not a valid basis for feedback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

Your job isn't to decide how people perceive the post, it is your job to decide whether it is directly at someone or not. IF someone reports the post, then you will know definitely that the post/thread was offensive to them. That is how mods make the same mistakes repeatedly.

It is not your place to tell a Moderator how to do their job. That's my job. :P
Unfortunately it's common place for people to deliberately avoid reporting an insulting post so that they can have the opportunity to fight back. That's just human nature to want to do that so not all posts are reported when someone is offended and sometimes a Moderator must step in to avoid the situation getting out of hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

Please let us know how you did it that way we don't start to pick up pitch forks and start a riot.

Why do you not trust the Forum Manager to sort out issues related to the very Staff he hired? :S
I am not at the liberty to say exactly how Elkaa dealt with this feedback because its a private matter but I can say that he definitely dealt with it because I was CC'ed a copy of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

I think most mods think they can do the job but deep down, they are awful and can't figure out what the heck they need to do when editing a post that they cannot decide on. That is when abusive edits come in.

That's an unnecessary remark to make about Moderators and is not the sort of feedback we want in here. SMods are frequently PMed about uncertain situations and they are always happy to help and steer them in the right direction. Moderators are often encouraged to do so, in fact, I've been typing out the latest Moderator Report over the last 24 hours and I've said in several of the feedback comments that the SMods inbox is always open. They are encouraged on a regular basis to contact Super Moderators so that mistakes can be minimised. Yet again you've made an assumption that just isn't valid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by :....:mike:....:

You make it seem like knowing the material as a moderator is hard, we all see what mods do. Maybe not the modCP stuff but most of the other stuff and it turns out they spend more time issuing warnings and infractions without re-assessing the issue before taking action. It seems we can all do that without hesitation. So, even if someone hacked minty, it wouldn't be hard to be him. All you do it edit posts.

Actually, unless you've been a Moderator on here, you can't possibly make that sort of generalisation. You see what Moderators do externally which is essentially editing posts and PMing users about minor rule breaking. Internally, there is quite a bit more to it that you cannot possibly know about as you have not been a member of the moderation team. For the third time you've made an invalid assumption that cannot be used as the foundations of feedback. Moderators don't even have access to ModCP which proves that even the assumption that you've made is as flimsy as crêpe paper.
I would also like to refer back to your response to an earlier post that I pointed out as a contradiction of this post. No one ever said moderating was easy? I think you just did. ;)

Well, the truth is that Habbox has had trouble with its rules not being clear enough in the past. It ends up confusing everyone. Somebody should update the rules, instead of assuming everyone remembers an announcement made a back in 2006, when some users weren't even on at that time.

I was edited and warned for saying the common 4chan term, new***. I just don't know anymore.

As you have just proven, that word is filtered and has therefore been deemed as inappropriate for this forum. Just because other forums allow it, doesn't mean we have to. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr.Rdx

I was edited and warned for saying the common 4chan term, new***. I just don't know anymore.

Thats funny, I made a thread on that and they havent warned me yet.