Good Moderator Approaches

[stevana]

What do you think makes a good moderator of a subject on this board? We have many and I certainly appreciate them taking on the responsibility. I am just curious about what members think about what a moderator should do and what makes a person a good moderator. Thay have much power as we know - they can make a post by a member disappear and post something instead. What makes a good moderator and why and who is a good or not good a moderator in your view and why?

[Gavvy Cravath]

I am a pretty poor moderator. For that reason, I am trying to get marcinny or lightweight to take over the NP4P section. A guy like bunyon doesn't do that much in his section; the guys go crazy with that section, but he is too busy to take care of it until someone points it out to him. So, yeah, don't follow bunyon or myself as ideal mods.

[stevana]

OK if you say so. But should a moderator be a moderator meaning approach the responsibilty in a way that involves just making sure that one does not violate the rules? I have had experiences where posts of mine have been deleted without them having violated the rules and even recently seeing responses to my posts by a moderator where the "quote" of my posts has been edited. My bottom line question is whether a moderator who approaches the responsibility as a "sheriff" along with being judge and jury is a good way. I admit that my inquiry is prompted by personal experience. I don't think I would be a good moderator because I don't have what I think is the right temperment for it. Shouldn't the requirement for one to be a moderator be a combination of knowledge of the subject matter along with the temperment to not delete or change posts by a member just because the moderator does not like them or has been shown to to wrong or uniformed?

[billyS]

I think Duckman and DaveNJ are model moderators. They have by far the toughest forum to moderate and keep good control over it. Duckman has some very strong personal opinions on some of the topics discussed there but he is always very fair in what he allows, while keeping threads from straying. Duckman is an Excellent moderator. Same with DaveNJ. His most outstanding skill is his ability to keep a cool head when the threads get heated.

Conversely I don't think a moderator should go into a thread, start personal arguments with people then shut down a long running thread just because people disagreed with him. Then on top of that carry over the argument to other threads.

My goal in my Forums is to keep out the bullshit. I will enforce the rules and use my discretion to eliminate bullshit posts that waste bandwidth. That has always been a pet peeve of mine.

[Sidekicks]

Billy's last paragraph says it all. :)

[Gavvy Cravath]

I think Duckman and DaveNJ are model moderators. They have by far the toughest forum to moderate and keep good control over it. Duckman has some very strong personal opinions on some of the topics discussed there but he is always very fair in what he allows, while keeping threads from straying. Duckman is an Excellent moderator. Same with DaveNJ. His most outstanding skill is his ability to keep a cool head when the threads get heated.

Conversely I don't think a moderator should go into a thread, start personal arguments with people then shut down a long running thread just because people disagreed with him. Then on top of that carry over the argument to other threads.

My goal in my Forums is to keep out the bullshit. I will enforce the rules and use my discretion to eliminate bullshit posts that waste bandwidth. That has always been a pet peeve of mine.

DaveNJ hasn't moderated a thing in about a year and a half, Billy, but when he was a mod, he was good at it. Believe it or not, seeker was a good moderator for his baby, the NP4P Forum. His crazy side came out --- with some provoking --- and he lost his Forum. A year or two ago, I never would have written this, but UG misses the GOOD seeker.

Yeah, I scratch my head when some mod shuts down a thread because 5 people point out that he or she is wrong. But I had my demons and can see how a mod could use it as a personal axe against somebody.

But bunyon??? That guy??? He is the WORST MOD OF ALL TIME!

And slinky, allen and UG Staff -- please contact marcinny and lightweight to take over the Off Topic and NP4P forums. Or even seeker...

Be well,
Gavy

[paulbunyon]

I am a pretty poor moderator. For that reason, I am trying to get marcinny or lightweight to take over the NP4P section. A guy like bunyon doesn't do that much in his section; the guys go crazy with that section, but he is too busy to take care of it until someone points it out to him. So, yeah, don't follow bunyon or myself as ideal mods.

Gee thanks Gav. I guess checking my section three times a day for BS doesn't count for much.

[stevana]

What you deleted was in response to your response to my post that I thought was unnecessarily disrespectful to me. A cyber equivalent to a hand shake to you as well. Neither you nor I need to be having these conversations. Good luck to you in your moderator role and a sincere thanks for being willing to take on the responsibility. (Last prize goes to anyone who suggests Billy and I should get a room!)

[Thorn]

Personal quick run down, subject to later editing.

Mandatory:

1) A sense of fair play and a level head. To be neither to fast to annoy others or too easily annoyed themselves.

2) Make time to read the forums they moderate and do their "housekeeping" chores.

3) An ability to communicate directly, always in clear terms but also inoffensively if possible, the policies and posting criteria required by the owners of the site who appointed them.

What is optional but would be nice:

A) Some knowledge of what is being discussed.

B) A willingness to start topics of interest for public discussing, especially when things get slow.

C) A desire that the site should succeeds in its mission, whatever that may entail.

[Slinky Bender]

What do you think makes a good moderator of a subject on this board? We have many and I certainly appreciate them taking on the responsibility. I am just curious about what members think about what a moderator should do and what makes a person a good moderator. Thay have much power as we know - they can make a post by a member disappear and post something instead. What makes a good moderator and why and who is a good or not good a moderator in your view and why?

1) They either encourage or lead by example in the creation of new threads,

2) They either encourage or lead by example in making threads interesting, humorous, or whatever else it takes (except that which would make the thread get moved to The Coliseum section) to get the topic "rolling".

3) They get more posters to post in their section.

4) If they edit a post, they make it obvious in one way or another that it has been edited (even if it's just by having it say something which the original poster never would have posted; sort of in the vein of Larry Flynt's defense against his being sued by Jerry Falwell over an ad parodying him)

5) They diffuse flaming, they diffuse bullying, especially if it's some "clique" which ends up "crowding out" meaningful discussion by not tolerating any other point of view than their own (example: a great review of a high end body rub place getting snide comments of the ilk "You've got to a moron to pay $220 for a HJ" )

6) Gets rid of spam, self posts, etc. and roots out bullshit in general (like shilling, users with 2 handles backing "each other" up to boost their credibility)

7) Stops "group think" (giving the impression that something is only allowed to be talked about one way on this site, like back when - on other sites - everyone would go apeshit when someone even suggested a girl provided BBFS when the guys doing it themselves ); and encourages diversity of discussion (like when someone posts about something which may not be a common practice, and other posters respond with "you re so gay" or other derogatory remarks).

8) Rewards good behaviour and punishes bad behaviour, because whatever behaviour gets rewarded that is what you get more of. So if someone writes a review which is believable and legitimate, doesn't allow posters to make derogatory remarks about the poster of the review, because all that would do is discourage people from writing reviews.

9) By whatever means, gets supply siders to become contributors to their section (as long as they are adding to the discussion and not just looking for free promotion).

10) They keep staff in the loop if they see a problem occurring, asking for a poster to get a "time out" for bad behaviour, etc.

11) They cajole posters to post "the full story" when it looks like they have something interesting thing to say, but only make a vague allusion to it somewhere.

12) They contact the subject of threads who are not board members to alert them of the discussion and encourage them to join UG and enter in on the discussion.

13) They call posters out when they feel they are obviously misleading the members of UG about something, ESPECIALLY if they think it is a "disinformation tactic".

14) They sway conversations where posters have legitimate differences of opinions to keep the discussion and disagreements about the SUBJECT and not ad hominem attacks.

15) They point out rules violations. They identify spammers. They root out shills or stealth "self posters".

more later maybe.

[Gavvy Cravath]

All joking aside, bunyon is a perfect moderator for the "Cheap Thrills" section. He cruises hookers, he is a heavyweight on the bailerina bar scene and he loves going to sleazy strip clubs. He knows the subject matter in his section better than anyone that I know.

[canthelpit]

A big thanks to the "good" mods.

[marcinny]

And slinky, allen and UG Staff -- please contact marcinny and lightweight to take over the Off Topic and NP4P forums.

Gavy, you're very kind, but I am quite busy these days.

I wonder if anyone has thought of RuffToy for the Off Topic section. From his postings, I think he would do a great job with it.

lightweight has of course valuable personal experience in the n4p4 field, which is a strong criteria to support his candidacy.

[marcinny]

All joking aside, bunyon is a perfect moderator for the "Cheap Thrills" section. He cruises hookers, he is a heavyweight on the bailerina bar scene and he loves going to sleazy strip clubs. He knows the subject matter in his section better than anyone that I know.

I strongly agree with this.

PB also validates and encourages valuable posters and even introduces or inspires the introduction of new tools (using google maps to locate sw strolls in NJ comes to mind).

[Gavvy Cravath]

Yes, if anyone wants to take over the reigns of the np4p section or off topic, please contact ugstaff@utopiaguide.com

[marcinny]

Yes, if anyone wants to take over the reigns of the np4p section or off topic, please contact ugstaff@utopiaguide.com

Are you retiring?

[Gavvy Cravath]

Are you retiring?

From mod duties, yes. I have nothing to offer and the more I look at it, seeker was the best mod for the np4p section.

[slipperyhands]

Gavy, I think you did a great job over the years. I agree that Lightweight should replace you. I think you guys may be good friends, I think, so he should take over for you. I do hear that he has a lot more stories then he even posts about. Maybe this would make him post more about his npfp happenings.

[Fates]

Troutman - heavy handed moderator of NYC forums. Tons of censorship this past week in multiple Hiyako Spa threads. I asked him how to contact UG management since this is now becoming a possible monger safety issue with no response but more deletions. Way to keep fellow hobbyists in the dark.

Ever since Hiyako Spa was raided last week he has been deleting any mention of this. I find this disturbing as this board's focus is on the safety and well being of hobbyists, not blind allegiance to paid advertisers or his own ego.

[Gavvy Cravath]

Hey Fates, good question.

[puffin]

The take away on this is not to take this board so seriously. Intel or no intel, it's obvious something happened at an advertiser's establishment. The details are almost immaterial because the response would be the same. --- And that's too bad because damn I am jonesing for a happy ending right now.

[Scott68]

If said "spa" was not an advertiser, would people be allowed to discuss things openly.

I'd hate to think that we must contend with censorship of any kind here that involves places that are liked or disliked by Mods or the higher powers.

How about "the staff", Mods, administrators, start a thread and we can have a more open discussion regarding this matter.

Let's show the hobby community that UG is the place to be.

[Gavvy Cravath]

If said "spa" was not an advertiser, would people be allowed to discuss things openly.

I'd hate to think that we must contend with censorship of any kind here that involves places that are liked or disliked by Mods or the higher powers.

How about "the staff", Mods, administrators, start a thread and we can have a more open discussion regarding this matter.

Let's show the hobby community that UG is the place to be.

Bunyon says this is the perfect opportunity for ***** to comment here.

[Fates]

I'd hate to think that we must contend with censorship of any kind here that involves places that are liked or disliked by Mods or the higher powers.

My thoughts exactly. Over the past few months I have posted long and detailed rundowns of the many providers I have been with at Jewells of New York (formerly Jerrys Office Cherries). An absolutely amazing PSE experience two weeks ago with Indra. Each and every time the entire post was deleted. No explanation, no nothing. There is only so many times I'm going to contribute with this kind of censorship going on.

[loosenutz]

What we think doesn't matter....If ******* was busted, and people here post about it....

However if you read the fine print on the UG EULA.. they UG reserves the right to modify posts/delete etc... and we all click on the check box and join...

They make the rules...

[Scott68]

What we think doesn't matter....If ******* was busted, and people here post about it....

However if you read the fine print on the UG EULA.. they UG reserves the right to modify posts/delete etc... and we all click on the check box and join...

They make the rules...

And open dialogue is good as well.

Open dialogue may lead to more reviews, eventually leading to more advertising.

[Gavvy Cravath]

Fates - there is definitely more than meets the eye here especially with your specific situation. I'll fill you in off line.

[Fates]

Fates - there is definitely more than meets the eye here especially with your specific situation. I'll fill you in off line.

Thanks Gavvy. I'll grab rmankeys one of these days and meet you in the Scandals high-mileage lap dance area. Looks like Troutman needs to loosen up as well. Luckily there's plenty of other places to find the truth (and pussy).

[Gavvy Cravath]

Thanks Gavvy. I'll grab rmankeys one of these days and meet you in the Scandals high-mileage lap dance area. Looks like Troutman needs to loosen up as well. Luckily there's plenty of other places to find the truth (and pussy).

You are a stand up guy and I am happy to know you in real life and not through UG. I think rmankeys will be up to it in a month or two ;)