Moderation

[pax 0]

I think we need to revive this topic; it died (understandably) when the big crash happened.

VJ needs more active moderators. Period. Captain Ewok does a great job, but these fora are far too big for one person to handle alone. I'm not going to pretend I, or anyone, has a single easy answer to how the issue should be attacked, but the fact is that too many threads are allowed to devolve into pages of shitstorms and threads are posted wherever users feel like it and are never moved for better organization and accessibility.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8022 is a great example. Why on Earth is this in the K-1 forum? It has nothing to do with K-1 visas. As well, we've had an awful lot of drama around here lately that could have been contained more quickly if there were more active moderators.

More active moderation will help to create a more civil, user-friendly, and organized atmosphere here. The fora are too big and too busy for Captain Ewok to control alone. This is not a knock on him. No one should expect that kind of output from one lone volunteer individual.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

If you make me a moderator I will ban everyone. That should solve the problem.

[gimygirl 0]

iasked and suggested many times before as well ... one can only bang their head against the wall so often.

*shrugs*

[Kajikit 65]

The powers-that-be decided that member-moderators was a Bad Idea because they were personally involved in the issues (and had their own dramas) and wouldn't be impartial enough... personally I'd think that the answer is to have moderators who are at or near the end of their immigration journey - they're familiar with the board, they know the ropes and enough of the 'tricks of the trade' to help people out of jams, and they can look at a post and decide where it would best fit. And they have to be people who don't do flame wars! There are a bunch of people who fit the bill here...

[TracyTN 237]

Couldn't member mods at least have the capability to move threads (just not delete or lock them)? Dunno if that kind of 'power' can be limited or not.

[rebeccajo 14]

I think its definately needed. But I don't know how you pick them. It's hard not to get wound up and be impartial sometimes.

Maybe like kajikit said...people near the end of their visa journey. And then maybe after a bit of a cooling off period. I know I still get too wound sometimes to see straight...but that's just me.

[Captain Ewok 1,857]

My thoughts before were to make a new group to organise things (only) with powers only to be able to move topics to the correct forums. This would reduce clutter. There would also not be any chance of bias.

That aside, how much need is there for additional control of unruley posts (members)?

[Fuzzness 2]

My vote is for Agent Smith. I like his no nonsense approach.

But yes, it would seem to be beneficial to have some senior members to have the ability to move threads.

But Captain Ewok does do a fantastic job.

Edited April 3, 2006 by Fuzzness

[Marilyn. 340]

yeah, I vote for some more mods that only have the power to move threads and can help organize stuff...

as for unruly members or posts... they don't happen that often

[Captain Ewok 1,857]

I have added the new group. I will be adding some people that can now move posts only. That is the only thing that will be different from a normal member account.

[Marilyn. 340]

[rebeccajo 14]

Sounds good.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

... how much need is there for additional control of unruley posts (members)?

Little to none. This being a message board and all, there is some unpleasantness but nothing that warrants more moderation. You are never going to be at the point where you have a message board where no one's getting upset over something. That shouldn't even be the problem. I'd approach this with one criteria only - are the immigration fora still a good place to exchange information about this process? Is there a single user or group of users that are systematically hindering that? If not, there is no real need for mods.

No matter what some people say, I suggest we all resist the urge to micromanage.

JMHO, of course.

[Dixie_Peach 1]

[Kajikit 65]

Post-movers sounds like a good idea to me... cause people can get more useful information if their questions are in the place where people are going to look for them!