Thank you to our moderators

Just wanted to say a big thank you to the SE23.life moderators, @Londondrz, @Foresthillnick and in particular @RachaelDunlop.

It’s not an easy role, and it’s also not a paid role (at the moment).

Keeping our forum on track is a delicate balancing act. There will always be instances where some members disagree with an intervention. However, I think our mod team act with respect and fairness, and our culture has gone from strength to strength.

Thank you Rachael, John and Nick

Thanks @moderators I tend to have to be moderated in general categories at times & so I should, so thanks for your hard work

Who moderates @general_politics these days?

ETA this category definitely needs moderation

I too appreciate the work the moderators do, even when I’m the object of moderation (I prefer adoration).

An amazingly prophetic insight from Pauline. Maybe those gob stoppers are actually crystal balls. Based on the most recent exchange in @general_politics it is very clear there is a need for a moderator that isn’t the largest contributor.

I want this too. In recent months I sent out personal invitations to several of the main contributors (all of which have opposing political opinions to my own) but unfortunately none of them accepted.

From day one of SE23.life I aimed to build a moderation team that spanned the full spectrum of political leanings. I have always been keen on “power sharing” although admittedly this will never be fully realised while my company owns the domain name. So, for now, I can only approach power sharing and never fully achieve it. But the effort is sincere.

I differ in political opinion with several key members of this community. It’s sometimes awkward. Especially when debate spills out onto the main forum like this - something which we keenly avoided from the beginning (hence the segregation of the Politicos group).

Two of my own posts were flagged in Politicos in the last 24 hours. Not something that happens every day, I might add, and not something I’m proud of. I opened the admin console and “agreed” with both flags, meaning my posts were collapsed.

One question I’ve been challenged on more than once: Is it acceptable that a forum admin has a political stance on the issues of the day?

Here’s my take - I would first point out that admins of other groups and forums may carry the pretense of being politically neutral. But is any human being politically neutral? We are all influenced by our lived experience and the politics of our parents and friends. The kind of people who run forums are the kind of people who enjoy participating in forums. People with opinions.

That said, I can see the Politicos section of this forum becoming a blog / soapbox and it won’t work in this state. I muted General Politics in order to curb my own input into it and this somewhat helped, but I still “cheat” and dip in regularly. Ultimately it has to be the increased participation of others that balances this section of the site.

I want it to work - particularly in an era where other sites and social networks have abused their moderation tools to control which opinions are allowed to be discussed and which are not.

The precedent established on this forum is that people are free to join political discussion if they want, and they’re free to say pretty much whatever they like in this opt-in area of the website. I tend to post a lot there and I’d love this to be balanced by other people posting a lot. I’d also love others (of different political stances) to moderate Politicos, to make it fair and inclusive.

As you recall I was nominated by @Pauline and after some considerable thought on the matter and through soul searching I decided I could not be a good moderator of politicos. Frankly I don’t think anyone who is a main contributor can capably do that job. But I see your quandry.

Maybe now is the time to hire someone to moderate this particular section. As payment does appear to be in the cards
.[quote=“ChrisBeach, post:1, topic:4377”]
It’s not an easy role, and it’s also not a paid role (at the moment).
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That’s an interesting idea, @starman. Are there such things as jobbing mods? I suppose the objection might be that the forum is a local community and we like to know who our mods are as part of our ethos of transparency and fairness. The counter argument is that Politicos is not part of the SE23-focussed body of the forum, making outside moderation possibly appropriate.

That’s an interesting suggestion and perhaps paying someone for their involvement would make them more dispassionate (and thus neutral). Which is what we need.

I felt that paying moderators might in some way diminish their authentic community involvement, but in Politicos it’s not so important, I guess?

Admittedly the site doesn’t make a profit at the moment, but if I ran several of these sites and implemented some proper tech for handling payments I might be able to offer a small and regular fee for a Politicos moderator operating across all the sites.

You can have both. There is quite possibly someone in part time work or retirement, active in SE23.life and known to the community who for a fee would consider the role.

That should be the job title.

Aside from the good suggestions about jobbing mods, I wonder if we should firm up our community guidelines a bit - perhaps adding some example scenarios to make it clear what’s acceptable and what’s not.

And then have a “Sin Bin” wiki topic in the Lounge category that is used to record abuses of the guidelines. It’s a wiki topic so that all verified members are able to modify it (with edit history tracked).

One or two abuses is fine, but three abuses within the space of a month results in some kind of penalty (a 24hr suspension, say), or buying a round of drinks at the next meetup.

Obviously we run the risk of “Sin Binned” posts creating more disagreement … (was it fair to Sin Bin it? etc)

Have been here a month now and things are getting into order. As I will have a bit more time I will start being more active again. I shall start to be around far more.

It is appropriate for this forum to thank @moderators for their efforts.

They are to be commended for their light touch approach and it adds to the value of their contribution that they do have differing points of view.

Having endured (in that other place) the solitary and anonymous moderation, frequently applied arbitrarily, it serves us well that the team here is known to us and is transparent.

On there, @RachaelDunlop and I often had to IM one another to establish whether our missing messages were being moderated or deleted. She took time to introduce me to the concept of pre-mod (a kind of in-out, in-out , shake it all about process) until it all just became a little too autocratic.

Worth their weight in gold to a good forum.

Aw, thank you, @anon51837532. At the very least we can thank the Other Place for showing us how NOT to mod!

Having seen behind the curtain for a while, I would also join the thanks. The work all of the mods do to keep the forum running and to balance each other’s views on individual items is considerable and very considerate.

Thank you.

I find this site very easy to Mod. Having only worn the hat once makes my job very easy. I think the other mods do 99.9% of the work so hats off to them.

A big thank you to @RachaelDunlop who has moderated SE23.life since June last year and is stepping down today.

Rachael has been a brilliant moderator, keeping the team on form, remaining neutral and fair at all times and shaping the policies that made this forum so successful.

@RachaelDunlop I feel it has all been said before.

But is definitely worth saying again - a good moderator is worth their weight in gold and to echo @anon5422159 's praise you have not been good - you have been brilliant.

The qualities you have brought - along with those of your colleague @moderators - have helped a nascent board bloom.

I hope this does not mean you are off into the sunset a la Fools & Horses and that we will enjoy your presence still.

If we get to meet personally it would be good to buy you a beer.

Always thought of Rachel as the voice of reason also hope we keep seiing her posts on here

Please don’t step down @RachaelDunlop Come on stay just a little while longer at least. Your moderation skills here are so much appreciated & I for one need keeping in check by you.

Can this convince you

“Let’s Stay Together” not the rest of the lyrics, that would be weird. Just you staying as a moderator.

Come on, say yes to staying pleases Mrs - you know you really want too

I too shall miss Rachael’s wisdom and general grown-upness.

Thanks very much to Rachael for her hard work and good sense.

Rachael is one of the best moderators on any forum I’ve been on - thanks Rachael and enjoy your well deserved break!