On the bright side I managed to save $5000 on a piece of Tiffany jewelery. It was a hassle paying by westernunion but it'll be worth it when it arrives.
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Ad Hominem and Multiple Posts
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Anyhow, the more we long time members assist the moderators by reporting posts and set a good example, the better it is for MR.
True, but if there are only a handful of mods, all that will do is fill their inboxes with reports - which they have to still sort through and deal with.
There are more than 300,000 members here, that is a lot for a handful of mods to deal with.
Oh yeah, the savings I got by giving them my social security number, birthday and mother's maiden name is well worth the minute it took to type it in.
True.
I would bet that arn and his crew are looking at options right now be it adding to the moderating team or something else.
The sad part is that this, is only one event. I have seen 4 different accounts of events of this magnitude.
One was related to bashing Google's CEO and board. Another was announcing a sale of iPhone/iPods from some dodgy website.
After a while, these spam bots get redundant, but they end up posting in all boards the same exact, to the last period, message. I have gone sometimes and broken the rules by PMing a mod when these type of posts have risen. True, sometimes I get the thanks for the heads up and other times I get, use the report button and don't PM mods. I really don't mind either one, my usual goal is to help in something. Likely, I may end up getting in trouble for that. I just started restraining myself from using the PM unless its something big or I deem it of too flaming/trolling nature to let it slide and simply be reported by the report button. Certain times call for certain actions, and I've started to understand that now.
Other times its not a spam bot, but a pesky new member how posts everything in caps lock and asking for "desperate" help with the few amount of information provided. The whole post is "help me, what I did wrong?" or the usual "Please help" and when asked more pertaining information and how to behave accordingly in the future, forum members only get bashed out by that person.
This is why sometimes some forum members go hard on people and give them a hard time in certain cases. There is a search feature for a reason and in this case I do give those people (Tallest Skil was mentioned, so I'll use him as example) the reason/right to get mad, but not to be hard or harsh on them. A simple canned and calm reply does the trick, or a link to the correct discussion. Adding gas/petrol to the fire does nothing but make it larger. That being said, true Tallest Skil isn't the greatest guy out there, but he does show enthusiasm and conviction a mod needs. I also believe that with the right nudge in the right direction he can be a good mod. However, I accept others may disagree with me in this one. No problem, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Also, I do not say this as a recommendation or a petition for him to become mod, quite the opposite I say this as my personal view on things and in order to make my point.
Sometimes its true some moderators are lacking, but it doesn't mean it's time for new mods. In fact, I read a small quote from one of you who said "Quality over Quantity". I do very much agree with this quote. I have seen the job of moderator not as a volunteer job, but as the privilege of helping out more than usual. Why should we have 4 new moderators given this privilege when they will do a bad job, when we can have a very good mod who can do the job better than 4 new ones? Sounds unfair to those new mods, but goes to show sometimes modding isn't an easy job and should be set aside for those who show enough maturity in certain situations.
I like MacRumors ever since I came here and want to see it prosper always. My only wish is for people to behave, but since that is deemed next to impossible, I am glad we have such a great moderator team.
From the first post to the last was 46 minutes.
It would help if people didn't reply to spam posts as it only brings back up to the top of the forum, in new posts and back on the forum spy.
Because the "good mods" aren't always online and if you had lots of mods you could give them positions in a hierarchy, and not allow the "junior" mods to permanently ban people or time them out for more than 24 hours or something.
Btw, the mods on this forum do do an excellent job.
You don't understand the horror of it xUKHCx! Some of the threads were claiming to sell jewelery! Argh!
Let's see:
Admins
arn - Active, but not a moderator.
blakespot - Inactive.
Doctor Q - Active. Doesn't seem to be around as much as once was.
Knox - Can't remember the last time I saw a post. Was never a very active member/moderator anyway, more behind the scenes tech guy.
Mudbug - Active, seems to really only sporadically approve MacBytes articles.
WildCowboy - Active, but not a moderator, though does moderate from time to time.
Mods:
AmbitiousLemon - Not around most of the time.
Blue Velvet - Sporadic activity.
devilot - Vanished.
HexMonkey - Can't recall last time I saw them.
jsw - Vanished.
longofest - Can't recall last time I saw them.
mad jew - Vanished.
Mitthrawnuruodo - Active.
mkrishnan - Active.
Mr. Anderson - Vanished.
Mudbug - Fairly Active.
Nermal - Fairly Active.
Rower_CPU - Vanished.
WildCowboy - Fairly Active.
WinterMute - Fairly Active.
xUKHCx - Active.
yellow - Active.
This isn't a criticism of anyone, and I haven't exactly been monitoring activity so observations I think I've made may be incorrect.
Still, not exactly a sea of green up there is it.
You need more mods, and you need them quickly. Pick some people you half way trust, stick 'em on as mod mini's and if they get on well keep them, if not dump them. What's so hard?
Everything has always taken a painfully long time at MR for decisions to be made. It could be argued that this has helped with its general stability, which it has. It could also be argued that this (more so now) is leading MR and its membership down a slippery slope where there's all sorts of crap going on and no one to deal with it.
Admins
arn - Active, but not a moderator.
blakespot - Inactive.
Doctor Q - Active. Doesn't seem to be around as much as once was.
Knox - Can't remember the last time I saw a post. Was never a very active member/moderator anyway, more behind the scenes tech guy.
Mudbug - Active, seems to really only sporadically approve MacBytes articles.
WildCowboy - Active, but not a moderator, though does moderate from time to time.
Mods:
AmbitiousLemon - Not around most of the time.
Blue Velvet - Sporadic activity.
devilot - Vanished.
HexMonkey - Can't recall last time I saw them.
jsw - Vanished.
longofest - Can't recall last time I saw them.
mad jew - Vanished.
Mitthrawnuruodo - Active.
mkrishnan - Active.
Mr. Anderson - Vanished.
Mudbug - Fairly Active.
Nermal - Fairly Active.
Rower_CPU - Vanished.
WildCowboy - Fairly Active.
WinterMute - Fairly Active.
xUKHCx - Active.
yellow - Active.
This isn't a criticism of anyone, and I haven't exactly been monitoring activity so observations I think I've made may be incorrect.
Still, not exactly a sea of green up there is it.
You need more mods, and you need them quickly. Pick some people you half way trust, stick 'em on as mod mini's and if they get on well keep them, if not dump them. What's so hard?
Everything has always taken a painfully long time at MR for decisions to be made. It could be argued that this has helped with its general stability, which it has. It could also be argued that this (more so now) is leading MR and its membership down a slippery slope where there's all sorts of crap going on and no one to deal with it.
Interesting post e.Let's see:
Admins <snip>
Still, not exactly a sea of green up there is it.
You need more mods, and you need them quickly. Pick some people you half way trust, stick 'em on as mod mini's and if they get on well keep them, if not dump them. What's so hard?
Everything has always taken a painfully long time at MR for decisions to be made. It could be argued that this has helped with it's general stability, which it has. It could also be argued that this (more so now) is leading MR and it's membership down a slippery slope where there's all sorts of crap going on and no one to deal with it.
Looking at it that way, one can definitely see the shortage of moderators.
On a side note, what is a mod mini?
I've seen him respond to Guides issues from time to time and looking at his profile he was on earlier today.
I think the rest of your list may be close to the mark though. EDIT: Especially blakespot and Rower_CPU, I don't think I remember ever seeing them post.
I think that should generally be how mods are added...
EDIT:
Longofest was also online today and I thought he helped with front page stuff...
Wouldn't disagree. As I say, it's just a quick list off the top of my head of how I have perceived activity. Totally open to error, though I don't think it's too far off. There are definitely a number of names that could be "retired" as I was to more accurately reflect actual "staff" numbers.
You and I both know what "we're working" on it means. Next week, next month, next year. Who can say!
I appreciate that no one wants to be rail roaded in to anything, and that they certainly don't want to give the impression that they have been. Fact remains that it is being noticed and has been for quite some time that staff numbers are down, and those that are here might not being doing as much as they once were. Nature of volunteer work, no ones fault.
You'd have thought with this place being arn's job now he'd be paying a little more attention to it. So far the opposite seems to be the case.
Understood, and in the grand scheme, it's not that long.
I come here to help people, and since this is one of the highest caliber forums I have ever been to, I stick around. I'm just looking to maintain that high standard.
Will do.
I would expect the situation here to be similar to Arstechnica, where the forums are just there for fun and probably break even - but the money is all made from the front page.
I would agree that, on average, it's taking longer for team-mod to get round to dealing with posts I report. But they are still normally dealt with in less than an hour. Which is normally pretty reasonable.
And whilst a lot of the mods are posting less this does not, necessarily, mean they are not logged in and moderating...
And whilst a lot of the mods are posting less this does not, necessarily, mean they are not logged in and moderating...
If that is true that does mean they are having less fun on the site and having more work to do, which isn't really fair on them - moderating shouldn't be that much of a burden if its a volunteer effort.
I'm noticing less mod-action lately too. Several things I've reported over the last few months (stuff which is NOT open to interpretation, I might add) are not being dealt with at all, so I've sort of given up reporting things unless it is blatant spam or something big. I figure the mods have their hands way too full so I don't want to make things more difficult unless I hear otherwise.
Nobody forced them to volunteer as mods or is pressurising them to continue. If somebody isn't enjoying the role there's nothing stopping them from "retiring"... unless arn has some compromising photos in his possession!
On the subject of creating new Mods, we can gather that from what has been said before that it's not a simple or fast process. Selecting suitable candidates requires a fair bit of discussion and debate among the existing Mods, and once new recruits have accepted the role they spend a period of time 'in training' to make sure they perform the job to the required standard. What the timeframe is between the existing team deciding they need new recruits and those recruits actually becoming fully fledged Mods I don't know, but I'd wager it's a process that takes a number of months from start to finish.
It may very well be the case that there are currently a number of 'Mods-in-training' who'll be officially announced at some point, certainly the Mods who have responded to this thread have suggested that they're aware there are some issues and they're working towards resolving them. Maybe they've agreed that boosting their numbers is part of the solution, maybe not. We'll have to wait and see.
I think it's important to remember too that Mods just don't do the 'front of shop' stuff we see deleting or moving posts or issuing bans where needed. Obviously I don't know the specifics, but I'm in no doubt that there's a lot of duties they perform that we never actually get to know about.
It may very well be the case that there are currently a number of 'Mods-in-training' who'll be officially announced at some point, certainly the Mods who have responded to this thread have suggested that they're aware there are some issues and they're working towards resolving them. Maybe they've agreed that boosting their numbers is part of the solution, maybe not. We'll have to wait and see.
I think it's important to remember too that Mods just don't do the 'front of shop' stuff we see deleting or moving posts or issuing bans where needed. Obviously I don't know the specifics, but I'm in no doubt that there's a lot of duties they perform that we never actually get to know about.
Indeed but for something to be a reaction ...
Blue I have looked through your reports dating back to early February and every post report was dealt with in an approriate manner. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific cases to discus.
Oh these aren't big deals, just like a bunch of consecutive posts/ one word/smilie only posts and stuff that when I went back into the threads a few days later I noticed they were still there. I don't even remember which threads they were right now. I'm not trying to be critical or anything, I just assumed the mods were busy with other stuff. I probably need to give my OCD urges to clean the forums up a rest anyway. I've never seen any non-trivial stuff left unattended for a length of time.