Members who ask to be moderators

The second example also shows that the member has an idea of what concerns you as an admin. If they wanted to advance their case they could put forward some ideas on how to grow it even more; if they were in tune with your ideas you might be more likely to consider them staff material.

 

If there's open seeking I'll put my name in the hat if I'm interested along with qualifications. People that just come out of nowhere kind of ruffle my feathers though.

 

I'd be interested in knowing if any of you have had experiences with members "acting out" after being told that such a team position is/was not available. Have any of them ever gone on "SPAM posting sprees" after being given the news?

 

If sending me a PM was in the requirements for a moderator, then no I would not think it was being forward. If they send me a PM and its no where to be found for a requirement then, I'll ignore it completely and figure they have a hard time following instructions and will always be a problem.

 

Some people constantly bring it up and now I just tell them that there's no chance of it happening. One guy applied a million times, made his case over and over in posts and threads, now swears that he never meant it, etc

Some are like "I really can't understand why I'm not a mod, I'm on here a lot" from time to time, often trolls, so who knows.

 

Almost all the users who ask me do. They go on and tell me who I am a biased admin and how the site won't prosper because of my "biased" ways. They go ranting for DAYS and looking for some "faulties" so they can try to make me think again, such as "at this specific time there were no mods on, you should get a mod to cover that time". When I tell then "No, not all mods can be at all times" they go on and on on how they think I am STILL being biased, on how I supposedly hate them... I just let them say what they want meanwhile I quietly leave the chat.

 

Sounds like it's time to put the foot down on that and merely direct them to a post that you have stating that mods will be picked by staff nomination and not by user request. Just because a mod isn't on doesn't mean the board is going to crumble.

 

Exactly, either way my mods are on almost all day. We do accept people coming to us and asking, but it's already been said that we don't accept any mods for now.

So not accepting mods=Bad admin, but too many mods=bad admin.... ?

 

It would depend on what reason they give for asking. Unless they were obviously not right for the job I would probably at least take a look at their activity on the forum and see if they are a good candidate, for now or later. I definitely don't shoot down volunteers because they are volunteers.

If a volunteer has an interest in a particular area and some good ideas on strengthening it, and show and express that they have the time, I would certainly consider it. I have to say most of the volunteers to date had the ideas but turned out not to have the time.

If it were more general and they showed no familiarity with the realities of moderating, and I didn't see the qualities I look for, I would politely refuse. I would try to politely be honest so that they don't keep asking ... truthfully, briefly mention the experience and/or expertise I'm looking for that they don't have. Truthfully so I don't get called later on an obvious contradiction. So far all have accepted this well enough, even if they were bummed.

No one is a mod candidate that doesn't have enough of a forum history that I can make an assessment based on their participation there. I go by that as the primary criteria, not whether they volunteered or were asked.

I do not post open call for mods. To me that's an invitation for wide-scale awkwardness. I have criteria that I can assess and pick out some candidates. When I pm candidates, if they refuse I'll tell them I'm open to their recommendations. It's certainly ok if word gets around and that raises some volunteers or recommendations.

When I do contact candidates I don't invite them, but tell them that they are someone I think has some good mod qualities and ask them what they think about forum policies and how the forum is run. I tell them I'm contacting several people but will only select X many.


One early volunteer was someone who had displayed a ferocious temper in certain threads. Quick to fire off, absolutely brutal, ruthless and relentless once she decided she didn't like someone. No one can be a mod on my forum unless they show absolute control over their temper - they can have one, but not in public. That volunteer was definitely never a candidate.

 

Another side to the quesiton ... what if someone who you do not consider a mod candidate promotes themselves and is trying to mod the members and even the moderators, through posts and pm's?

Have had that happen a couple of times. They got a pm from me as owner (not from one of the other mods,) with a link to one of their posts or quoting a pm, saying that they need to leave such things to management. If they think something needs to be done, refer it to management.

 

... and interestingly enough, these members usually feel that they're doing the right thing and/or performing the correct actions. Like you said, if an individual feels that something should be done (whether it be dealing with another member or removing a questionable thread), he/she should contact the appropriate management official(s).

 

That's a whole other thread, but generally this isn't permitted. If a member decides to take matters into his or her own hands, they will be warned, reprimanded and subsequently infracted, leading to a ban.

 

Yes, they absolutely think they are doing the right thing ... often they have tried to approach management about revising the rules, if not getting on the staff. They think the whole "problem with the forum" is the current miserable staff of mods (their pov.) The truth is they don't fit, and they want to re-make the forum in their own image. When they find they can't do it through a staff position, they try go around the staff.

This is another reason to carefully examine volunteers ... make sure they are in fact on board with forum rules and culture, and aren't looking for a way to re-create it according to their own whims. They can be very divisive if somehow they do get onto staff.

 

I wouldn't start off with a warning though; I would thank them for wanting to help protect the forum but ask them to do so privately in the future, to keep unnecessary drama from the public.

 

i use to have no problem with members offering their services...but i totally take that back now...

from now on if sumone asks me...i tell them..."sit back..do your thing...and if your making enough noise on our site...then maybe I'll consider you" ..lol..

 

I kinda agree with everyone. I don't dismiss all of them though. Usually review case by case. After all there is a trial that I usually put mine through and you can always be booted off the island. Which has happened. But I usually base on activity and how they have interacted with others. Not to mention if they are members of competitor forums.

To a side note to this does anyone else that own forums also have and alternate moderator personality. I do on one that I have over 10 moderators. Just because a few years ago we had a problem with one and I wanted to find out who was involved with the incident.

 

Well, I certainly feel the same way. I have the following in my forum's FAQ topic:

Ironically, my most active fellow administrator/staff member attained the position after sending me a PM demanding the position. My forum was only around for a few weeks at the time, and because we'd worked together for so long as staff members at another forum, I took what he said in humor. I was also more than willing to make him a staff member because we'd worked together for so long, and because I knew his personality and work habits well.

Other than him, however, I have never given a staff position to someone who asked for it unless I announced that applicants were sought. A minority of my staff members attained their position through application, but most were personally asked by me.

 

newbies who ask to be a mod dont get to be one, because we donmt know them very well, and having experienced untrustworthy mods on other forums, i dont allow others to be mods unless theyve posted a bit and dont ask.

older members who ask to be a mod might get the job if they are trustworthy helpful, and if we feel we need another mod.

 

I had one person ask to become a moderator that was not even a member. If I made them a moderator they would join my forum.

LOL...