Moderator and Super-mod requirements/criteria

placidmarlin3 said:Insulting???
Where exactly am I being insulting or trolling??

My post got nuked just because I was responding to a moderator who’s calling me "intolerant" for pointing out that walking a dog without a leash is actually ILLEGAL!

So—she’s the one encouraging people to let their dogs roam free, making excuses about "unruly kids" and whatever else, acting like she’s some kind of moral authority based on a pet handbook... instead of actually promoting compliance with the law that requires leashes and picking up after pets—*she's* the one calling *me* intolerant. And she's calling everyone else here "intolerant" too—people who might be wary of unleashed dogs, whether they're "dangerous" breeds or not. Honestly, in my book, any off-leash dog is a risk because you can never truly know what's going through its head, no matter how well-trained it supposedly is—especially when we're talking about certain breeds. Interestingly, you didn't delete or ban her posts for that, did you? But you sure as hell wiped mine where I pointed out that owners letting their dogs run wild are the ones being UNTOLERANT toward small children, parents, and anyone else who might be nervous about a random animal charging at them!

Real objective move there. Bravo!

Anyway, just so we don't turn this whole thread into nothing but a rant about your disastrously arrogant moderation style, I’m actually interested in that question from the very first line. So, be a dear and let us actually discuss it.

As far as I know, under U.S. law, leashes are mandatory. If the moderator of this forum is preaching otherwise, then she’s basically advocating for breaking the law. I don't get how someone like that is even still a moderator.🤷

placidmarlin3, if I were you, I’d report her posts to the actual authorities.😉

Sophia Evans76 said:it's pretty obvious, isn't it? you mods are just miserable little nobodies in the real world. honestly, I can't think of any other reason an adult would spend their precious free time playing hall monitor in a digital space for zero dollars, unless it's just a cheap little power trip.

🤣

//Sophia Evans76... isn't it kind of pathetic that the old guard from back in '03 still has to show up in the PZK newsletter☕

Sophia Evans76 said:As far as I'm concerned, under US law, the leash is mandatory. If the moderator of this forum is pushing a different narrative, then she’s basically breaking the law. I honestly don't get how she can still hold a moderator position.🤷

placidmarlin3, if I were you, I'd report her posts to the actual authorities.😉

Look, for a forum moderator, the only thing that matters is following the site rules.
Whether or not she keeps her dog on a leash—and whether she gets cited for it—is a matter for local law enforcement, not some forum staff.
Sharing an opinion isn't a crime. Walking a dog without a leash is a violation, sure, and if she gets caught by the cops, she'll pay the fine. But that has absolutely nothing to do with the moderators or admins of this American forum. It's a completely separate issue from her role here.

A quick suggestion for dealing with the mod issues and the community 🤷,

What if we let the users vote every three months to strip a moderator of their status if the majority isn't happy with them? It’d be a way to actually gauge their performance and efficiency once in a while.
The voting period should last seven days at the end of each quarter, and whoever gets the most votes gets put up for replacement. We could set a threshold too—say, 150 votes—before any action is actually taken. 🤷

Look, I get it, administration picks the mods. But honestly, we're constantly frustrated with the people running things, and that dissatisfaction always ends up spilling over here onto PZK. Why can't we try a different way to resolve these conflicts?

Take the PDF policy, for example. If a huge chunk of us is unhappy with a specific moderator, why shouldn't the community's voice actually matter? Implementing this would just improve the quality of that subforum. 🤷.

Gerald Barrett25 said:🤣

//Sophia Evans76... isn't it just pathetic that the crowd from 2003 still has to make cameos in the PZK newsletter? ☕

What’s even more depressing is that I’ve been hanging around this forum since 2000😁—and yet, here I am, still fighting the same old windmills. 😁

But honestly, the real tragedy is seeing some of these veteran users—take someone like zgsasha, for example—who haven't really accomplished much in the real world over the last decade or so😢 so they have to settle for being moderators here. I guess there's a certain utility in that virtual role; it provides a little illusion of power for people who clearly lack it in their actual lives. 🙂 😁😉

Kate Jackson68 said:Look, being a forum moderator is really just about following the site rules.
Whether she keeps her dog on a leash or gets slapped with a fine by some local animal control officer is someone else's problem entirely—not ours.
Promoting an idea isn't breaking the law, and walking a dog off-leash might be a violation if the cops catch you, but that’s a matter for the authorities, not the admins or mods here at the forum. It has zero bearing on her actual job description.

Oh, wow, so by that logic, a murderer, a thief, or even a war criminal could be a forum moderator 😁 and go ahead and promote illegal activities. But hey, why should we care? That's a job for "other authorities," right? 😉

Anyway, what you wrote above doesn't actually line up with how the other subforums operate.
As far as I know, moderators over in the Tech subforums are strictly forbidden from linking to or suggesting illegal software. They also have to scrub posts from other users who try to drop those kinds of links. I'm pretty sure it's the same deal in the Movies and Music sections.

So, how is it that the mods in those sections don't have the exact same leeway as the mods over in 'Pets'? 😕

I’m genuinely curious about this supposed power trip happening over in the ban corner.
Yeah, I’m talking specifically about kikin’s thread...

I still remember back in the day when either I or some other banned user tried to start a little chat for the exiled crowd; we were shut down after barely two posts, with threats
looming about extended suspensions and permanent bans. To make matters worse, you have one moderator essentially breaking the rules right alongside a banned user, while the rest of the "super cool" moderator crew acts like they’re above the very regulations they enforce on everyone else.
It's fascinating. Truly fascinating.👍

placidmarlin3 said:basically half the chat thinks they're some kind of elite mod squad

You probably think that crew is all high and mighty, but honestly? 😁 I’m betting most of them—aside from kikin, because I still have zero clue how she even finds the energy for any of this 😕—could probably be enrolled in an "ugly people club" in real life 😁

Sophia Evans76 said:Maybe you think they’re all just super cool or whatever, 😁 but honestly? Most of them—aside from kikin, because I still have zero clue how she even functions in the real world 😕—could probably be listed in a "society of unattractive people" handbook. 😁

I figured there was a reason why every single one of them is so incredibly conservative. 😁

Sophia Evans76 said:You probably think that whole crowd is incredibly cool, 😁 but if you ask me, most of them—aside from kikin, whose obsession with all this still completely escapes my understanding 😕—could probably be added to an "unattractive people club" without much hesitation. 😁

To be perfectly honest, I find it quite strange that in all these years, I haven’t encountered such a successful businesswoman who also manages to find the spare time to share her expertise with us through a forum.
If it isn't immediately obvious what I'm getting at, I am referring to your highly expertized praise of one utterly unnecessary and frankly foolish piece of plastic known as the iPad!
Believe me when I say I truly admire you, because no other commenter has ever been able to drive me away from a topic; the only ones who have managed it were moderators who clearly don't know how to do their jobs.
But you, my friend, are a true genius—a regular marvel of nature!
🙏

Sure, being tech-illiterate and missing out on how content delivery is evolving is one thing—it’s basically just being stuck in the past—but there is a massive difference between that and stalking. And you, my dear William Green4, are doing exactly that!

William Green4 said:I’ve gotta say, it’s honestly kind of surreal to me. I’ve been hanging around here for years, and somehow I never ran into such a successful businesswoman who actually takes the time to drop her wisdom on us mere mortals in a forum.
If you aren't following my train of thought, I'm talking about how you were just brilliantly lecturing everyone on why an absolutely useless slab of plastic called an iPad is so essential!
And look, I mean it—I truly admire you. Usually, I can't stay on a topic for more than five minutes before some commenter tries to chase me off, and the only people who ever actually succeed are those mods who clearly have no clue what they're doing.
But you? You're a total genius. A literal force of nature!🙏

What does an iPad even have to do with this thread? 🤷

Sophia Evans76 said:It is one thing to be out of touch with technology and fail to see where content delivery is headed, but it is an entirely different matter to engage in stalking. And that, my dear William Green4, is precisely what you are doing!

Well, actually, I am simply following your lead...
While you chose to judge others through their posts on this forum, I have merely used our direct conversation to draw a conclusion about your true character.
The standard you set for others is the exact same standard I am applying to you.
To be honest, I couldn't care less about the moderators; I feel like I'm at odds with most of them anyway, but I simply could not let such condescending nonsense go unanswered.
So, I’ll go ahead and ask for a ban for both of us:
Her, because she insulted me by calling me stupid, and me, because I told her the truth about being a chicken.
Thanks in advance!

I imagine it should be clear to you by now just how little an iPad has to do with this discussion.😍

Sophia Evans76 said:Look, being out of touch with tech and missing the boat on how content delivery is evolving is one thing—that’s just being behind the times. But stalking? That's a whole different level. And honestly, Mazarine, that’s exactly what you’re doing here.

I don't want to derail another thread, but... do you think the real letdown with the iPad is just that they failed—or maybe Apple just couldn't quite nail it—to make the experience for books, magazines, and newspapers as seamless as they did for music with iTunes?

Sophia Evans76 said:So, following that logic, some murderer or criminal—maybe even a war criminal—could just be a forum moderator 😁 promoting illegal stuff. But hey, why should anyone care? That’s what other government agencies are for, right? 😉

Anyway, what you wrote above doesn't line up with how the other subforums operate.
As far as I know, mods on the tech subforums aren't allowed to link to or suggest illegal software. They also have to scrub any posts from users who drop those kinds of links. I think it's the same deal over in the movies and music sections.

Why don't the mods in those sections have the same authority as the mods over in 'Pets'?😕

Neither of those things applies here.

Promoting violence or anything that definitely causes harm to others is off-limits. Murder and theft fall squarely into that category.

Advertising something illegal isn't just a debate; it’s an actual crime. And the fallout—I think, anyway, I'm not certain—could hit the site owners too, since it's being hosted on their platform.

But if someone claims they walk their dog without a leash, the only person getting hurt is them if they get caught. Making that claim isn't breaking the law. Plus, it's just a minor infraction, not a felony. If they frame it as a discussion about the law or why they disagree with it, then it becomes a perfectly legal forum debate about whether a specific law is actually right.

And regarding that first point... look at me. Out of the entire admin and mod team, I only really know one person, and even she didn't realize until recently that I was posting under the name John Hill, let alone that I applied for a mod position. The people who appointed me only know me by my writing style here. For all you know, I could be some six-foot-four bald guy covered in tattoos with a massive rap sheet, typing this from a jail cell.
But as long as I follow the forum rules and do my job as a moderator properly, none of that matters, and it doesn't hurt the site in the slightest.

Kate Jackson68 said:Simply stating an opinion isn't breaking any laws; if someone chooses to walk their dog off-leash, the legal consequences only land on them if they get caught, and we’re talking about a minor citation here, not some felony. Besides, when someone frames their point as a debate over whether a specific law is actually sensible, it turns into a perfectly legitimate forum discussion regarding the merits of legislation.

.

The statement itself isn't the violation; rather, it’s the encouragement of illegal behavior, which is something a moderator shouldn't be facilitating.
Moderators ought to serve as a sort of moral compass
for the community, possessing the ability to judge things objectively and manage threads with a foundational understanding of the subject matter they are overseeing.
Furthermore, moderators shouldn't be championing actions that run counter to the laws of
Rhode Island, and taking such an overt side with the "off-leash crowd" looks a lot like an open invitation to disregard the rules. Consequently,
it doesn't just impact the individual; it misleads and encourages other forum members to ignore clearly established statutes, so your argument
doesn't really hold water.
Not to mention the apparent lack of empathy toward other members of society who might not care much for animals
in that context, or perhaps even fear them.

@Cordelia: 🙂

The best part about all this is that I don't even let my dog off the leash in places where it's prohibited 😬.
I have to admit, though, this whole debate is actually getting pretty interesting.

@placidmarlin3: Stop lying.
I never once claimed that letting dogs run off-leash was a good idea, nor did I try to encourage or justify it.
If you decided—for whatever reason—to completely misinterpret my post just to pick a fight, that’s on you.

👋

Of course it’s through connections, how else would it work? 😬Seriously, you don't need to be Einstein; just be slightly more observant about who is hanging out with whom. And once one person gets a moderator spot, they'll quickly realize the rest of the team is just going to fill those seats too. (And by the way, real life doesn't always dictate these things—you can find plenty of ties here among people you'll probably never even meet in person 😁).

That isn't the issue. The issue is that, more often than not, incompetent people end up in charge, as per usual 😬. The real problem is there isn't a group monitoring their performance and removing them if they fail to deliver (or at least giving them a warning; though even when that happens, some still act like they were chosen by divine right) ..
It's also not the end of the world when a mod makes a bad call. The problem is there aren't enough humble moderators—people whose priority isn't "being right" or wielding "power"—who would actually try to see things from another perspective and admit a mistake. Especially when that mistake is obvious to hundreds of people; some really show their true colors then, acting like heads made of titanium that can't be dented .. instead, the most important thing is defending THEIR own interests, whatever those may be. Because apparently, you can't show any weakness to the users, or they'll tear you apart, right? Whatever..

Look, the sooner they realize they exist to serve the community rather than the other way around, the better. Maybe when they weed out the stubborn types who guard their seats so fiercely while secretly sucking up to both sides of the moderation spectrum—both the ones I mentioned above and those trying to change things—and finally seat someone who will lead with a different policy... maybe things will change. But until then, people will just keep packing their bags and leaving this place with a bitter taste in their mouths
.
It’s not all black and white. There are mods who know how to joke around, have fun, and bend the rules in the spirit of the game, and they'll make mistakes too... but you have to recognize the moment, sometimes admit you're wrong, and strive to be better for your own sake, not for the image you want to project to others. As for everyone else, I honestly don't know how they aren't ashamed to still be using black nicknames after losing the respect of basically every user 😬

Well, shocker! 😳

☕

hollowdriver18 said:well, no wonder! 😳

☕

A move right in line with what gottcha was saying. Now I just need to find a spot for my collection—it's currently the off-season for anything interesting.☕