Ground Rules

[heyjude]

I think we need to establish ground rules for our new board.

Such as...

1. What kind of power do we give our mod?
2. When do we want things deleted by the mod?
3. Are we happy with the current mod? Should we hold a mod election?
4. Can people pimp their etsy's in their sig?
5. Swear words?
6. Etc..

ME:

1. The mod's power should be constrained by the powers we give him or her. She or he can't act outside of our guidelines. Much like congress and the constitution! The board has the power to impeach current mod and elect a new one if current mod let's power go to his or her head.

2. Mod deletes should only occur if personal information is revealed.

3. Yes! I don't need an election. Pixy does a good job.

4. Sell away! But corporate hacks (e.g. HeatherAtPampers should be chased off).

5. Fuck yeah!

What do you think?

[overture]

1. I agree with the above.

2. Power to remove posters' personal information, power to delete obvious spam posts/threads, power to ban posters impersonating others with malicious intent. Deleting should happen only when the safety or anonymity of a poster is at risk (anonymity based on what information posters reveal about themselves - but if someone is posting identifying information about a poster without their consent, it should be removed).

I think we can handle NSFW images if they're not spam. I think we can police ourselves on this one. I don't see anyone posting straight up porn unless its being discussed.

3. I like Pixy

4. I think pimping your blog or etsy shop or your website is fine...pimping other people's creations for profit isn't so cool. I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually done that. Basically, work you pimp should be your own creation. (I guess this is the opposite of TN policy?)

ETA: I like what PP said - if you want to pimp, do it in your siggy, not in a thread.

5. We're adults. When someone's language steps over the line, posters will let them know.

[smock]

There's been discussion on the mod board of taking sbp's text and opening it up for suggestions and input. I think we should make it an announcement (maybe wait til Monday though) and hash it out so that people generally agree on the "rules."

That being said, there's no reason for individual boards not to make their own agreements with their mod(s). I have vowed to TIP that I will only use my powers for evil, for example.

[pescalita]

If there have to be rules (and I begrudgingly agree there do), I think they should be extremely limited. I like SBP's list.

Mostly my opposition to rules is around subjectivity, maybe that comes from TN being so subjective. IMO, subjectivity discourages new members and ideas and favors cliquish behavior among regulars, as the mod is inevitably a regular.

I like pixy, and I think she's fair (not perfect, who is?).

Going with heyjude's idea of a constitution, how about a poll to pass the rules once drafted? Must be posted for a certain period of time, and must pass by a certain % (75?).

ETA: Also, I'm sure I could figure this out myself, and I'm sure I agreed to TOU, but anyone want to indulge my laziness and find the proboard rules?

[heyjude]

I have to say that I find it weird that this community is barely 72 hours old and we already have a locked mod board. I think that's BS, honestly. We are witnessing the big bang here and everyone should have a seat at the table. There's no reason why 5-10 people should already hold all the cards because they happened to say "pick me" first.

[smock]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the mod board is automatically created by proboards. I'm not really sure what you mean by saying the mods hold all the cards--there haven't been any decisions about rules or powers and I certainly don't think the current mods should decide anything unilaterally.

Most mods seem to be direct transplants from the mods on tn, but boards should be picking their own mods IMO, whether by vote or some other way.

There have already been a few occasions where we needed mods--about eight or so threads have been reported and I believe there was a posting of personal info that got shut down. But again, I think as a community we should agree on standards and that should be a transparent process, since that was one annoying thing about tn.

[heyjude]

May 12, 2012 17:03:18 GMT -5 smock said:

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the mod board is automatically created by proboards. I'm not really sure what you mean by saying the mods hold all the cards--there haven't been any decisions about rules or powers and I certainly don't think the current mods should decide anything unilaterally.

Most mods seem to be direct transplants from the mods on tn, but boards should be picking their own mods IMO, whether by vote or some other way.

There have already been a few occasions where we needed mods--about eight or so threads have been reported and I believe there was a posting of personal info that got shut down. But again, I think as a community we should agree on standards and that should be a transparent process, since that was one annoying thing about tn.

Fair enough. But does the mod board need to be locked?

[smock]

I actually don't know if it's possible to unlock it. Sadly it's very boring--mainly requests for new boards. I was hoping there would be a lot more back room dealing, like political conventions circa the 1950s, but instead it's all administrative stuff.

[heyjude]

May 12, 2012 17:16:35 GMT -5 smock said:

I actually don't know if it's possible to unlock it. Sadly it's very boring--mainly requests for new boards. I was hoping there would be a lot more back room dealing, like political conventions circa the 1950s, but instead it's all administrative stuff.

Lol.

[heyjude]

May 12, 2012 17:13:23 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

May 12, 2012 16:52:18 GMT -5 heyjude said:

I have to say that I find it weird that this community is barely 72 hours old and we already have a locked mod board. I think that's BS, honestly. We are witnessing the big bang here and everyone should have a seat at the table. There's no reason why 5-10 people should already hold all the cards because they happened to say "pick me" first.

Actually, I disagree. IMO, representative democracy is a really good idea on a forum with 11,000 users. I don't think we need everyone's voice.

A good democracy has sunshine laws!

[dylanite]

It's nothing personal to Pixy, but I think we need a list of willing mod candidates and to vote from there. The association of the mods here to the nest doesn't sit quite right with me, although I'm not passionate about that discomfort. I just think it'd be overall best to know we voted for whoever the mod is to avoid any sort of resentment with Pixy (or whoever).

Oh, and fuck censorship up the asstwat.

[pixy0stix]

FWIW, I was voted to be PCE mod on the nest when MD stepped down.

[ESF]

May 12, 2012 16:49:46 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

I just remember that one of the *other* obnoxious things about the nest was having a real question about what something was or why something was happening, trying to page one of the nest gods, getting zero response, and then three days later having bumpkathleen post a thumb-tack post inviting everyone to enter some advertiser-sponsored lottery where you would win a year supply of dry onion dip mix and all you had to do was post a picture of your H and tell a funny story about the last time he farted during sex... that would be then posted in the next magazine.

But I digress...

x 1000

I think sbp's suggestions are good ones. I think a small number of moderators are a good idea. But to avoid the power being concentrated in the hands of a few, I'd suggest something like this --

1. Every board can vote if they want one or two moderators.
2. Boards can choose their own moderator anyway they wish, and can choose to replace their moderator at any time.
3. No moderator may moderate more than 2 boards at any given time.

I like pixy and think she's a great moderator. I think it might be helpful to have a second person for when she's not around. I have no interest in the job, and think plenty of people around here would be great.

[dylanite]

May 12, 2012 17:50:51 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

FWIW, I was voted to be PCE mod on the nest when MD stepped down.

I know. But I said it's the association with the nest that makes me prefer to have another vote.

ETA: Also, a mod position here, I would think, holds a different sort of 'power' than the mods on the nest. I just think it's always safe to resort to a vote. But i'm a true American like that.

[ESF]

Also I love me some pixy but if a moderator election would result in the awesomeness that was the previous PCE election, then I'd be all for it.

I volunteer myself as campaign manager for anyone who wants to run.

[pixy0stix]

Just from personal experience, I would not want an open mod board. There's nothing shady going on, but sometimes there's discussions on how best to deal with a situation. Or a general cry for help should something happen. If you have an open board, we'll have 100 different opinions and may try to solve the problem on their own (vigilante justice). So yes, there's an amount of trust that you have to put in the mods to have your best interests at heart.

[pixy0stix]

As for a small amount of mods, I don't think that's possible in this type of format. Each board has it's own moderator that only has moderator powers on that particular board.

The next tier up is a global moderator (I think that's the term) that has mod powers on all the boards, and some administration powers such as creating boards. (Y4M is such a mod.)

Then you have the Administrator that has full power (ellie).

While it looks like we suddenly have a ton of mods running around, that's not exactly the case.

I'm completely open to having an election for mods, and I agree that we need 2 mods as no one can be online all the time. (Also? I didn't cut off lucillebluth's head, I know mesh has to have been wondering.)

[heyjude]

May 12, 2012 17:57:07 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Just from personal experience, I would not want an open mod board. There's nothing shady going on, but sometimes there's discussions on how best to deal with a situation. Or a general cry for help should something happen. If you have an open board, we'll have 100 different opinions and may try to solve the problem on their own (vigilante justice). So yes, there's an amount of trust that you have to put in the mods to have your best interests at heart.

How about a public records act for the mod board? We can't participate but we can see?

[pixy0stix]

May 12, 2012 18:09:18 GMT -5 heyjude said:

How about a public records act for the mod board? We can't participate but we can see?

But that would spawn spin off threads on several boards that the mods would have to participate in.

[taratru]

I'm just jumping on sbp's coattails.

[druidp]

Or if people are really that worried about knowing (or being told) what's happening on the Mod board, Pixy could post minutes of the finer points.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. It's not like I'm paying to be part of this shiz, I don't look to this board for my salvation or political representation, and if I do get banned even for no good reason, I can always create an AE or even post as a Guest. Andplusalso, I think we've all shown that we don't put up with bullshit from a mod when it comes to basic board etiquette.

[Knight]

May 12, 2012 16:49:46 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

May 12, 2012 16:40:06 GMT -5 smock said:

There's been discussion on the mod board of taking sbp's text and opening it up for suggestions and input. I think we should make it an announcement (maybe wait til Monday though) and hash it out so that people generally agree on the "rules."

That being said, there's no reason for individual boards not to make their own agreements with their mod(s). I have vowed to TIP that I will only use my powers for evil, for example.

My only other suggestion would be to post the community standards (whatever they may end up being) as a permanent thread on the front page of the GBCN board and then let people use it to also ask questions so that it becomes a kind of FAQ thread as well. Is that a bad idea. I just remember that one of the *other* obnoxious things about the nest was having a real question about what something was or why something was happening, trying to page one of the nest gods, getting zero response, and then three days later having bumpkathleen post a thumb-tack post inviting everyone to enter some advertiser-sponsored lottery where you would win a year supply of dry onion dip mix and all you had to do was post a picture of your H and tell a funny story about the last time he farted during sex... that would be then posted in the next magazine.

But I digress...

I love your digressions. Also ditto everything you said in this post and the previous one. (If I make some typing errors it's because of my new laptop. This keyboard is funny and I need to get used to it.) ;D

[EllieArroway]

I can't post a lot right now but I am thinking we should start a thread on each board taking mod suggestions (maybe volunteer only so it's only people who want to be considered) and then a few days later post a poll with all the names and let people vote for two. The top two become mods. We can also establish a protocol to vote out/replace mods if necessary.

[EllieArroway]

I wish I had admin powers from the app! We should make this post an announcement so all of the boards can weigh in

[pixy0stix]

May 12, 2012 18:45:10 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

I wish I had admin powers from the app! We should make this post an announcement so all of the boards can weigh in

That's the other thing, if someone is going to be mostly mobile, it's going to be hard for them to mod.

[gpw]

I don't know. I really don't think it's that big a deal. I don't need to know what goes on in the mod boards...seems a little pointless to me. I don't think there is going to be some sort of power hungry scheming on there.

As to the mod....again, not a big deal. Pixy hasn't exactly thrown her mod weight around before, I think she can be trusted to continue in the vein making a vote unnecessary, in my opinion. I do, however, like the idea of having more than one. One person can't be here all the time...sometimes they have to prepare for the zombie attack.

[broc]

May 12, 2012 18:56:54 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

That's the other thing, if someone is going to be mostly mobile, it's going to be hard for them to mod.

Do you really forsee there being so many instances of people posting kiddie porn that any semi-active poster who's promoted to moderator couldn't just swap from the app to the browser on their mobile device, or sit down at a computer?

I do think a couple really active globals who could be paged if there's an immediate, really heinous issue would be a good idea, but overall I really think that despite what the nest says, we can act like grown adults. Or at least, grown enough adults who won't post peoples' addresses. Namecalling is fine. heh.

[pixy0stix]

May 12, 2012 19:06:34 GMT -5 gpw said:

...sometimes they have to prepare for the zombie attack.

amen.

[pixy0stix]

May 12, 2012 19:10:44 GMT -5 broc said:

May 12, 2012 18:56:54 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

That's the other thing, if someone is going to be mostly mobile, it's going to be hard for them to mod.

Do you really forsee there being so many instances of people posting kiddie porn that any semi-active poster who's promoted to moderator couldn't just swap from the app to the browser on their mobile device, or sit down at a computer?

The instances where I've had to do anything (other than spam) it needed to be right then and there.

I didn't mean to imply that someone who checks in mobiley (? is that a word?) can't mod. However, we're going to have users whose sole or main access is from their phone.

[MrsAxilla]

I might be interested in being a mod. Since becoming a trophy wife, I'm not in charge of anything and I AM power-hungry.