Residents, Please Decline LL Invitations to Become a Resmod

I reported this post since it obviously is a direct attack against two individuals and names them specifically so as to ridicuale them.

I agree with Mulch entirely.

No one should agree to do this job. Be a helper, be a mentor, but don't be a resmod.

It IS an unmitigated disaster.

It is also true that the forums were poorly and unfairly moderated prior to the resmod program. Tacking the resmods onto it just made life more miserable for us, and especially for them. Take a look at the forums if you want to disagree with that statement.

There is a realistic solution. Two of them, in fact.

One, hire unbiased outsiders to moderate the forums. Don't tell me that they have to know all about SL to do the job. That is totally untrue in other game forums. Moderators in those forums are hired from different games, and do a perfectly fine job. More than fine - they do a BETTER job because they don't come in with all these preconceived notions about who to "like" and who to ignore.

As for the Lindens not being able to afford it, don't make me laugh. And if they think it isn't worth the expense, they are wrong. More damage has been done to SL through these forums over the past year than any other single factor. Thus, it is a priority.

Second solution: Farming them out. I would prefer the first solution.

As for the moderators being able only to move threads and close them - not true. They can also do a very, very key thing: Bring AR's to the Lindens' attention, or throw them in the trash can.

In this regard, they have quite a bit of power. Especially when you consider that AR's are tied to warnings, suspensions, and bans.

Those suspensions and bans then happen automatically in the game as well.

Though the power of the resmods to influence suspensions and bans is variable, don't think it is not there.

And because it is there, other paying residents have THEIR HANDS IN MY POCKETBOOK.

coco

I actually think folks should accept the invitation to become a resmod, if only for a day. Walk a mile in their shoes, as it were.

These forums can be filled with the funniest, most creative, most helpful, most thoughtful words imaginable. And the next moment, they are rife with vitriol and stunning, stunning visciousness. If we would moderate ourselves prior to posting (it's all there in the guidelines) I'm sure there would be a lot fewer issues for the resmods to have to deal with. And, let's face it... no one has been maimed or died because of the actions of a resmod.

These are our fellows and friends in SL -- they are not evil, they are not power mad -- they are volunteering their time to a position they felt important and worth the time and effort. I, for one, support them and encourage Linden Labs to give them all of the tools, training, and guidelines they need to do such a thankless job.

at the very least you should apologize, man-with-a-stick.

actions speak louder than words. and your actions are abundant, man-with-a-stick.

I am going to go ahead an AR this thread for personal attacks

I am curious to see how unbiased a resmod is when it is their mother abusing residents



that alone should clue some of you in to how horrible a position resident moderation can be

i think this thread pretty much is a good idea of what you are in for if you join

More power to the resmods.

OBVIOUSLY you don't understand....

First, look in the mirror as you read the above to yourself.

Then, try this simple explanation.

1. Your calling me a pot calling the kettle black was your trollish entry into this thread.

2. Your allusion "stunk" of direct personal insult and contained ZERO content that could be interpreted otherwise. As it seems you are familiar with the perfumy smell of methane, I merely warned others of the smell and how they might evaluate its content and source lest they become covered in the stench. That is, I felt I was making a public service announcement... not speaking TO you in the opening line.

3. Now, think The Hobbit and Trolls.. Sun came up while Bilbo engaged them in argument. Trolls turned to stone and quit speaking nonsense. Ergo, don't let the sun shine light on you lest you become "enlightened" and end your trollish nonsense "by force" rather than choice.

I hope that was clear.

If you took insult, own your feelings. I didn't intend insult... I gave advice from the bottom of my heart.

not in the slightest.

seriously.

Cmon now.. Do some of that ninjafoo on it and I am sure that you can figure it out.

If not, don't worry about it.

This post speaks volumes, and is exactly why you have absolutely no business being a resmod. Your bias and inability to take any criticism at all, along with your disruptive overmoderation is one of the culprits when it comes to creating stress over this program. Members from a wide swath of different background in SL have all express their disapproval of this program - it has been an abject failure that is just creating more hard feelings, stress and chaos in these forums.

STFU punk

WTF do you know about modding a forum?

I agree 100%.

This is a classic example of persons having their cake and eating it too.

Resmods simply should not be allowed to argue with other forum users. Period.

You are no longer a "regular resident". What a cheap trick, leaving yourselves a convenient and handy back door to use.

This is a nightmare. I had one tell me last week that because they weren't being paid to moderate, that they reserve the right to act unprofessionally, and then went on to swear at me.

Now we have them in this thread arguing with people. It's as unprofessional as it gets. What should we expect I guess, they are not professionals, after all.

It's patently ridiculous.

Linden Lab, curb your dogs.

-No arguing with residents.

-No sarcasm.

-No rolled eyes.

-No editorializing.

-No naming names, as part of your job is to police that. (Yes, right here in this very thread, we have a resmod naming names)

-No explanations when stating that a thread is being closed or moved, beyond citing the violation (we don't need the appeals to emotion PLEASE -- such as allusions to number of ARs, or how hard your job is), and the corresponding quote from the guidelines, TOS, or CS.

Lastly, a note to the few residents who are intentionally placing threads in the wrong places, and generally being PITAs for no other reason than to agitate the resmods. Stop it. You aren't helping.

i have to agree with the main sentiment that ResMods should not use any sort of degrading language against any other SLer/Linden.

on the other hand, i also believe we shouldn't be chastised for offering our own opinion on something. Lindens have done this multiple times in the past themselves.. usually in a light-hearted manner.. which is what i'm talking about, positive commentary.

for instance, this very post. technically, i'm making a post that some in the community would deem inappropriate because it isn't pure moderation stripped of all humanity.

i would like to say though, that it seems to me there has been some different developments to the program since my first round of moderation.. some good, some bad. i have seen a lot of growth in the area of rules, guidelines, transparency and most of what troubled the community to begin with has been resolved.
on the other hand, it seems a bit sloppy at the moment. i'm seeing some actions which stray from the heart of the program and what it should really be all about.

a suggestion though: when something happens that is controversial, point it out.. bring it to light so it may be dealt with. but, don't overdo it either.. it only weakens the point of protest and becomes white noise.

also, if a ResMod performs in an unsatisfactory manner and later apologizes for it.. why not let it rest? i have seen a few points (Some from as far back as the beginning of my first run) that are still being pointed out as a problem that were either solved or resolved since, but are still being touted as problems.

i'm all for uncensored evaluation of the program and, as always, will welcome such commentary as soemthing to behoove and use as a filter for how i view the performance of the ResMod program as a whole.

upon re-entering as a ResMod i have a fresh view and quite enough time to come back with a renewed fervor as well as understanding of our role in the community. i'm vying for a less visual involvement, but that will rely on the community as much as us. hink about this, what would the forums be like without any threads about the ResMods? overall? pretty normal and non-problematic if i'm seeing things right. (granted there would still be points of contention, but overall.. it would be much more peaceful)

so, please critique away.. i'll be around, you just won't see me as much this time around. most likely..

i never had a problem with your individual appraoch to resmodding

less is more in this case

welcome back and twist one up for me

I have givin up with this issue since some feel fit to close what the seems to be bad......Oh well there are bigger problems on sl then people need to feeling for power over others

I wanna be a resmod. No one ever asks me! *sniff*

That my love, is because you cannot move everything into the "What the fuck is this shit" forum, as it doesn't exist.

The idea of a resmod program is a good one. I'm all for the community regulating the community.

However, I think these need to be fixed posts, one resmod per forum, with no rotation. Moderating is not an easy job. I used to run an online forum with several thousand members and six moderators, and we didn't get nearly the traffic (or conflict) these forums do. Nevertheless, there was a learning curve for each moderator and a closed moderator forum where we could help them understand how we wanted specific situations handled, etc. It could take six weeks or more for a mod (who we knew had the brains, skills and diplomacy to do the job - that was never an issue) to really get the hang of it.

It would be nice to see our ResMods grow into their posts but it *appears* that the position isn't very well defined at the moment and that there isn't really time for those invited to gain enough experience to grow into the post.

But the key element I think is one remod per forum. It would be nice if the people selected for each forum were people who had made a postive, helpful contribution to that particular forum. It would also provide a community accountability that doesn't seem to be in place currently.

Because if you want to be mods, then be mods. If you want to be residents, be residents. But this is like.. "well we don't have to be professional and we can screw up whenever and its all ok as long as we apologize but we are going to move your threads whenever we feel like it and you can't do shit cause we have the powah!"

Resmods need to be objective. When you start replying, especially to threads like these, you loose any objectivity you had any hope of retaining. Look at how well Zap's participation turned out. What happens if you participate, then someone takes exception to what you say, posts something vaguely insulting but not against the TOS, but since is against you, and since you have the powah, you close the thread? I believe this has already happened.

Simply put, you cannot remain impartial and moderate at the same time. And even though the Lindens do participate sometimes in threads, with the exception of Torley who is, of course, Torleylicious, they participate rarely.

Awwwz that's sweet.

I'd actually like to participate more in the SL Forums, and get more Lindens to join in too. I know how much the communication is warmly welcomed, and regardless of the reality, the current *perception* is that: "Residents often ask, Lindens don't answer enough!" There's so much to keep up with; I'd like to casually post more in General and Off-Topic, for example.

Lately, I haven't been as active as I could have been. This is mainly for two reasons:

1. Personally, my hands have developed horrible cramps, from typing a lot I think. So recently, my posts have been terser (which is an exercise in itself). If it keeps up and doesn't go away, I'm going to get medical help.
   
2. Professionally, I have been busy doing things inworld like helping Residents coordinate Infohubs and look for new opportunities in community development. As SL's grown so much, my time can only be divided in so many ways--I love the personal touches and correspondence, but alas, at times it's too difficult for one watermelony avatar (me) to do.
   

So, for this, I'm sorry. It's totally been a learning experience and I'm getting used to some things, but the grid continues to grow and the forums scale bigger. This is why I appreciate the ResMods's help. Simply and truely.

I've been painfully aware some things clearly aren't working out well with the ResMod program. By now, I've heard many of the points and counterpoints, for example:
So I have learned, from reading and participating in discussions like this: each person makes their own choices, and we come together and share them. Yes, there's ugly friction, and yes, crap happens. But what we've *all* indisputably got in common is: Second Life. And if we didn't care, we wouldn't be voicing our opinions one way or another. That's valuable, and I listen to this.

Sabrina brought up a good point earlier, and I just wanted to address that: it was the original intention that over time, some ResMods would specialize in certain forums, guiding the way. For example, a clothing expert would ResMod the Design & Textures forum. However, again:It was also intended that as things "settled down", the rotations would adapt and not be so "churny". But, things have not settled down!


---


That being said--I've been discussing the whole ResMod thing and the state of the forums with Jeska and Robin, offering my recommendations. While I can't say more at this time, nothing has been ignored. It is also essential that I get the pulse from the community on the forums at large, and obviously, the ResMods themselves.

Do know that I, as I long have, keep open arms to both the "fors" and "againsts", and my perspective is that in which I am constantly putting chaos and order as parallels. It does no good if I am to exclude the very valid fears of those who absolutely think the ResMod system BLOWS. And an emphasis: attack the ideas, not the individuals please...

You are all Residents of Second Life.

Related, you may wish to read Robin Linden's recent post on her blog about the future of volunteers in SL and comment.

One more thing I'll touch on for now: I've observed the incongruities between the forums and inworld. Linden Lab places importance on providing tools so that Residents may shape their experiences, and infact, create new ones. For instance, if you own a parcel of land, you build what you want on it, change the terrain to your liking, and if someone's disagreeable, you ban them--keeping them out of your domain.

This doesn't translate to the forums, as it's a communal space where friction arises, like one big crowded subway car where you sense someone stinks, and you move to the end of the car and ignore them but they still smell from a distance--and sometimes I feel the lack of personality in not expressing yourself through your avatar has a role in that too. I sometimes feel a lot more comfortable being face-to-face! And to mention, inworld has Mature content: the forums, being broadly visible, do not. That's another jarring discontinuity.

Recently, I've been reading up on some inspirational sources about how I can best serve the community: Robert Scoble is a great source. I'd like to communicate more--heck, I'd like more Lindens to blog more in their fields of expertise! Wouldn't you? (And yes, the counterpoint is, "Well, while I'm paying big bucks for this service, I'd rather simply know that Lindens are working hard on my dollar to make SL better!" and the countercounterpoint is, "For that to happen, Lindens should communicate better and tell us what they're doing!" I'd like to extend that even more widely, as I want to see more Resident blogs and external forums flourish.

Where this'll go, I don't know.

But I do know we've got to keep moving.

Awwwww!!!

Seriously - Don't wait for it to get better, it wont.



You cannot expect someone to Volunteer time to moderate the forums and not be allowed to talk - You would end up with ResMods posting or moderating under an alt, just boils down to the status quo with less transparency.

OTOH, if ResMods could be compensated for their time working in the forums.... but then they're not a ResMods....

Its is a tough one :]

Actually, I think since this debate started I've seen less threads being moved and less being closed. So it looks like *something* happened -- if only that maybe the resmods chilled out a bit and stopped focusing on finding violations.

*This* level of moderation I have no problem with. It was when the threads were moving all over the place and often being closed that it was bugging me.

So maybe this blowup needed to happen for the resmods and the rest of us to learn.

I would like to keep moving, Torley, but I would like to keep moving by the Lindens using some of that 11 million to hire a couple of people who are unbiased outsiders with previous experience in forum moderation to moderate these forums.

I know other games do that.

coco

*loves the "watermelinden" xD*

Well, I have been/am a mod on a couple of forums and trust me, the "You cant tell me what to do" shit is there all the time, no matter the forum, no matter the user. Somebody always gives mods crap when trying to do your Job.

If LL offers you the Job as a ResMod and you believe you can put up with the shit that you get being a mod and still do your Job, why not go for it? I can and do put up with it, so I'll certainly be applying to be a ResMod once I qualify for the job, which will be in around 2 months^^

Every Community needs mods, otherwise mayhem comes and takes over. The lindens can't run this community solo and you can't expect them to do so, they have enough to do (like Jeska with applications, the ones who code the programs, answering issues from users) I'm sure you'd prefer them to do their main Jobs in the forum than dealing with some Pillock posting crap in the forums when they can hire somebody else to do that.