Can Posters be impartial Moderators?

[dannyboy10]

(Not referring to anyone in particular or any incident of SHOCKING Bad Moderating in the past week!)

I ask, can posters be impartial Mods when they are regular posters?

Is it not human nature to form bonds with some posters and not others!

If someone has a dislike for someone else is it just too difficult to seperate poster persona from Mod duties?

Should Mods have the power to ban people up to a permanent ban?

I think there is a very important role for Mods as there are a lot of Trolls on the forum especially when the Managers knock off. However I disagree with the power to ban people for any length of time except till when the Managers are back on duty so they can judge the system fairly (in most situations).

I also think post removal should only be done where there was clear abuse or of an illegal nature as when posts dissapear it leads to suggestions of unfairness and cover up! (I witnessed this occur myself not so long ago)

Please discuss!

[magicalman9357]

(Not referring to anyone in particular or any incident of SHOCKING Bad Moderating in the past week!)

I ask, can posters be impartial Mods when they are regular posters?

Is it not human nature to form bonds with some posters and not others!

If someone has a dislike for someone else is it just too difficult to seperate poster persona from Mod duties?

Should Mods have the power to ban people up to a permanent ban?

I think there is a very important role for Mods as there are a lot of Trolls on the forum especially when the Managers knock off. However I disagree with the power to ban people for any length of time except till when the Managers are back on duty so they can judge the system fairly (in most situations).

I also think post removal should only be done where there was clear abuse or of an illegal nature as when posts dissapear it leads to suggestions of unfairness and cover up! (I witnessed this occur myself not so long ago)

Please discuss!

Think an example of this could be if someone works as an apprentice in some trade for a company then goes on to manage that company they should be able to detach themselves from any friendships formed during the apprenticeship to manage effectively. Probably the same here as it will depend in the individual doing the moderating so there is probably no one right answer the same as many things in life. In most cases though common sense and detatchment from friendships formed should prevail. I also believe that in any functioning community there has to be some form of governance and law so moderators are necessary to enforce this and like any society breaking the rules or the law carry different penalties including permanent bans. Guess it's like a manager having deputies to enforce things in the manager's absence. That's about all I can try to answer as really not been here long enough to discuss more.

[City Gent]

In short no I don't think anyone could be impartial, everyone has their own views and becoming a mod could never change their own personal view.

As for bans some have been fair some harsh and recently some have been unfair.

CG

[ber]

(Not referring to anyone in particular or any incident of SHOCKING Bad Moderating in the past week!)

I ask, can posters be impartial Mods when they are regular posters?

Is it not human nature to form bonds with some posters and not others!

If someone has a dislike for someone else is it just too difficult to seperate poster persona from Mod duties?

Should Mods have the power to ban people up to a permanent ban?

I think there is a very important role for Mods as there are a lot of Trolls on the forum especially when the Managers knock off. However I disagree with the power to ban people for any length of time except till when the Managers are back on duty so they can judge the system fairly (in most situations).

I also think post removal should only be done where there was clear abuse or of an illegal nature as when posts dissapear it leads to suggestions of unfairness and cover up! (I witnessed this occur myself not so long ago)

Please discuss!

Short Answer to that is No they cant
They are only human and they will devolop a certain bond with some that they wont with
others and they may try to be impartial they may think they are impartial but once u develop
any type of relationship with people all it be a cyber one u can no longer be truly impartial

[wellhungchap]

i do agreeing AND concur with all of the above statements, deedin i do

[UKHeather]

I don't think they can. But then, you already know that lol
What would be interesting is to hear why people become moderators.

[dannyboy10]

I don't think they can. But then, you already know that lol
What would be interesting is to hear why people become moderators.

A love of all things Scotish!

[UKHeather]

I'm Scottish and I didn't feel much love this weekend lol

[El Gordo]

I ask, can posters be impartial Mods when they are regular posters?

Possibly, but it would be very difficult. More importantly, I don't think they could be seen to be impartial. The suspicion will always be there, justified or not.

Is it not human nature to form bonds with some posters and not others!

Yes.

If someone has a dislike for someone else is it just too difficult to seperate poster persona from Mod duties?

Yes. To be honest, this would be a problem even if the mods didn't post regularly. If they have had problems with a poster in the past then they will be harder on him in the future. It's more of a problem with mods who post regularly, because they may have problems with another poster that have nothing to do with moderation.

Should Mods have the power to ban people up to a permanent ban?

Probably not. I think that's probably just something left over from the time when there were no managers. In some sense it doesn't make much difference, since the managers end up reviewing controversial bannings anyway.

I think there is a very important role for Mods as there are a lot of Trolls on the forum especially when the Managers knock off. However I disagree with the power to ban people for any length of time except till when the Managers are back on duty so they can judge the system fairly (in most situations).

I also think post removal should only be done where there was clear abuse or of an illegal nature as when posts dissapear it leads to suggestions of unfairness and cover up! (I witnessed this occur myself not so long ago)

Please discuss!

To be fair, I think Pat has generally learned her lesson. None of the mods she has appointed recently was a prominent poster before. And the managers were brought in because she was tired of reviewing mods' decisions herself. One thing which worries me is that the managers are becoming active posters. I'm not sure that's wise. Even if it doesn't affect their impartiality, it will definitely affect the appearance of impartiality, which is their main asset at this point.

[Hammy Hamster]

Death to the Mods !