[Omega]

I've been an admin/mod at a few boards, and a poster at several others. Recently I saw a post at ArsTechnica's forum about this exact topic, also noting how Anandtech was quick to delete any unwanted posts. The job of being a forum moderator is commonly under judged. Clearly things get off topic a lot, and sometimes people will spam, use obscenities, or post things either blatantly untrue, or slanderous. The question of where to draw the line, and take action is a big issue, which only leads to another question, of what action to take.

We don't want to make anyone feel unwelcome, or feel they can't express themselves, but we don't want the forum to turn into a massive flame war, or have offensive comments strewn randomly around various threads.

While ideally there'd be no place for a moderator, that’s simply not the case. Strangers, newbies, offensive people, and other miscreants are bound to visit the forums and post unacceptable content. Our loyal members, also, can get out of hand at points, and that's where the moderators come in.

Obviously they can't take a poll of the members to decide what action should be taken. The moderators simply have to take whatever action they see fit, and do so as quickly as possible to avoid further conflict. Generally the moderator will do what he/she thinks best for the community as a whole, but almost always there will be someone, or maybe many people who aren't pleased with the result.

Personally, if I lock a topic, edit someone's post, or take a similar administrative action, I'll leave a message in the thread, and/or for the perpetrator(s) for the reference of anyone who cares to take note of it, and let the people know what not to do in the future.

While it generally annoys me when threads get off topic, I usually won't lock them simply for that reason. While I feel that direct criticisms of other forum members probably aren’t the best thing to discuss in public, I probably won't stop it, unless it gets truly offensive, or complaints are received. I'm generally not going to erase topics that suggest the administration isn't doing its job well, or suggesting the site or its members are below par. And while I say that I generally won't do the above things, like I stated above, the decisions are on a case-by-case basis.

I'm not saying anyone was necessarily wrong here, but I think sometimes people are quick to jump on moderators for actions they did and/or didn't take, and/or the manner in which they took the actions.


As for a few simple requests for the future, try to stay on topic, try to avoid flaming, don't spam, try to resolve issues privately, and if you have any questions about anything, please feel free to contact an administrator or moderator directly via email or private message.