Being a Moderator

That seems to be the strategy of some progressive politicians nowadays... oops, better not go there... don't want to violate this place's TOS
....And then too there's the "It's more fun to dance with the sinners than prey pray with the saints" 'factor' --- That said -- I cannot for the life O' me think of a politician I'd care to dance with -- Saints preserve my Giuseppe Zanottis!!! :eek::eek::eek:

@Wendy - Ok! I promise! No more talk of politicians!:D:D:D
 
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TCM, you have a protoge'. LGM is practicing up with his poking stick.:D
Nah I more likely to shove (ok being polite, insert) a stick rather than poke with it. as for attaboys etc my like to post ration is pretty high, but I guess its simpler to just count posts rather than look at a more complex way to judge a persons behavior.
 

Lestraveled

Joined May 19, 2014
1,946
Here an example of electronic politics:
I once worked for a group where all of the upper management was replaced by freshly retired military officers. On Friday they were our customers, on Monday they were our bosses. One of these prima donnas liked to come around and boast that we should be thankful to him for our jobs. One day, I had enough of his crap and told him, that if we didn't do our jobs to make the electronics work right, there was no amount of political spin he could do to make the systems "Go/NoGo" light turn green. He did not miss a beat when he replied, "I can make it OK that the damn light doesn't turn Green." About 6 months later I became a resident of Arizona and never looked back.
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
The need for a well moderated forum is being misrepresented by some as an issue of people being too sensitive. Members who post here have a rightful expectation of courteous and respectful treatment, regardless of how basic their questions may sound. When member after member piles on some hapless newby, that's not a case of over sensitivity; it's a case of members who are insensitive. For the most part, those were targets have taken it in stride and I've seen very little complaining. That doesn't make it OK, though, and it doesn't make AAC as excellent place to discuss electronics and technology. This should be a forum of thoughtful discourse, intelligent conversation and informational exchange if ideas. While that's still true most of the time, too often it'a a place of sniping, quibbling and snide remarks.

That was definitely not the case when I first came here a couple years ago. Abusive members were dealt with immediately. Moderators held members to the user agreement and kept discussions within site guidelines. "No politics" was rigorously enforced. Members were respectful and didn't challenge the mission or site guidelines. The change come slowly as members began to challenge the rules and guidelines which had made these forums among the best. Over time, the forum became more political and quibbling between members was more and more common. I watched with interest to see if the site administration would step in and restore sanity. Lately, I thought it might happen, but as I watch the site back away from the declarations they made, this looks more like business as usual.

Rules and guidelines are necessary to stay focused on the mission. As stated, the goal should be to have a place for intelligent discourse and for informative exchange of ideas. That cannot happen when most threads are hijacked for political reasons or when members stalk other members. These are distractions that can't be tolerated if this site were to remain a place for excellent discussion. We can't allow our intelligent, respectful group to degrade into a place where only the strong survive. We can't allow those who believe effective communication involves insults, snide remarks and ad hominem rhetoric remake the site to their liking. When a discussion degrades into a series of insults back and forth, nothing gets accomplished. This happens way too often here.

This brings me to this point:

Is it really prudent to exercise restraint in calling an idiot an idiot? How else will they learn that they are an idiot and take steps to correct that deficiency?
As this is a site for adults or young adults who are expected to be mature, members who post on here need to strive to communicate like adults. That means finding effective ways to use language to exchange knowledge and ideas. Name calling runs counter to the objective of this group and detracts from what we can achieve here. Part of being an adult is to resist the urge to go off on people because you think they are being difficult and restraining use of destrutive language, which includes name calling, insults, vulgarity, etc. We are adults so lets be adults.

Nothing about having a respectful place to exchange knowledge and ideas means anyone is too sensitive. It simply means we expect to have a place where mutual respect is the rule and not the exception. Neither is this a 'free speech' issue. It's an expectation that members show a level of maturity the enforces the mission. We have only the moderators to insure the site guidelines are respected. If they fail, then we fail.
 
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JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
Everyone knows the leader who will not take appropriate action by holding all to the same standards. Why? Because they want to be "mr nice guy." Then they go after the performers to pick up the slack.

I took the other tack. One of my engineering petty officers told me he didn't know electrical. I reminded him that the basics was part of his "A" school. He stated the instructors said he would always have an electrician or electronics technician assigned and he didn't need to know it. I said ... he lied to you. You are responsible to know that stuff.

So, I could have either investigated him for incompetence or ensure he met those standards. My E-4 and E-5 electronics technician were tasked with bringing him up to speed, as it was a requisite for an HVAC class he was going to attend. Yes, he improved. About five years after my retirement, he called and asked me to confirm what he was thinking with respect to an electrical problem. He had discovered a relay wired improperly on the diagram an in real life, as real life reflected that diagram. About a six or so years after that, he told me his current unit was sending out fan motors regularly to be rewound on his 50+ year old cutter. That turned out to be an improperly wired switch for the galley fan. More recently he has called about a EZ-Cart, electrical vehicle, that didn't have reverse. A review of the electrical diagram, showed it had to be a relay problem ... turns out it was a set of contacts welded together.

He uses me as his sounding board to confirm he thinking on electrical issues. I get to exercise my one brain cell. It's be 26 years since I first contacted him to congratulate him on orders to my unit.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
We have only the moderators to insure the site guidelines are respected. If they fail, then we fail.
I quibble with only your last point. Maintaining a civil society falls on all of us. We cannot expect law enforcement - in this case our moderators - to force order on chaos. It's largely up to the population.
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
I quibble with only your last point. Maintaining a civil society falls on all of us. We cannot expect law enforcement - in this case our moderators - to force order on chaos. It's largely up to the population.
Only the mods have any authority to do anything, as far as this site is concerned.. We don't even get a vote.

Now, society as a whole is another thing all together.

cmartinez said:
Civility is learnt in our homes.
Then why are we having this conversation?
 
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