AnandTech Forum Guidelines

[Number1]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
I would only encourage that moderators be chosen by maturity and emotional stability, and not have it turn into moderators picking their buddies.

Not to rock the boat, but now that mods are known, some of them are definitely not mature and/or emotionally stable as it is. there are plenty of times where they've done stuff that a "normal" member would be punished for.

Look who is talking about maturity!!!


:laugh:

 

[dmcowen674]

.......

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
I'll start things off I guess.

I'll be honest here, I think that some parts of this are good, other parts are bad. I like the clearer rules, we've needed those for a long time. I also really like the moderator guidelines as this further clarifies things for what the moderators will be watching. Furthermore I really, really like the public list of banned URLs because we've had problems with sites such as ChiefValue and eBay being blacklisted for reasons that not even the moderators could answer well.

I am less enthusiastic in the changes to how moderation is done however. I fear that by having non-anonymous moderators, we're going to see a concentrated effort to drive out the mods in places like Politics & News and Video Cards, where political and video fanboys respectively will do their damnedest to run out the mods whenever they feel slighted or feel the mods don't have a "neutral"(i.e. matching) bias. Similarly, with rigid rules I could see the guilty parties trying very hard to walk the line and cause as much trouble as they can by doing something that's on the line, getting moderated for it, and then complaining to the senior mods about all of this. In short it's a private forum and the mods need to be able to be authoritarian at times to maintain order, and this may undercut that.

But I think it's too early to completely judge the changes. This could work, so this may work, but everyone will need to keep an eye on how things are going before deciding if the new moderation changes are effective or not.

well, i agreed to do this only because i think it will work.

first of all, they picked Keysplayer and me for this ... two members and now mods with VERY different personalities, PoVs and biases. We have crossed 'swords' many times in Video and yet retain a respect for each other. IF we can AGREE on what "goes" in Video and what does not, i don't think we will have a problem.

And with this new policy we are not "policemen" - we are moderators - here to HELP settle disputes, make sure personal attacks are minimized, and keep subjects on topic and in the right place. i think the large majority of the Posters in Video would prefer this; the others who will "test" it will find out if we are resolute in our determination or not

i believe that we do NOT actually give the "vacations" ... that is still the duties of the senior mods who will carefully review and examine our recommendations to them

 

[CaptnKirk]

Will this also enforce, for example, where somone deliberatly drives a topic 'off-subject', as frequently happens in the "Politics and News' forum, where the goal of the hi-jacking is specifically to get the topic locked and terminate the debate?
There are some here who will Shout-Down, and use personal insults to perform exactly that function. If they engage in that form of backdoor censorship, there appears to be no consequences for that action.

Sample of subject termination by hi-jacking of thread by personal insult and attacks



Maybe when this happens again, and it will, the perpetrator needs to be warned, banned, or have their commentary removed from the thread, and then let the tread continue with the understanding that if said offender returns to attempt another drive-by killing, they will be delt with for their irresponsible action, instead of expecting a free-pass, again.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

I can tell a lot of work went into these guidelines, and I want to thank those who worked on them for their efforts. Good stuff!

 

[KeithTalent]

I think it's a shame the mods' identities have been revealed . I liked having the little 'buddies' lightbulb as my only indicator the long arm of the law was lurking, watching us.

I can just see this leading to calling out, ass-kissing, etc. and in fact I have already seen it in the OT thread.

The anonymity worked IMO. I'm not really sure why the change was necessary at all; just because some whiners complain about their locked threads and vacations? Don't be an idiot and you won't be banned, period. I read the post from Derek, but this still does not really make sense to me.

Anyway, good luck to everyone! I'm sure once the initial 'shock' of this wear off, things will all settle in nicely, but I just thought I would share my opinion.

Cheers,
KT

PS: So technically now someone could just add all of the moderators to their buddies list and go nef the crap out of a particular area if that particular mod(s) is not on? Great. :frown:

 

[apoppin]

So technically now someone could just add all of the moderators to their buddies list and go nef the crap out of a particular area if that particular mod(s) is not on?

ah, NO! ... i am active in other forums besides Video and CPU; just as a policeman is sworn to uphold the law whether he is "off-duty" or on, i am certain all the mods will take action against obvious rules violations in forums outside their specialty

--and we know who to call
-for a swift response

EDIT: if someone is neffing because he knows the mod's away, he'd better clean up all the evidence before the mod gets back ... just because action is not instantly taken does not mean that action will never be taken

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: apoppin

So technically now someone could just add all of the moderators to their buddies list and go nef the crap out of a particular area if that particular mod(s) is not on?

ah, NO! ... i am active in other forums besides Video and CPU; just as a policeman is sworn to uphold the law whether he is "off-duty" or on, i am certain all the mods will take action against obvious rules violations in forums outside their specialty

--and we know who to call
-for a swift response

Haha, good stuff. I'm not really one to whine about other members, most of that stuff seems to sort itself out pretty quickly, but it's good to know you will all be lurking around, watching as usual. :thumbsup:

KT

 

[MrChad]

Are moderators and/or senior moderators able to view private messages? I have heard only rumors of this, and it's never been confirmed one way or the other.

 

[AnandTech Moderator]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Are moderators and/or senior moderators able to view private messages? I have heard only rumors of this, and it's never been confirmed one way or the other.

No.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: AnandTech Moderator

Originally posted by: MrChad
Are moderators and/or senior moderators able to view private messages? I have heard only rumors of this, and it's never been confirmed one way or the other.

No.

But you can log into member accounts right? I see this mentioned in many of the FS/FT troll threads that 'we logged in to check their PMs and some such'.

KT

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: AnandTech Moderator

Originally posted by: MrChad
Are moderators and/or senior moderators able to view private messages? I have heard only rumors of this, and it's never been confirmed one way or the other.

No.

The admin can.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
I would only encourage that moderators be chosen by maturity and emotional stability, and not have it turn into moderators picking their buddies.

Not to rock the boat, but now that mods are known, some of them are definitely not mature and/or emotionally stable as it is. there are plenty of times where they've done stuff that a "normal" member would be punished for.

I think the buzzphrase is "it's good to be king".

A lot of the vocal people have been anonymously moderated by those they had high suspicions was the other active person in the thread.

I am glad AT is opening up more into an adult community instead of a psuedo-one. Still you will have the old boys club calling the subjective shots instead of being objective.

I find the place runs well though.

It's nice the mods are known so that they can't play stupid or celebrate a thread edit/lock as if they have no clue why.

Most of the mods I now can see are mods I had already picked.

 

[SVT Cobra]

I must say when seeing the post in OT I was surprised.

I welcome this change as it makes the community tighter and more structured. I am also glad that there are now more moderators for the subdivided sections that seem to be working well (a point brought up in the recent past). The mods are now more personal and accessible if you know what I am saying.


As for the negatives:

Well I know some big boards near the size of AT which have this mod set up, and while there is the occasional call out of a mod by their actual name, there really is not any harassing and when the time comes for some disgruntled banned member to make a call out thread most of the members will back this up.

Also maybe bringing back the member rating system will help and now be more feasible since more mods are online to watch abuse.

Also assuming they are not already, or have been offered
I would like to nominate KarenMarie for OT mod as she is very fair and level headed and an overall nice lady who I think has the forums best interest at heart.
YoYo for sound forum (but I assume he already is)
Engineer and Eagle Keeper for mod also. They are very helpful members and have always exemplified what an elite member is.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I think it's a shame the mods' identities have been revealed.

The anonymity worked IMO. I'm not really sure why the change was necessary at all; just because some whiners complain about their locked threads and vacations? Don't be an idiot and you won't be banned, period. I read the post from Derek, but this still does not really make sense to me.

Anyway, good luck to everyone! I'm sure once the initial 'shock' of this wear off, things will all settle in nicely, but I just thought I would share my opinion.

Cheers,
KT

PS: So technically now someone could just add all of the moderators to their buddies list and go nef the crap out of a particular area if that particular mod(s) is not on? Great. :frown:

I too think they did this too quickly.

I already see a couple of people with classic conflicts of interest.

Something that sadly has gone out the window in this country as of late.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am still keeping my eye on anyone that profess to be or acts like a shill
Warnings will lead to vacations quickly.

Senior Anandtech Moderator

Common Courtesy

 

[SVT Cobra]

Derek, I was also thinking you should add to the forum guidelines that repeated offenses add up to being banned.

For example in the thread in OT someone said "Wow and I was banned just for calling someone gay." But, I'd be willing to bet they had a history of trouble in their past and that was simply just the small straw that broke the camels neck.

 

[DerekWilson]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
Derek, I was also thinking you should add to the forum guidelines that repeated offenses add up to being banned.

For example in the thread in OT someone said "Wow and I was banned just for calling someone gay." But, I'd be willing to bet they had a history of trouble in their past and that was simply just the small straw that broke the camels neck.

This is kind of already built in -- multiple warnings for the same thing warrants a vacation, multiple vactations for the same thing equals a ban.

if that's not clear in the guidelines, let me know how I can emphasise that better.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
Derek, I was also thinking you should add to the forum guidelines that repeated offenses add up to being banned.

For example in the thread in OT someone said "Wow and I was banned just for calling someone gay." But, I'd be willing to bet they had a history of trouble in their past and that was simply just the small straw that broke the camels neck.

This is kind of already built in -- multiple warnings for the same thing warrants a vacation, multiple vactations for the same thing equals a ban.

if that's not clear in the guidelines, let me know how I can emphasise that better.

Yes I see that now, got it. Thanks for all the time you put in.

Just curious, are you still working on the main site as well?

Also any chance Anand himself will be making an appearance on the new forums.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: DerekWilson

This is kind of already built in -- multiple warnings for the same thing warrants a vacation, multiple vactations for the same thing equals a ban.

if that's not clear in the guidelines, let me know how I can emphasise that better.

Ah, so thats why I'm still around. I've been warned/banned at least a dozen times But its almost always from something new

Ah, the growing up process. Isn't it beautiful.

 

[shortylickens]

I see a lot of people offering suggestions on the matter but I'd like to ask a question:

Do these new and enhanced/clarified rules apply to the Video forum?

The only reason I ask is because it seems to me that folks go into the hardware sections looking for useful advice. I know a lot of the guys in this thread seem to like the big debates that go on there, but I wanted to know what the admins position was on this issue.

Did they want the debating and fighting to be contained in OT and P&N or will it be allowed in other areas as well?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I see a lot of people offering suggestions on the matter but I'd like to ask a question:

Do these new and enhanced/clarified rules apply to the Video forum?

The only reason I ask is because it seems to me that folks go into the hardware sections looking for useful advice. I know a lot of the guys in this thread seem to like the big debates that go on there, but I wanted to know what the admins position was on this issue.

Did they want the debating and fighting to be contained in OT and P&N or will it be allowed in other areas as well?

Good quesition. I do not even click on the video forum anymore due to all of the crap that goes on there. Sad but true. It's like P&N light or something...ugh.

KT

 

[Pepsi90919]

In addition to these changes, all moderator identities will be public.

so what about the ones that decided to change their username?

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

In addition to these changes, all moderator identities will be public.

so what about the ones that decided to change their username?

Which identities are you having a problem with?

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I see a lot of people offering suggestions on the matter but I'd like to ask a question:

Do these new and enhanced/clarified rules apply to the Video forum?

The only reason I ask is because it seems to me that folks go into the hardware sections looking for useful advice. I know a lot of the guys in this thread seem to like the big debates that go on there, but I wanted to know what the admins position was on this issue.

Did they want the debating and fighting to be contained in OT and P&N or will it be allowed in other areas as well?

Good quesition. I do not even click on the video forum anymore due to all of the crap that goes on there. Sad but true. It's like P&N light or something...ugh.

KT

Heated discussions are fine, But there should be little to no flamming/personal attacks. Attack the argument, not the person. The tech forums will be held to a higher standard than the social forums.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

In addition to these changes, all moderator identities will be public.

so what about the ones that decided to change their username?

Which identities are you having a problem with?

Chunk monster and Common Courtesy I believe. Both senior mods/elite and under 50 posts. Obviously old users, but who?