Never mind Torley - did you see the new announcement?

I think thats the basic idea. Plus there is a lot of merit to the concept of having those who speak out against a system set in place join your team to use the energy and time spent with criticism to work for improvement instead.

I have heard so many members say they do not participate in forum discussions because it so often turns into a blood bath, and anyone who has spent time reading the posts in the general discussion threads knows this to be true.

The forums should be more like a daily newspaper and information clearing house for all SL members, and everyone should feel welcome. What kind of society is created where citizens are afraid to comment. No, this is not brown nosing,..eliminating forum hostility and making the forums a more welcome area of SL for all members is a change I have advocated for a very long time.

If appointing a forum poster who makes a habit of hurling personal insults at other members would shut the bad conduct down, and harness their attention toward making the forums a more welcoming area of SL content, then I am all for it. Having strict guildelines that moderators must follow or risk ouster and sanctions is the way to prevent abuse.

There will be no glory related to this task for anyone who undertakes it since an action taken by a member moderator will receive strict scrutiny by other members...and I do mean strict.

Absolutely.

~Ulrika~

They won't be having those who speak out against a system set in place join their team.



That's an interesting take on it.

coco

Heh, I volunteered. I have to say I took me by surprise. Anyone else surprised or is it just me?

It's the long-overdue involvement of citizens in their own world. It's one of the first steps that the Lindens are taking towards a self-run community or "government" as I like to call it.

~Ulrika~

I am in agreement with your post but am a bit fuzzy on the likelihood of this aspect of it due to the stipulation that a volunteer have no warnings/suspensions. This is not even qualified with "recent" or "relatively clean". I would think that someone who makes a habit of hurling personal insults would have been called out on this behavior by way of a warning and would thus be ineligible.

thank you! a woman after my own mind.

Trolls, Self Serving Iconoclasts, Devils Advocates, Anti-Bush Guy Postings, Flame Wars, this is our matrix, an unbridled collective, gosh darn it!! I for one will miss the wild west ambiance of our current forums, and cringe at being excessively monitored.

Hey, Arshile, I know who you're named after! My husband just finished doing a term paper on Willem de Kooning, and I helped a lot with it, lol.

coco

Yes, Coco, he's one of my favorite artists from that era! He had a tragic end though, like many artists.

If I end up doing this, I need an alt named Big Brother. hmm... I propose Brother as a last name btw .

Linden Lab has given not an iota of power to anyone for years; hell, even the Liaisons can't make decisions of trivial import. These pseudo-junior moderators will have as much capability as an elementary school hall-monitor, if that.

I think the vast cadre of LL forum moderators want some unpaid lackies to sort through the ARs for them, kinda like the forum version of Live Help: "Yes, I understand your sim is laggy and your video doesn't work and I'd love to pass you on to someone who could help, but no one can so I'm just here for you to vent on. Have a nice day." except maybe a little more anonymous.

actually what I think they want is sentient keyword matching. Writing a script to catch posts with keywords is all well and good, but having enough people to read ALL the new threads ALL the way through and then having them report the noteworthy ones would beat that.

The forums have slowly improved in the last year. I have not only asked for positive transformation to these forums, but I have sat down and written letters to LL regarding positive change in the forums. Given LL options I think this was a natural selection for LL to make. I do have concerns about this alteration to the forums.;

Personal vendetta is on the top of the list, unjustly being banned come next and loss of SL accounts follow suit. However I think the rotation of forums and ResMods will take care of, many of those concerns.

Even though LL has said in the past that they are the only Government in SL, I cannot help but wonder if this a first step towards a user run Government. It seems a logical next step in the evolution of SL. That however remains to be seen.

This is an unpaid position so those that want to be ResMods will do so without personal economic gain to their SL or RL accounts. I feel this is the right move as many ppl with their own personal agendas, will not apply for that reason.

Lastly if this frees LL employees time to work on other projects I feel that can only benefit SL as a whole.

Although I have my concerns about this ResMod announcement, in the end I do support this idea. I wish all volunteers the best of luck.

MarCat

This isn't resident-run ANYTHING. A truly resident-run system would have the resmods being elected by the rest of us.

This is a special appointment to King Philip's court, by King Phillip's court, with all the perks and privileges that can be enjoyed with same.

I would say that they have at least asked for everyone who wants to to apply, rather than just picked some, except that they already HAVE just picked some.

In which case I will say that at least everyone who wants to can apply. Or at least any of those who haven't already been warned in the forums, however unfairly or not that may have been, and despite that appealing any such decision has, to my knowledge, never succeeded in actually getting any sort of human response.

coco

They just picked some? who?

"The Community team has already nominated several possible candidates for the first round of the Resident Forum Moderators and we are also accepting volunteers."

coco

I got a forum warning for mentioning Richard Pryor and using a word spelled somewhat like "niggardly"* in respectful homage to the way in which Pryor used pointed humor to strike at racism in our society. Unfortunately this was flagged as being intolerant by someone who either didn't understand the context or was not aware of Pryor's role in American history or just didn't read real closely.

So maybe this will be an improvement.

*Note to moderators: the word "niggardly" has no connection to racial epithets or even race at all even though its use has been the cause of resignations and firings in these knee-jerk times.

Except that the forum mods are being plucked from the very same group who didn't comprehend what they read and reported you in the first place.

Hmm, interesting point there Jon.

I believe this is open to everyone in SL with a clean record.

Only if they use the forums.

But if a tree falls in the forest... they're disqualified.

There may be a time factor used in determining what constitutes a clean record.

Not allowing someone to be a forum moderator because of one abuse report they got a warning about two years ago for bumping into some grouch in a laggy area wouldn't make any sense at all.

If there are qualifications to the "perfect record" rule the Linden staff should make these qualifications public in a clear, unambiguous manner, or if the perfect record rule really means perfect a Linden staff member should confirm that.

Kind of disappointing to be counted out because of events in the immutable past too insignificant for the complainants to remember.

Diciplinary action is based on a point system that deducts points over time with good behavior. This is typically used to determine the next stage of diciplinary action against you. For example, after a prolonged period of good behavior you can return to a state where punishment for a crime is on the "first offense" level.

Now I don't know if the Lindens intend to use the point system for the Mod positions, or just any blemish on your record.