Recent Posting Volume and Other Forum Matters

[Pete-zza]

Peter said in his original post asking for assistance from membership here: "That is also why I try to pay attention to changes in direction of threads and hijacking of threads." All of which has occurred on this thread in spades. I don't think it's asking too much of members to allow some us who don't like the way a thread is going to to voice our concerns and if needed for Moderators to step in and get the thread back on topic, however I bow to the majority, it's your sandbox, but the irony in this instance is not lost on me.
Respectfully, Don

Don,

One of the major challenges for Moderators on this forum is dealing with the explosion of activity over the past few years. For example, by the end of the year, I estimate that we will have a total new post count somewhere between 62,000 and 72,000 posts. Bill and I are the only Moderators who monitor the daily activity of the forum. And, despite the fact that the total time that I have spent on this forum since I joined exceeds the total time of the next six members combined (including you), I still can't get everything right. A lot of things happen when Bill and I are not on the forum, and when things go awry it isn't always possible to undo them when we are back on board. The forum would need someone on the forum 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to be able to do that. Also, it is not a small chore to look at 62,000-72,000 new posts a year, or over 200 posts a day, day-after-day, without letup, 365 days a year, to be sure that they are in the right place in the forum's indexing system and that spammers aren't doing their best to invade the forum and that members aren't beating up each other, as we have been seeing increasingly over the past few months. The reality is that as the forum grows, we get more of everything--the good, the bad and the ugly.

I have often said, including in private posts between Steve and the other Moderators, that I believe that the moderating function of the forum is as important as the content of the forum. It is good, quality moderating that is the glue that holds everything together and, without which, the forum would eventually devolve into chaos. And I don't say this because I am a Moderator. I have see what happens to forums with poor moderating. I have also concluded that not everyone is fit to be a Moderator. One has to have the right personality and temperament and the ability to exercise sound judgment and to act decisively, even at the risk of having to take an arrow once in a while. I thought I died and went to heaven when Bill offered to be a Moderator. If that hadn't happened, I shudder to think what would have happened to the forum. Having seen what Bill can do with food, I hope that someday he will adopt me, although having seen Craig's wine collection and his fondness for the grape, it would be a close call .

Peter

[TXCraig1]

Having seen what Bill can do with food, I hope that someday he will adopt me, although having seen Craig's wine collection and his fondness for the grape, it would be a close call .

I see merit to a trilateral adoption! 

[Don K]

One thing that we did on one of the forums that I was part of, was to have a bunch of "front line" moderators in addition to the admins and lead moderators. These front line moderators would remove the obvious bad posts like profanity, flaming, spam, etc., and quarantine other questionable material for the lead mods to judge. The forum I'm talking about was big, much bigger than this one, and because of the subject matter it did tend to attract a more immature crowd, but something similar could work on a smaller scale.

There are definitely many members here who enjoy adult beverages. It seems that sometimes the questionable posts tend to increase as the night goes on. Everybody handles alcohol differently but sometimes inhibitions wane and people say things that they would not otherwise say.

[TXCraig1]

There are definitely many members here who enjoy adult beverages.

Not me. 

[Bill/SFNM]

There are definitely many members here who enjoy adult beverages. It seems that sometimes the questionable posts tend to increase as the night goes on. Everybody handles alcohol differently but sometimes inhibitions wane and people say things that they would not otherwise say.

To reduce PUI - posting under the influence - Steve needs to install this Google Labs plug-in:

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html
 

[Bill/SFNM]

I see merit to a trilateral adoption! 

Or a reality TV show!

[Pete-zza]

One thing that we did on one of the forums that I was part of, was to have a bunch of "front line" moderators in addition to the admins and lead moderators. These front line moderators would remove the obvious bad posts like profanity, flaming, spam, etc., and quarantine other questionable material for the lead mods to judge. The forum I'm talking about was big, much bigger than this one, and because of the subject matter it did tend to attract a more immature crowd, but something similar could work on a smaller scale.

Don,

I only belong to one forum other than this one and only on an inactive basis, so I don't pretend to be an expert on this subject. Is the forum you mentioned based on an indexing system where every new post has to be examined to be sure that it is in the right place in the indexing system? And, if so, how is the moderating function set up and managed? It also sounds like the volume of new posts is higher than on this forum.

Peter

[Chicago Bob]

Everybody handles alcohol differently but sometimes inhibitions wane and people say things that they would not otherwise say.

Oh now that's just down right discusting.  Icertainly would never even consider doing such a thing. Goodness gracious man !   

[Don K]

I only belong to one forum other than this one and only on an inactive basis, so I don't pretend to be an expert on this subject. Is the forum you mentioned based on an indexing system where every new post has to be examined to be sure that it is in the right place in the indexing system? And, if so, how is the moderating function set up and managed? It also sounds like the volume of new posts is higher than on this forum.

Peter, that forum didn't have any prescreening. The way that it was set up was that each sub-forum had its own moderators. Each moderator would only handle one or two sub-forums and there would almost always be someone online at any given time for each forum. The mods for the slow hours  would usually handle a larger group of forums because of the decreased traffic. There were probably about 30 mods in all. The volume of posts was probably easily 3 times what it is here.

I'd show you the forum but it doesn't exist anymore. Several years ago it was broke up and much of the content was moved to other forums, such as the forums at CDR-Zone.com.

[norma427]

One of the things I have learned over the years is that it is hard to convey humor on a forum. Even when emoticons are used, they can be misinterpreted. For example, a smiley used with the right words might be interpreted as sarcasm or a dig or an insult. Also, some members take what is said literally. For example, I like to tease Norma. However, I have learned that she often takes what I intended as humor as something serious, and her replies show that. I can see how that can happen because I use very few emoticons. For me, it is pretty much the smiley and laughing emoticons. And I only use them when I am actually smiling or laughing. Even then I will sometimes not use those emoticons when I am saying something intended to be tongue-in-cheek or an attempt at wry humor. There are times, even days later, that I will go back and delete a post I entered when, after thinking about it, I concluded that it could have been misinterpreted by the member to whom it was intended, maybe in a hurtful way.

Peter

Peter,

I don’t recall something you posted about me in humor and then my replies showing that I thought they were serious, but maybe I did.  I know I do get mixed-up sometimes on posts and what they really mean from any member. 

I know I have also asked you in PM’s to delete a few of my posts and you took the time to explain how I should think things over before I post.  They were usually that I got off-topic, or I posted something I should not have.  I have also regretted a few posts that I did.  I wouldn’t intentionally post something to hurt someone, but you never know how someone else’s brain thinks.  I think you are right is it is hard to convey humor on a forum and for everyone to think the same thing as what is being conveyed. 

Norma