When a moderator steps out of line, says something he/she shouldn't, or does something that wouldn't necessarily be tolerated from a regular member, what do you do? Does the moderator get the same treatment as the other members, or a special "get out of jail free" pass? I'm generally much more tolerant and lenient with my moderators, but I'd like to hear others' thoughts. Have you ever put a moderator on 'probation' or something (i.e. temporarily suspended their duties/abilities)?
Well of course I'm not going to give them an infraction or warn them publicly, but if it's a big enough problem I'll let them know in the private section and be sure the rest of the team knows that X is not allowed.
depends on what they have done if they do something bad enough, i will remove their mod powers, and possibly ban them-they get treated just like any other member
Depending on how bad, usually they get a "free" card once if they show they were sorry for action X and that they will not do it again. A public "amends" also goes a long way into helping them keep mod status. But if it is really bad, out they go.
Hey hand up time, quite some while back I got over involved in a flame war and believe me I can be very nasty without even swearing and I went just that bit too far. Amongst other things I think that I suggested he was a waste of space and that he might consider visiting a taxidermist on his own behalf. He got most upset and told me I couldn't say that as I was a moderator. That always riles me, they can whinge about me or be rude (so long as they don't swear) but somehow I am not supposed to be able to do it to them. The site owner/co admin knows the pressure (and really that is why I am there, to take the pressure off of her) and talked to me first and we agreed a line satisfactory to both of us in that she stepped in (which she rarely does) and said that it had to stop now as it was damaging the board, she said that she had asked me to back off, which she had, and would like the others involved to do the same. The thread was then locked. That ended it, maybe it was a little strained for a week or 10 days then back to normal. Nobody won, nobody lost, board back to normal
I usually give my mods 1 get out of jail free card for minor things. But, that's it. I've fired a really great mod that was always active and posted a lot of good content for a personal attack on another member. He got warning points and fired. There was no public post about the firing but vip's were able to see warning percentage (not the actual warning though). I've banned a mod for SPAMing porn as well. Turns out his account was hacked though lol.
Thank you for this thread, Nick. I am having a problem with one of my moderators right now. He has been constantly attacking one member of my forum just because he disliked him. I warned him once via PM, but he didn't stop. Today he did that again, and I had to give him an infraction. He was offended by the infraction and said he doesn't want to be a moderator anymore. I accepted that. However, he didn't stop his attacks on that member. If he goes on like that, I will have to ban him. I know that his ban will have very bad consequences - he has many friends among the forum members. If he goes away, many will go with him.