Moderation

[Thorny]

On Tue, 26 May 2009 13:26:29 -0400, Clay Weber posted:

 On Tuesday 26 May 2009 9:06:45 am Thorny wrote:
[...]
[Thorny}
>> Will this be arbitrary or will one have to actually violate one of the
>> guidelines and what avenue will there be for questioning such a ban?
>> Will it be done in open in the list or in secret? Is there a panel or
>> will there just be one person making the decision?
> 
> This definitely will *not* be arbitrary. We discuss this before making
> any decisions, and I for one not take putting a moderation flag on
> subscribers lightly.
> 
 
Who is this "we" of which you speak?


> I have been using mailing list myself for almost as long myself, and
> there are ones that are fine for this as some lists are/were used  for
> everything under the sun, while others are strictly on-topic lists. In
> Ubuntu we have a huge variety of lists to choose from, and Sounder is
> one dedicated for the OT and the banter and the like. I don't consider
> non-support but Kubuntu-specific topics OT for the most part.
> 

Yes, and I've been using MLs and newsgroups for that long too, but I'm not
arguing against any moderation, I want to know what constitutes a
violation (anyone can understand a spam post being moderated, even though
the list probably wouldn't get another from that address anyway), the
guidelines state to mark a topic OT and yet it seems at least one
"moderator" says that's not enough. The guidelines say don't be rude or
flame, yet at least one moderator uses frequent sarcastic comments to
posters. It isn't easy to follow guidelines when one entrusted to enforce
them seems to be inconsistent with the guidelines. With power comes
responsibility, one needs to leave their ego out of the picture.

Moderation should be done in the open in the list, not in secret, it is
necessary for justice to be seen to be done as well as being done. 


>> You will build the type of community you want, it may, or may not be
>> exactly as you envision.
>>
>>
> The community is much, much bigger than the few of us in here.
>
>

Yes, so what? A community can also be a subset of a larger community
and/or a superset of a smaller one.

My point was that if you include only sycophants and posters who have no
social skills or interest and thus never go OT, you do not have a vibrant
community, it may lack some of the best and brightest troubleshooters and
helpers, often people who have years of experience in helping others with
computer troubles. I've read posts from others who seem to agree with me
on this issue.


[Thorny]
>> I hope arguing with the school teacher and daring to reply doesn't get
>> me banned but I fear it might.
> 
> Don't be silly.
> 
 
You call my fear "silly", then you don't understand how to be a good
moderator either. People's fears aren't silly any more than their ignorant
questions are silly. Moderation here seems to be largely up to the
moderators own personal opinion.