Anything you'd like to ask the mods?

Not a thing, I think you guys do a great job and I never take offense if something I write is modded. Being an uber verbose type and a right brained, rational, yet abstract thinker, well…I fully accept my occasional off in left field ramblings that are prone to being modded from time to time.
I am a very easy going personality, and have nothing but good will towards all of you. :-)

I’m happy. I get banged when I cross the line and it’s cool. Good job, guys.

Which is your favorite ice cream flavor? Do you prefer gelato?

Spamoni.

Mmmmm…Spumoni

Yeah, spamoni is like spumoni, but with little bits of spammers mixed in.

Boxers or briefs?

Used to be briefs, but since having the stick rammed up my ass at my mod induction ceremony, I find bowers more comfortable.

PhiNotPi has been tweaking things around here lately, like the account flagging, ask the mods and he tried to fix the avatar issue that people experience with tablets and mobile devices. I find this awesome.

So while I can’t actually think of any technical improvements that should be done on here, I do wonder if any of you guys have any plans to add/work on more? And if so, what?

Also, do you guys like pillows?

I’d like to tell you that we have some 5-year strategic development plan, but the fact is that Phi just hauls off and fixes stuff pretty much on his own. We wake up one day and find some cool new tweak. Aside from the stuff general users see, he’s done some nice improvements on the mod interface as well.

Maybe he’ll chime in here at some point and tell us if he’s got something up his sleeve at the moment.

Pillows are life

I might suggest though that @thorninmud and @PhiNotPi create a conjoined mod called MudPi. lol

If you could change one thing about the moderation rules here, what would that be?

And, for the record: Good job.

@Coloma Best. Idea. Ever.

Who let the dogs out, who, who, who?

I just realized that, when I think about the mods, I imagine them all sitting around a shiny oak table, discussing their decisions.

@longgone “If you could change one thing about the moderation rules here, what would that be?”

Well, you may remember the perturbation a few months ago surrounding Fluther’s rule against proselytizing (specifically what kinds of activity that rule precludes and how it should be enforced). A whole lot of confusion and hard feelings resulted from that.

It has been very hard to know what to do with that mess. I’m pretty sure we don’t want to throw the doors open to proselytizing here; but where each of us draws the line between “proselytizing” and championing a cause varies a lot. It’s extremely hard to draw a hard line in that ambiguous sand, and people demand well-defined lines.

So I don’t quite know what exactly the change would be, but that’s where I see change being needed.

Is it true that now whenever we address a mod we have to use “Sir” or “Madam”?

“Eminence” is the preferred gender-neutral form of address.

Do you each know when another mod is going to be on duty or is just catch as catch can? I know you all have busy schedules but wonder if a rota is set up at all.

Also, any way to recruit more mods to fill in some of the gaps? And no, I am not volunteering. I have enough tsuris already!

But basically, I think you guys are great and really appreciate all you do. Thanks for all the fish!

@thorninmud GA. Thanks!

@janbb Frankly, we have no idea which of us will be around when. We just do what we can, when we can.

Yes, the possibility of beefing up the mod staff is being seriously considered.

Um, that wasn’t fish.

Which is your favorite ice cream flavor? Do you prefer gelato?

I prefer sorbet, because it’s dairy free. Most dairy-free ice-creams are vanilla and I don’t like that either.

Boxers or briefs?

Boxer-briefs. I don’t like the way ordinary boxers wrinkle up in uncomfortable places.

Also, do you guys like pillows?

Yes. I sleep on three of them (although two are old and not very thick)

If you could change one thing about the moderation rules here, what would that be?

Like @thorninmud I’d like to overhaul the proselytizing rule too. But it’s incredibly difficult to define where the line is, in such a way that every question can be clearly defined as to whether its proselytising or not.

Which former mod would you have back in a heartbeat if you could?

^ So naming names is fine, as long as you’re a mod? No, Sir.

Naming names in a positive light has always been fine, check your Fluther history.

^ I’ll gladly believe that, because you’ve been here longer. Since I joined, however, there have definitely been posts with only positive mentions removed. The reason stated was the fact that naming one name might lead to popularity contests and/or other members commenting negatively in response. Might just have been oversights.

@ucme petethepothead

@turtlesandbox Have you just been appointed a mod then?
Because that’s who i’m asking, kind of how it works.

What were the blue pills the Mods were taking in Quadrophenia?

@ucme Well excuse me for forgetting what question I was on and just responding to a post.

Puts me in mind of a George Michael song, Careless Whisper

IF Fluther does happen to close in the far future, and everyone is given a heads up, will the CIA thread be opened up?

@cookieman: My ice cream preference varies – sometimes I want fruity sorbet, sometimes I want decadent chocoliciousness, sometimes plain vanilla… I’ve even gone through phases when I didn’t eat ice cream or other frozen desserts for years.

@turtlesandbox: I wear cotton briefs, unless I’m wearing a skirt – then it’s a silk split slip, which I refer to as my pantaloons.

@Symbeline: PhiNotPi’s been very self-motivated in what little spare time he has from his school and other obligations to do these tweaks, and learning as he goes. It’s mostly housekeeping and things that simplify life in the tide pool – working within the existing framework. There are no development plans at this time.

I do sleep with a pillow – one under my head, and one to prop up my forearm (which is stretched above my head) so my elbow won’t lock—I hate when that happens!

@longgone: Rule change?
To address the issue brought up already, we’ve been operating under the Creators’ Guidelines which state: ”Asking a question on a controversial topic because you genuinely believe in the question and want an answer is acceptable, whereas doing so solely because you want to spark off a touchy discussion is not.” There’s also the Important Rules which are against trolling, propaganda, ego-centric attention grabbing, self-promotion, or content which is bigoted, hateful, abusive or harassment.

— Clearly, there is a lot of grey area in determining Jelly’s ‘motivation’ behind the content they post. In the notes people send when flagging, as well as comments on Meta posts, we encounter a great diversity in interpretation of what it means to “disagree without being disagreeable,” as well as when people react to perceived “attacks” or “baiting” comments. If there were a way to write clear rules regarding these issues, that would be great; but human nature is such that one person’s “personal attack” is another person’s “respectful disagreement”.

@janbb: Since we are volunteers, we check-in whenever we might have some free time. Since we all have work and/or school plus family obligations, that free time is usually very limited – as I’m sure it is for most Jellies. We do not have a set schedule, but we have established ways to reach out to one another if an issue arises, and if we will be unavailable, we let the others know ahead of time. Increasing the Mod Team is likely to help and is being discussed.

@ucme: I don’t really know much about previous Mods in their Mod capacities, because I was never Modded, so I can’t really say which one I’d like to come back to the team – but I’d like them all to come back to Fluther.

@filmfann: I don’t remember the blue pills in Quadrophenia, which either means that they were really good, or that my memory is generally bad.

@chyna: I think that’s a great suggestion; but hopefully, we’ll never have to consider it!

How much time do you spend modding each day?

@hearkat is my favourite mod & I don’t even know why :)

@dxs: It varies. PhiNotPi’s recent improvements behind the scenes definitely helped streamline the spam-ban-hammer process. Some days I only have a few minutes to check-in and other days I’m on for a few hours (on-and-off through the day in those cases).

@ucme – Are you trying to butter me up?

@hearkat No reason for that malarky, mod me all you want & i’ll care not one jot, probably deserved anyway.
I just think overall, you’re the most, err…no, I still don’t know ;-}

Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?

@thorninmud You wear bowers ? Are they made of flowers and fig leaves? lol

Why do you do it?

I don’t mean any ill-will, but I’m a little curious. From my observation, it seems that the mods don’t ask and answer as much as normal users, and the mods’ lurves aren’t as high as some users.

Why so? Is it because the mods are just too busy maintaining the site and chase out bad guys (and sometimes develop the site a bit) to sit back and ask/answer?

@flutherother – Great Question. I agreed to do it after 6½ years on the site because I do care about Fluther and the community. It has taken me out of a bubble I was happily bobbing around in, impervious to controversy and trolling because I didn’t bother to open those threads, and now I have to read the stuff I’d have previously avoided.

@Mimishu1995 – I never was a prolific asker, and my answers don’t always get Lurve because I’m not as witty as others. I also wasn’t around much, so I’d arrive late to some conversations.
~ Besides, about 10k of @marinelife’s Lurve Should be mine, but she posted the answer first because she’s a more efficient typist.~

@hearkat I never consider you not witty, because I you weren’t why would you be ruling all of us now? ~

@dxs: My moderation times fluctuate as well. Sometimes I’m on for only a couple minutes out of the entire day. Other days, I can sit down for a couple of hours and then do periodic check-ins. I’m on the west coast of the United States so I try to cover the evening since most of the other mods are asleep.

@Blondesjon I know that you two aren’t them, but you and blondesjon remind me of a couple I knew on another forum when I was a kid. Sometimes your responses will give me good flashbacks, even if they aren’t in any way related to those memories. /randomsorry

@flutherother I joined Fluther when I was at a pretty low moment, and it’s all been uphill from there. When Auggie asked if I was interested in volunteering, I wanted to give back to the community that was there for me when I needed it.

@Mimishu1995 I don’t like drafting questions, so most of my contributions are responses. I go through phases of participation, but I’m a lurker by nature on the majority of forums that I frequent. Being a moderator has rarely prevented me from participating, although I can definitely understand why another moderator might feel that way.

How much time do you spend modding each day?

On a workday I manage about an hour in the morning before work (I get up way earlier than I need to). This is usually just enough time for me to go through the previous 12 hours worth of emails. Then I’ll do another hour or so after work. On a day I’m not working I can manage more time but it will usually be in one longer chunk in the middle of the day.

Why do you do it?

Because I love Fluther, and because Auggie asked me nicely. I did actually volunteer to be a mod, about a year before I was made one, although there was no vacancy at the time.

@Mimishu1995 – I have never been a prolific asker of questions. I do much more answering than asking. I think I still do so about as much as I did before I started modding.

@hearkat Did you mean to respond to my question? Are you saying what you would like to change is the same issue @thorninmud discussed?

@longgone – Yes, thorny and downtide mentioned that issue in response to your post, and I agree with them that it’s one of the more difficult moderation issues because it is not so clear-cut as the other rules when we are supposed to interpret the member’s intent behind their question or comment.

@Mimishu1995 – As I think about it, I’ve probably been answering more and getting more Lurve since becoming a mod, because I spend more time on the site.

I find it interesting that pretty much everyone on the team is of the personality type that prefers to answer than ask. I guess it demonstrates our ‘helper’ trait that is what makes us suitable for moderating.

Has the idea of a chief mod, maybe on a rotating basis, been considered?

Have any of you strongly disagreed with another mod, past or present & found them a major pain in the arse?

Just for fun: what is the origin of the 10K+ parties? :p

@dxs “How much time do you spend modding each day?”
It’s all over the map for me too. I’m lucky if I can log in at all some days. If it’s slow at work, I check in sporadically through the day. I pretty much never get on in the evenings (a concession to marital harmony).

@Blondesjon “Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?”
That flaming paper bag with the dog shit on your front porch… that was me.

@flutherother “Why do you do it?”
I saw that Auggie was struggling to keep up with both the Fluther stuff and her “real” job, and I had modded before in a previous life, so I offered to pitch in to take some of the pressure off her. I’ve kept doing it because I don’t want to see this thing go under for lack of trying.

@Mimishu1995 “It seems that the mods don’t ask and answer as much as normal users”
We just happen to have a particularly taciturn bunch of mods at the moment, I think. Also, I’d say that the nature of the job favors people who are very reflective about what they say and how they say it.

@Adirondackwannabe “Has the idea of a chief mod, maybe on a rotating basis, been considered?”
That was among the possibilities Auggie considered in arranging for her succession, but as you can see from our answers above, we’re all doing pretty much all we can at any given time (I know that I couldn’t take on more responsibility).

It would be nice to have a single “the buck stops here” kind of person. That might simplify our internal decision-making process and—most importantly—there’s comfort in having a single face that members can see as the captain of the ship. In the end, though, no Moses was found to lead us from the wilderness and being Moses was, frankly, a lousy job. Now the mods are seen by some as an amorphous, unaccountable and secretive cabal. That’s not a real pleasant working environment, but it’s the hand that’s been dealt to us, and we’re playing it the best we know how.

What are victory points? PhiNotPi was giving them out for PM’s two days ago.

@ucme “Have any of you strongly disagreed with another mod, past or present & found them a major pain in the arse.”

Not in my experience. People who are easily offended (or offensive) don’t get picked as mods in the first place.

I don’t see where offence comes into it, any one of you could disagree on a particular decision, or at least in the process of making one, without the need for any offence intended or taken.
Seems highly unlikely that any group of people are going to have permanent harmony on issues that are not exactly a precise science, bound to have the occasional difference of opinion.

@ucme Oh sure, we have different opinions on matters, but you seemed to be asking more about having negative opinions based on those differences, and I don’t see any of that.

@cookieman My favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate with peanut butter (each brand has a different name for it).

@Symbeline As the others have mentioned, Phi has been just doing bits and pieces as he can. We really appreciate his knowledge of that stuff. We really don’t have any big ideas for other changes at this point. As Phi sees different things he may be able to do, he mentions them and then starts working on them.

@janbb No set schedule, but we do try to let each other know if something comes up that will keep us away. For example, I am in the midst of a family emergency, so I’m not checking in much. Things are starting to calm down now, but when it all started last week, I sent the team an e-mail and letting them know they could call/text my cell if something urgent came up. We all have each other’s contact information in case of an emergency.

@longgone In regards to the rule change question, I agree with the others. There are some issues that just have so much grey area they are hard to manage. We discuss those issues a lot, which is great, I just wish it was easier.

@ucme I’d love to have all of the mods I’ve worked with previously come back.

@dxs How much time varies each day. On work days, I check my e-mails throughout the day, but only come to actually mod something if it’s a big deal because I’m not suppose to even have my phone on me at work and getting on the site is blocked on my work computers. On my days off, it depends on my school work and kids. So, for me, I’d say anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours a day. There have been some days that have kept me here for 4+ hours because of the issues going on at the time.

@flutherother Auggie asked me to join the team and I said yes. I said yes because I really like Fluther and want to help keep it going as best as I can.

@Mimishu1995 I have always been more into answering questions than asking them. That being said, when I became a mod, I stopped answering as much as I use to because there is a rule for the mods that we can’t moderate a post we are actively participating in. Because of that, I stopped participating so that I would be available to jump in if needed.

@Adirondackwannabe We did briefly discuss something like a lead or someone that would have a bit more say, but we decided it would be best if we worked as a team of equals, especially with all of us having such varying schedules.

@ucme There have been disagreements and misunderstandings in the past that have lead users stepping down from the mod team (due to a difference of opinion, not personal ill will), but nothing that has left any of us feeling like one person is a pain in the ass or difficult to work with.

@thorninmud No, no, the “pain in the arse” element was a seperate call.
Maybe an ex mod who let the “authority” go to their heads & you were secretly pleased to see the back of, not that you’d be eager to divulge such a thing even it were the case, which would be fair enough.
@Seaofclouds Thanks for that, my personal fave ex mod is Seek, but that’s just me.

@ucme I haven’t seen anything like that in either of my tours of duty. We’re a pretty drama-free bunch. Or maybe nobody tells me anything.

How long do most mods make it before bowing out?

What is this sore on the end of my unit?

@GloPro Unfortunately, that’s really hard to answer. We don’t have an active timeline that says who was a mod and for how long. For the current team, I’m the longest acting mod at the moment, but @thorninmud had been a mod before. I’m not sure how much total time @thorninmud has in total. It seems for most it’s been anywhere from a few months to a couple years.

@Adirondackwannabe You really don’t want to know. ;)

@Seaofclouds Some times I wonder why you guys let me stay here. :)

@Adirondackwannabe Just pop it. It will feel better that way.

Whenever there’s a “mod bashing” (yawn) episode on here, do you roll your eyes & brush it off, or do you welcome the chance to clear the air with disgruntled jellies?

Are you ever wrong, as it pertains specifically to modding?

@GloPro I’m squeamish. Want to do it for me?

Well, I did do a gonorrhea swab just the other day. I need to warn you, I’m not gentle.

Thanks, I needed the laugh. Back to things for the mods before I derail this any further.

@ucme For me, it’s more like, “Here we go again”. Even before I was a mod I didn’t get involved in the mod bashing threads or understand why people got so upset about it. Now that I’m a mod, it’s just another thing we have to accept and deal with. I like being able to clear the air at times, but sometimes it seems like nothing we say is good enough at that moment.

@GloPro Yes, so what I do when I’m not certain of something is flag it (yes flag, just like everyone else can) and add a message with my thoughts to the mod team. Then, if another mod agrees we take care of it. If they disagree we discuss it and come to a decision either to mod it or leave it. There have been things that I have felt were questionable that stayed up because the team felt they were okay. This really is related to that grey area we’ve talked about already in this thread.

@ucme “Whenever there’s a “mod bashing” (yawn) episode on here, do you roll your eyes & brush it off, or do you welcome the chance to clear the air with disgruntled jellies?”

It’s all valuable feedback. Even if I think the specifics of the criticism are unjustified, it tells us something about how some members perceive what we do. We then have to ask ourselves how that perception came about, and why does our perspective not match theirs? In any case, not much good can come out of going reflexively on the defensive.

@GloPro “Are you ever wrong, as it pertains specifically to modding?”

I can remember at least once when a member pointed out an error in something I’d modded hastily, and I had to walk it back. More often, I’m overly permissive in my modding and another mod comes along after me and does what I probably should have done.

Collectively, we’ve made some tough calls in gray areas where it’s hard to score right and wrong, but that didn’t shake out very well. We try to learn from all of that.

Are you more lenient on the under-20 jellies when it comes to capitalization, punctuation, and grammar? Do you warn them numerous times, or eventually just stop nagging them? It does appear obvious when there is a typo versus a repeat offense, but those offenders don’t seem to be correcting themselves.
It appears all jellies assist and are more forgiving of second language corrections.

Can it really be true that @PhiNotPi is a high school student and not some fifty-year old IT weirdo wired permanently into his equipment in the basement and surrounded by empy pizza boxes and beer cans?

I was suspended for 2 weeks back in 2010, the first few months I was participating here, for off topic ramblings.
It took me awhile to fall into place and catch myself when I started to interject off topic musings. So far, so good, no more warnings, rarely modded, but, it could happen. lol

@GloPro “Are you more lenient on the under-20 jellies when it comes to capitalization, punctuation, and grammar?”
We don’t intentionally take age into consideration on this stuff. I remember one young member who plead that “everyone my age writes like this”, but we held the line and virtually none of that member’s posts survived. We have gone so far as to rewrite some posts in correct form and send them back as a tutorial when they just couldn’t see the problem. There can be a surprising amount of resistance to correction.

Maybe there is a certain element of “mod fatigue” that sets in, where we let the occasional sloppy text slide by, but that’s not policy.

@gailcalled In the absence of evidence, I’m willing to suspend disbelief as long as he keeps working his wonders.

I don’t agree with cutting the younger people slack either. IF you are relatively literate one is able to comport their communications in a well written manner by 6th grade. haha

@ucme I’ve disagreed with the other moderators, but not to a degree that I would label it as “strongly,” and our difference in opinion has never made it difficult to work with each other. We’re good communicators and if we disagree on an issue, we’re good at work through it together.

@GloPro Seaofclouds answered this one pretty aptly, I think. It’s difficult to measure. I’m trying to stick this out as long as I can, but things may get shakier when I start school up again.

@ucme (part two!) I take all feedback to heart. I’m an instructor, so even when I know a student is whinging because they don’t like the grade they rightfully earned, I still listen to them and try to address their concerns. I also use those experiences to help me redraft my next courses. I try to have the same mindset here. Even if a user is disgruntled, but in the wrong, I still want to listen to them and address their concerns. Not just to clear the air, but as a self-reflection moment.

Though there may be a wee bit of eye-rolling occurring off-screen, on occasion.

@GloPro Sure. I remember when I first started, I modded a user, and they sent me a PM because they felt it was unjustified. I thought about it, consulted the other moderators, and restored the comment after PMing the user back. I’ve also accidentally modded Social as General before (big whoops, but I fixed it fast. Maybe no one noticed..) Most errors are fixable, but it never feels good to make one.

@GloPro (part two) I don’t go easier on younger users, unless English is not their first language. I’ve been on forums since I was thirteen so it’s hard for me to slide on txtspk. In general, I try to work with non-native speakers more and give them more direction when they are moderated so they won’t feel discouraged from posting.

@gailcalled For all we know he’s an intelligent life form from another planet.. :)

What does “OP” mean? I see it all the time: do you condone this acronym on Fluther? Can you edit users’ posts?

How much does it cost to be a mod?

@PhiNotPi If you have to ask, you cannot afford to be one either.

@hearkat Thanks for clarifying!

@dxs Original Post/Original Poster

@dxs We do have the ability to edit posts, but it is rarely used. There have been multiple discussions about this, back when Auggie was still our Manager, and the general feeling was that users did not want us editing their posts at all (even for correcting minor errors). Some users do see a typo they posted and ask us to correct it after the editing window and we usually go ahead and do that for them. Otherwise, no editing is done without discussing it with the user first.

Is it a coincidence that the reverse of “mod” is “dom”?

related: was @augustlan’s whip passed on to any of you?

Now the mods are seen by some as an amorphous, unaccountable and secretive cabal

Hasn’t that always been the case?

@hearkat mentioned Creators’ Guidelines, is there a link?

And did I miss some change? I don’t remember The Guidelines having all those tabs.

@thorninmud mentioned proselytizing, what thread was that? Could you post a link?

Sincerely though, thanks for all the mods do.

@DaphneT – http://www.fluther.com/help/ The Help button has tabs which contain the guidelines and rules established by Fluther’s founders, Ben and Andrew. There are also the Terms & Conditions. also established by Fluther’s creators.

@cookieman: Auggie’s whip hangs just inside the doorway of the Mod Chatroom, for easy access whenever it’s needed; but I’ve always got my Kat’o’ninetails handy. ;-)

@DaphneT Yeah, it’s funny: even members who know and like the individuals who make up the mod team can get some pretty dark ideas about what we plot when we get together and become The Mods. There also seems to be a narrative out there that back when Auggie was CM she kept the mods in line, and that now, without any checks on our power, we exercise it any which way.

The fact is that we’re doing the same stuff in the same way as when Auggie was CM. Auggie was never one to question a mod’s judgment; we would make a call and she would back us up. The only thing different now is that we don’t have her there behind us with words of reassurance when a user goes off on us for a call we’ve made.

I do get that having Auggie around gave the team a loveable personal face to soften our image a bit, and none of us have quite the same cuddly vibe, but we’re really no more nefarious than a year ago.

@thorninmud Oh c’mon – you’re much more nefarious than you used to be. :-)

FLUTHER’S MOD SQUAD
20% More Nefarious

@ucme Thanks for that, my personal fave ex mod is Seek, but that’s just me. Are you a mod now?.~

^^ Extremely weak & massively wide of the mark, considering it was a follow up to my own question.
You made a schoolboy error to which I made a humorous remark, get over it, you just sound desperate now.

I thought of a new question:

What happens to PMs now? As far as I know, only Auggie was able to read these. Auggie’s gone…so, what do you do when there are problematic PMs?

Auggie passed that ability on to some of us, but not all. If I remember correctly there is 1 or 2 mods that can review PMs if something comes up.

What’s for dinner?

@Kardamom – I’m dressing to head over to the farm market for this week’s local, organic bounty. I’ll have to see what inspires me!

@longgone To expand on what Seaofclouds noted, @thorninmud and I are the two moderators that Auggie gave that ability to as we were the two most active moderators at the time. That way, if the necessity came up in which a PM needed to be checked, one of us would be around to do so. You don’t have to contact one of us individually, however. You could always use a profile flag or the Contact the Mods button if you are being spammed or harassed via PM.

@Seaofclouds and @muppetish Thank you! Starting this thread was a good idea… Dial-a-mod :]