Self descipline
yamabushi said:
One potential problem with that is that we often may not realize when things have gone to far until mods take some kind of action.
It is much easier to notice the extent to ones own stupidity in hindsight.
Of course some people may just like to create a more lively debate without any intent cause serious problems.
It is difficult to judge exactly what a mod might believe is "taking things to far" since this is a fairly subjective decision. It is thus inevitable that some will disagree with a particular decision, especially since the decision making process is out of necessity not public information.
Another concern I have is that many people may get overzealous in censoring their own posts out of fear of offending a mod in some fashion.
The same attitude could result in a reluctance to PM mods about any problems.
This might lead to resentment that could become a problem later on.
The only solution to this that I can see would be even more detailed feedback as to what kind of posts are unacceptable in public and private, including examples.
This really isn't meant as a criticism, just an observation. I have experience as a mod on other boards and I know there aren't any easy answers to such problems.
yamabushi makes an excellent presentation of issues.
Likewise, it is beneficial to hear from Moderators with their views.
1. Moderating posts and conduct is not easy, but it is necessary
2.
Self-discipline (regarding the rules and common sense) is indeed not always easy in the "heat of the moment" because threads are built upon "reactive" replies and statements, often with a sense of humor, rather than being "objective". Unfortunately, our being too reactive can get messy very quickly. Trying to "deal with an issue" through Humor does not always work as well as a inviting a Moderator to "observe" a thread that is getting out of hand
3. Everyone is usually very RELUCTANT to "rat" on someone, unless the infraction is obvious. Often we can moderate ourselves, but sometimes things get ugly and contentious
4.
When to "rat" on a "post" or "poster" is not always clear...until
hindsight makes it abundantly clear and then only in retrospect.
5. As
yamabushi wisely points out, there is not only a reluctance to "rat" on someone else, but when there are
unexplained actions by Moderators, this can have a "chilling effect" on (a) participation, (b) ratting on someone
ever, thereby discouraging the discipline process (c)
blowing the whistle when a thread gets unintentionally contentious for fear that if the "wrong Moderater" gets involved "bannishment" and other pentalties will be meted out to everyone in sight, including the "whistle blower" him/herself. Who wants to bring the "wrath of Kahn" upon one's self?
6. There appear to be a few "sacred cows" within the forums who seem to be impervious to any descipline by certain moderators regardless of their history of negative posts and baiting words under any reasonable circumstance. Since it seems impossible to get their behavior controlled or modified,
good threads can be ruined for members with
positive attitudes by a
few negative posters.
Therefore, it does seem helpful when Moderators can take the time to
a. alert everyone in a thread that posts are getting out of hand, and sometimes stating specifically "why" or "what" needs to change
b. make reference to Rules (URL with a ##) can help, if not actually quoting them specifically (even then a reference is helpful, reading them again never hurts)
This is the best Mac forum around and the vast majority of members are very helpful, usually very kind, and have positive attitudes, including all the hard working Moderators (I'm convinced that
arn never sleeps and is always vigilent for us).
With a unifying interest in everything Apple, I never cease to be amazed at how multi-national/lingual the MacRumors worldwide membership is, yet how literally "next door" some of us are to one another. What's exciting is how well the internet (forums, instant messaging, iSight, etc.) has shrunk boundaries. Although I may think I have "the answer" to someone's Mac problem, I constantly learn about other solutions (often even better than the one I'd thought was perfect) from others, sharing is truly wonderful.