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Derigin
The Mountain Man

Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:25 am
Posts: 5997
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:57 am 
 

PLEASE DON'T BE A MINI-MOD!

What is a "mini-mod," you ask?
A "mini-mod" is a regular user who takes it upon themselves to act like a moderator by asserting some non-existent level of authority over other users.
The actions of a mini-mod may not necessarily be intentional or even detrimental (for example, if the "mini-mod" is providing correct information), but they are discouraged! This includes users trying to police threads, answering others' queries on behalf of the site's staff, responding to questions directed specifically to moderators, or even just demanding the attention of a moderator in a thread (eg. the so-called whiny vigilante). This type of behaviour from our users is NOT WELCOME.

In short, when a regular user interferes with a topic or a situation that calls for a moderator’s input, advice or assistance – by acting like a moderator or authority figure – they are being mini-mods. This behaviour is discouraged! It may seem helpful, but it really is not that helpful.

Let me explain why.

MA is run by a certain set of administrators and moderators. These staff members have a very intrinsic knowledge of how MA operates, what its rules and guidelines say, and what is and isn’t appropriate for the site and for the forums. Collectively, we do not often wholly agree on every action that every other moderator takes, but we respect that each moderator has authority, knowledge, and experience doing what every other moderator does. It works well. We get along. We understand where each other is coming from. And when push comes to shove, moderators often work with other moderators towards consensus, or agreement, or a basic understanding as to the policies and procedures we follow. In short, as moderators we are accountable to each other, to the guidelines and rules set out by MA’s founders, and to whatever dedication we have for MA.

There are many users who have worked on MA, and are incredibly hard-working individuals dedicated to improving it. There are others who are just starting out. Some completely understand how MA works and operates, while others don’t care or only have an incomplete understanding. MA appreciates and respects such users, regardless of who they are or how much work they’ve put into the site. Without you MA would be a shell of what it is today.

With that said, however, we kindly ask that you refrain from acting like moderators, or acting as though you have authority over other users. As a regular user, you are not accountable to MA. You do not necessarily know every policy or stance on an issue that moderators follow, you do not have the enforcement mechanisms to back up what you say, you do not represent MA, the mods or our actions, and you can’t change or rewrite MA by disagreeing or contravening us.

The moderators and administrators all respect the fact that you may simply want to help out the staff here at MA, or that you feel it's your (collective) duty to enforce your own self-perceived notions of dominance or attention. We also understand that many of the questions addressed to us by users can be common sense, and answered quite quickly. We realize that regular users can also pick up on threads that should be closed, or users that ought to be banned. We even recognize that there are hard-working, long-term users who know the ropes and can regurgitate the finer details of MA's rules and guidelines like the best of us. But more often than not by interfering you end up causing more harm than good! It takes longer for us to correct any misperceptions inferred, threads derailed, or users deterred from your attempts to mini-mod, than it does for us to have dealt with the issue on our own in the first place. What might have been a simple issue resolved in moments gets drawn out in back-and-forth replies between moderators and users over misconceptions and frustrations (as is evident in many threads in this forum).

However, that doesn’t mean that you should refrain from helping users when it seems reasonable to do so. Linking a newbie to a thread that they're seeking or should seek is warranted, but then again, making snide comments about how 'idiotic' they are for not knowing better or doing so when that newbie is specifically requesting a moderator's feedback is not warranted. Letting a user politely know where to find MA’s guidelines and rules is fine, but then again, providing your personal opinion about those rules, or making up rules of your own as you try to help that user is not cool.

I suppose the only other thing I want to address is that, for certain threads, leave the responses to users to the moderators entirely. In fact, one thread in particular should be comprised almost solely of questions from users and responses from mods. When a user asks about a rejected band, an accepted band that they believe should be removed, or a band that was deleted, it’s best that you don’t chime in with your opinion as to how and why it was dealt with by the moderator that dealt with it. It’s best not to intervene and tell the user why you agree with them, or why you disagree with them. Leave it to the mods to deal with those. This extends to any thread that asks for moderator feedback specifically, even if it’s a duplicate thread. If you’re wavering towards acting like a moderator, just don’t do it.

Thanks.

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oneyoudontknow
Cum insantientibus furere necesse est.

Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 6:25 pm
Posts: 5343
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:47 am 
 

I would also have an idea:

get more mods and better written rules and a lot of problems would not happen in the first place.
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My podcast:
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GraveWish
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:49 am
Posts: 1392
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:26 am 
 

oneyoudontknow wrote:
I would also have an idea:

get more mods and better written rules and a lot of problems would not happen in the first place.


LOT of problems?!! I don't think so. Judging on the large number of users using and contributing to the site the already active mods are doing great job and the site have already enough mods I don't see why you are suggesting more mods, to do what exactly?

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failsafeman
Digital Dictator

Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 8:45 am
Posts: 11852
Location: In the Arena
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:27 am 
 

The problem isn't that we don't have enough mods or that the rules aren't written well enough, it's that most people who ask questions haven't read the rules in the first place. Most of the problems here wouldn't exist if everyone carefully read and understood the rules we have.
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So the winner is Destruction and Infernal Overkill is the motherfucking skullcrushing poserkilling satan-worshiping 666 FUCK YOU greatest german thrash record.

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DeathForBlitzkrieg
A Dead Man's Robe

Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:23 pm
Posts: 784
Location: Pannonia
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:51 am 
 

http://www.metal-archives.com/board/vie ... hp?t=76150

So that would be reasonable, I assume?
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Evenfiel
Heavy Metal Hunter

Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 9:50 am
Posts: 4619
Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:25 pm 
 

failsafeman wrote:
The problem isn't that we don't have enough mods or that the rules aren't written well enough, it's that most people who ask questions haven't read the rules in the first place. Most of the problems here wouldn't exist if everyone carefully read and understood the rules we have.

Yeah, but we have to deal with that. We'll always have users who don't read the rules.

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oneyoudontknow
Cum insantientibus furere necesse est.

Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 6:25 pm
Posts: 5343
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:08 pm 
 

GraveWish wrote:
[...] the site have already enough mods I don't see why you are suggesting more mods, to do what exactly?

Then why are there over 700 reports pending? (At least when I posted one of mine yesterday)
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oneyoudontknow
Cum insantientibus furere necesse est.

Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 6:25 pm
Posts: 5343
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:19 pm 
 

failsafeman wrote:
The problem isn't that we don't have enough mods or that the rules aren't written well enough, it's that most people who ask questions haven't read the rules in the first place. Most of the problems here wouldn't exist if everyone carefully read and understood the rules we have.
Understanding ... there we have a core problem of the rules. Problems like 'current events' (see the Leviathan issue), translation of names (band, releases, tracklists [official vs. non-official]) ...

and some stuff is even misleading:
Quote:
Do NOT add several versions of the same release,

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=18792
with the releases:
http://www.metal-archives.com/release.php?id=245445
http://www.metal-archives.com/release.php?id=244915
http://www.metal-archives.com/release.php?id=245446

I can go on with this. The rules and the faq are outdated and unnecessary overloaded; see also the discussion here. So, instead of complaining about micro-modding, you should address the core problem of it all.
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https://adsolmag.bandcamp.com/

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Fanfarigoule
Veteran

Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 11:59 am
Posts: 3254
Location: France
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:05 pm 
 

oneyoudontknow wrote:
I would also have an idea:

get more mods and better written rules and a lot of problems would not happen in the first place.

Well, you declined two offers if I remember correctly.

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oneyoudontknow
Cum insantientibus furere necesse est.

Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 6:25 pm
Posts: 5343
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:21 pm 
 

Fanfarigoule wrote:
oneyoudontknow wrote:
I would also have an idea:

get more mods and better written rules and a lot of problems would not happen in the first place.

Well, you declined two offers if I remember correctly.

For good reasons
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My podcast:
https://adsolmag.bandcamp.com/

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failsafeman
Digital Dictator

Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 8:45 am
Posts: 11852
Location: In the Arena
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:20 pm 
 

Evenfiel wrote:
failsafeman wrote:
The problem isn't that we don't have enough mods or that the rules aren't written well enough, it's that most people who ask questions haven't read the rules in the first place. Most of the problems here wouldn't exist if everyone carefully read and understood the rules we have.

Yeah, but we have to deal with that. We'll always have users who don't read the rules.

That's exactly what I was saying; no matter how well the rules are written, there will always be people who ignore them.

oneyoudontknow wrote:
I can go on with this. The rules and the faq are outdated and unnecessary overloaded; see also the discussion here. So, instead of complaining about micro-modding, you should address the core problem of it all.

Micro-modding and the quality of our rules and FAQs are separate issues. The staff is the final authority on site issues, and people new to MA could easily mistake a mini-mod for an actual staff member, which is undesirable no matter what kind of rules or FAQs we have. You were given the opportunity to join the staff and actually have a say in addressing core problems; instead you declined, apparently preferring to sit back and complain, just as you have accused the staff of doing.

Regardless, this is not the place to be arguing about such things.
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MorbidBlood wrote:
So the winner is Destruction and Infernal Overkill is the motherfucking skullcrushing poserkilling satan-worshiping 666 FUCK YOU greatest german thrash record.

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Napero
GedankenPanzer

Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:16 pm
Posts: 8817
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:17 pm 
 

oneyoudontknow wrote:
Fanfarigoule wrote:
oneyoudontknow wrote:
I would also have an idea:

get more mods and better written rules and a lot of problems would not happen in the first place.

Well, you declined two offers if I remember correctly.

For good reasons

Not wanting a staff position here is the best possible reason not to have a staff position here.

Despite the fact that people sometimes seem to view being a mod here as something desirable, the everyday business is actually not very glamorous, and seems to require a certain kind of mentality and character, if the person wants to actually be a useful mammal (to borrow a figure of speech from Nightgaunt) in the running of this place in the long run. Unlike many positions in the real world, there's actually pretty damn near COMPLETE transparency to our dealings and decisions here, and that goes both ways, both to the user base and occasional/regular unregistered browsers, AND the owners and admins. Which, incidentally, is one of the fundamental reasons for the existence of this very thread, if we investigate it deep enough. Most mods take the business here seriously, even if it's just a hobby for -I hope- all of us, and they'd mostly present their opinions and decisions in such matters as band rejection questions themselves rather than correct the guesses of outsiders and even respected metal freaks and such. We are responsible for our work here, and that's something a lot of people seem to forget. In the great outdoors known as the real world, including the fabled corporate world, it's actually quite easy to dodge responsibility for certain kinds of decisions, but here it simply does not work that way.

The admin position here has been gradually turning me into a cynic. I wonder why. Not.
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Derigin
The Mountain Man

Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:25 am
Posts: 5997
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:01 am 
 

Updated the OP to make it more concise.

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