What makes a good forum moderator?

[The General]

From WikiAnswers:

Personality plays a big part in whether or not a person is a good forum moderator. A good forum moderator needs to be calm and needs to be able to stand an arguement without becoming heated. They need to have a good amount of common sense and they need to be able to handle having harsh words tossed at them. They cannot go easy on any one member and they must treat all members fairly. They need to understand their position and not take advantage of it or abuse their powers. Another good quality would be consideration. Good mods need to be considerate.

[wtf]

great mods here already

[Chi_archie]

being a great tennis handi-capper

[CaneDawg]

a good forum helps

[pico]

i'd be a terrible mod.

[Willie Bee]

General, I would like to add the following to the list:

1) Living in a shaq is very good for all moderators as it keeps them grounded and living amongst the common folk.

2) Beer, whether you buy it or brew your own, it's the preferred drink of the discerning moderator.

3) Chopping your own firewood builds character as well as muscle, and will keep you warm while living amongst the common folk in your shaq.

4) Beer is always good to have on hand in case posters drop by and want to shoot the bull about current events.

5) A good computer. Hard to be a moderator without a good computer and a fast internet connection.

6) More beer. It's not just for breakfast any longer.

[The General]

Good stuff, Willie

[Panic]

i'd be a terrible mod.

I knew I was out before I finished the 2nd sentence. "A good forum moderator needs to be calm...." I stopped reading right there.

[RageWizard]

thanx for the info Willie, I've been thinking about what it takes to be a mod lately, and I think now that I might have what it takes. Can I substitute copiuos amounts of wine for the beer, and what about bong hits? I think that would help with some of the crazy stuff that happens.

[The General]

Morning Panic. Hope you have a good day. I was reading your post about MIA moderators last night. Sometimes, the best mods are those who are seen little, my friend. Good luck with everything this weekend.

[Panic]

Morning Panic. Hope you have a good day. I was reading your post about MIA moderators last night. Sometimes, the best mods are those who are seen little, my friend. Good luck with everything this weekend.

Thank you, buddy.

[SBR Lou]

being a great tennis handi-capper

[Willie Bee]

Yes Rage, wine can be subbed for beer, but not if you're the type who drinks it with your pinky finger extended from the glass. Not real sure about the 'copious' part, sounds kinda' pornagraphic in nature. But drinking large amounts is fine and dandy.

[RumpledForeskin]

A little PATIENCE........

[Chi_archie]

also will accept

"the ability to grade 1,325 daily picks for a few weeks in a team capping contest" and

"the patience to not retaliate when everyone whines about the contest taking too long to grade"

[RogueScholar]

General, I think one thing that hasn't come up yet is the ability to articulate your rationale and help posters understand the justification for your actions as a Mod. Unless you can educate the poster as to why you had to get involved, you're creating your own revolving door scenario. Even if it takes a few PMs, create a dialogue with the poster and foster a meeting of the minds. And be consistent, it's not just about "playing favorites," but enforcing the rules in such a way that posters truly get a sense of "blind justice" from the staff.

And RageWizard, the Mods are always pretty calm, it's some of the posters that need the bong rips.

[AgainstAllOdds]

1. Leniency
2. Staying behind the scenes but still being readily available
3. Know you shit.

[Dark Horse]

I depends on the direction a forum wants to take. The best forum I know has a strict moderator (a journalist and writer), who organizes the topics in a very clear way. Most of what is added fits into those topics. So when you come to that forum everything is easy to find and in chronological order.

A forum goes through different stages. I was part of a cool gaming forum, where we would write the most amazing stories together. It often approached art. A lot of creative writers improving their skills together. Some of those stories could have been published in book form. The forum became very popular and attracted a second and third generation that was much larger than the first. The result was that the quality went down, the first generation left, and the forum turned average.

I don't think SBR forum has a quality problem. From a critical point of view there is little quality. And most of the early quality, not counting moderators, has left. If the emphasis had been on quality early on, this could have been a very different forum. You can't have a Zen garden if you never pull weeds. But for obvious reasons SBR leadership is interested in quantity over quality.

Instead of everybody opening a thread with their two cents about every football game, why not have one thread per game? And then place that thread, after the game, in a subdivision of the forum that shows the games for each team. Also, after the game, edit the thread. That way you would have a great reference system.

You could also organize by team experts, based on location. For instance, I live in Arizona and my insight into the Suns and Cardinals is probably worth more than from somebody who lives in Florida. Babaoriley was our poster for the Spurs. If the forum is organized in such a way that people can easily find who knows his team(s), then those opinions would become a valuable capping tool. It would take a bit of work, but what is there to lose? Right now this forum is a mess. Willie is right. There doesn't seem to be much of a job definition apart from drinking beer.

[daggerkobe]

1. Start 500 inane topics a day.
2. Be phony nice to everyone
3. Hand out infractions to posters that dont kiss ur ass
4. Create ghosts for our enjoyment
5. Be super lazy like never grading contest properly

5 of 5 = SuperDuper Mall Cop

[jjgold]

No Ego is the key