Posted on 09/08/2001 4:56:20 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
That is a question many have asked - and it deserves some straight answers, removing rumor and setting the record straight about moderators, what they do, and why. This is not the expose some might hope the title promises, but it will tell you much you did not know, and much you need to know.
Up front, I’ll tell you that I am merely the first moderator to serve. Above that I am the least of the moderators in many ways, as all others serve FreeRepublic in stellar ways I could not hope to match. I serve as their trainer and support leader. Here, I am but the spokesperson and author of information I hope you will find interesting and of benefit to all who post on FreeRepublic.
A look at the history of moderators on FR, and the purposes for having them is a good place to start.
History of:
Moderators have been working on FR for about a year now, but until recently few knew they existed because they kept a fairly low profile and never directly communicated with their fellow FReepers with respect to duties. Their primary purpose was to keep the Sidebars free of lesser posts, leaving the best relevant news and editorial content possible in the limited space, but they also served in other important ways.
The job changed significantly when Jim Robinson was invited to come to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies convention in Texas to receive the Ronald Regan Freedom Award. He would be gone for two weeks, longer than any absence from maintaining the site ever before.
During the trip Jim’s son, John Robinson, and all moderators filled in for Jim in some way. This included a few posts as “Sidebar Moderator” or “Admin Moderator” on some threads, and FReepmail contacts with various users of the system. Frequent use of on-thread posting is limited for obvious reasons.
Prior to this people talked about the ‘posting police,’ but in general moderators and their activities were not common knowledge to many. But with this new visibility, in short order moderators became the subject de jure , and rumors began to fly.
New Abilities:
FreeRepublic currently enjoys an average of about 1800 new users per month. Many of these are prior disruptors who wish to harm the reputation of FR, or demean the users of it. It is not uncommon to see several of them per day - clogging up threads with posts designed to cause trouble, and posting foul messages of all kinds. Some merely have an axe to grind, some are vulgar and rude - but the worst come looking to make personal trouble for as many as possible.
Jim Robinson’s typical 16 hour day protected FReepers from the influence of such disruptors prior to his trip, so if moderators were to fill in - they needed new abilities. John Robinson wrote the software, then he and a scant few moderators manned a 24 hour day, 7 days a week effort during the trip. We quickly learned what Jim faced on a daily basis - quite an education!
Meanwhile a problem with Jim’s laptop prevented him from logging in to FreeRepublic until he got to Texas, where he told fellow FReepers he suffered from “serious withdrawal pains.” He was mostly kept from ‘freeping’ until he returned home - about which he commented recently, “...in the past whenever I took two or three days off to go to D.C. or wherever, I'd come home and it would usually take two or three days to get caught up. That was not so bad. But if you want to keep your sanity, NEVER take 14 days off. I've got unanswered email stacked to the rafters and it keeps pouring in! :) “
The Division of Tasking:
Since the number of moderators was (and will remain) quite small, and there was need to divide functional duties, the team was split into two levels - roughly along lines of experience. John named the levels Junior and Senior. That division was known only, and not explained until now, on the forum as Sidebar Moderator and Admin Moderator respectively.
Senior moderators needed to be able to do almost anything Jim could do. Junior moderators continue old tasks, yet support Seniors in new ones as well - and both needed to learn to use software still under development that continues today. Though a few mistakes were made, few noticed any major degradation due to frequent disruptor activities.
As a result, we were successful in relieving Jim of the load he carried, and permitted him to enjoy a relatively worry free and much deserved vacation, the longest he has experienced in a too many years. In addition, we hope to continue to afford him the ability to spend more leisure time with family, friends and fellow FReepers - an ability most of us enjoy, but that his unswerving dedication has denied.
Who Are We and How Many:
At the beginning, it was decided that total anonymity would be absolutely mandatory for several reasons. The obvious being that no one wanted to have their reputation on the forum compromised in any way by being known to be assisting Jim Robinson in maintenance duties.
Additional reasons for total anonymity include the desire to avoid any hint of public special relationship or status above any other user of the forum - and any activity of moderators publicly hinting of their participation would mean the end of it. All moderators are tasked with the duty to maintain their anonymity, and all must hold in strictest confidence any knowledge derived from their participation. None, for obvious reasons, have deviated from these practices. However for special circumstances my identity has been revealed to less than a handful who hold that information in confidence.
In fact, anonymity is so closely guarded that most do not even know who the other moderators are, and will not learn that information in the process of doing their assigned tasks. There are only three people who know who all are, Jim Robinson, John Robinson and myself. There is one deviation from that - Senior moderators work so closely together they have to know each other.
There are less than 10 moderators all told, split roughly in half by task and duty. Location of them across all US time zones aids in round-the-clock coverage. All of us work at the behest and oversight of Jim Robinson, and all work under a set of guidelines and practices. Each is trusted to use their judgement on close calls, and all of us are fallible human beings that make a few mistakes on occasion. Some of those mistakes are easily corrected without much ado - others have obviously become public in attempts at correction. However being public in what we do will continue to be minimal.
What we do:
As you know, there is often a need to pull posted threads that endanger FreeRepublic legally. Then there are the rather obvious and purposed planting of posts that can be used by major media to spoil the reputation and public perception of what FR is all about There are also many posted ‘articles’ (that are not articles) that are inappropriate and violate the posting guidelines of our host. There are many replies or posted comments made on threads that are inappropriate and need removal, saving otherwise constructive threads from disruption.
Incidentally - there are a few bad-apples who have abused the abuse button. These are those who goad or bait people, until they get a response in kind - and then hit the abuse button to dispense with their foes and look angelic in the process. That scam worked for a while - but we’re wise it now.Some users flout the rules of the house, manners and the rules of civility needed to maintain order - forcing appropriate action to curtail their activities. Moderators have the ability to deal appropriately - and if we err, Jim or John can remedy error as needed. Obviously, they can over-rule any of our decisions, and have fittingly done so.
Records have to be kept, abusers need to be contacted and encouraged to alter wayward ways, and advised of the consequences for failure to do so. People with various problems ask for help - and get it. Many accidently make multiple posts, and ask that one or more be removed. Some ask that we edit their posts - but we can’t do that, and have little time for it if we could. Others have made posts in anger, and soon after repented of what they said and asked for deletion.
In short, the daily hurly-burly activities here keep us pretty busy. We cool flame wars, and fight personal attacks. We provide services to benefit not only the goals and purposes set by our host, but to hundreds of individuals who frequent these pages.
The Real Heros:
The bottom line is that moderators aren’t the real heros who do the lion’s share of maintaining order on FreeRepublic. That honor rightfully rests with those who diligently keep their eyes pealed for the problems that beset us all - and hit the abuse button to alert us to those problems when they see them. Sure, we get plenty of abuse complaints that are misplaced or are lame, requiring no action whatever.
But, all are given rather quick attention (sometimes too quick,) as many of you have seen or experienced. It should be rare that you’ll see any major abuse continue very long. But that speed is the result of efforts of many who treasure what this place has to offer, and are quick to point to the out-of-place and the unacceptable. They are the unsung heros here, not I nor those who process their complaints.
We’ve noted who the best of the best are, and appreciate their exemplary efforts without which our job would be nothing at all - compared to the contribution these people make to the betterment of what makes this the best place on the Internet of its kind. To them all FReepers owe our greatest praise, and our greatest appreciation.
The Future:
We are still learning, John is still programming and we are still shaping what we do to better meet the needs of our host and all who trust this place to remain the best there is. Our goals are to be as permissive as possible and never partial or arbitrary. We are here to do what we can for our host, and for those who care deeply about this place. Our new abilities will continue, and new programming and practices will refine them. And we believe your input is a critical part of that effort.
Needless to say, I think we have a future. It is fitting that we communicate with you, and that you do with us, and our superiors. When you need to do that you can hit the abuse button on any thread and weigh in - your comments are seen, and often responded to via FRmail - perhaps sometimes not as quickly as you might desire. Don’t be surprised if we are a bit tardy at times. As I said, I don’t want a lot of us, nor do I think you do. If things are hot, FRmail drops to the bottom of the priority list.
Bottom line - you will determine our future by your support or lack of it. Jim is not deaf nor inattentive to your comments and complaints. He is probably the most forgiving man I have ever met, but as you well know, he does not hesitate to act if needed.
That’s the end of the expose about moderators to this point, I hope you found it useful and worthy of your time.
Do you have a problem with someone starting a thread about this new (to me) Top 100 articles link?
I think that it could be of considerable value for FReepers to explore which articles are most frequently viewed, and to discuss why.
But I would rather not start a thread that gets pulled. ;)
Do we call you Mr. or Ms. Moderator or is just Sidebar with your number okie dokie?
That may or may not be, but most came to consider those who ran from thread to thread dictating, shouting down, generally abusing JimRob's trust to be part of The Coven. There's one prominent screename left out, but I won't go there.
This moderator thing was way over due. I think anonymity would be the wise choice.
I have no problems with the "moderator thing" as you put it. The forum has grown to such an extent that Jim and John simply cannot handle the monitoring duties by themselves. As long as the moderators act in an impartial and balanced manner there should be no problems.
I do have concerns about people trying to introduce their own personal agenda into the forum under the guise of anonymity. The moderators should be held responsible and accountable for their actions.
Agreed.
"Your 'expose' didn't explain some things. Can you clarify? If you've been doing this for one year, what changed to compel you (all) to come forward? You cite examples to show why FR (Jim and John, really) need assistance *now, and yet you state that you've already been providing this for approximately one year. Shouldn't you already have a handle on this kind of thing by now?
There is some concern about people beyond Jim and John having access to participant's personal information, including email and ISP stuff. Was this already answered somewhere else?
When you state that records are being kept, what kind of records do you mean, and who is keeping them? And for how long? Is each moderator assigned a group of people to monitor, or how exactly does it work?
What constitutes a 'flame' (war)? Is this left to the individual moderator to determine, or are there written guidelines spelling them out, which will/are followed?
I think the idea of various anonymous moderators is a bad idea. Jim uses HIS name which is very visible-we all use screen names that are recognizable. "Moderators" should too, imo. Having said that, since it IS Jim's forum, he gets to choose how it works, and has."
It's not the end of the world, of course--most forums have moderators. Having said that, I think these are reasonable questions-obviously, providing answers is not mandatory....
The coven was what I said it was.
... but most came to consider those who ran from thread to thread dictating, shouting down, generally abusing JimRob's trust to be part of The Coven.
No, the Coven was composed of three witches and whenever they got into a jam, the pimps came running to their defense regardless of the issue. By January 1999, there were many such derelicts.
There's one prominent screename left out, but I won't go there.
Yes, yours.
You are so wrong. I was already on the outs with all those you named because I refused to "kiss the ring" of the high priestess. But then you knew that.
Since you're so highly regarded around these parts, what's your take on the Moderator thing?
"Your 'expose' didn't explain some things. Can you clarify? If you've been doing this for one year, what changed to compel you (all) to come forward? You cite examples to show why FR (Jim and John, really) need assistance *now, and yet you state that you've already been providing this for approximately one year. Shouldn't you already have a handle on this kind of thing by now?
We were acting strictly as sidebar moderators before Jim left on his trip to Texas. The only thing we could do was remove articles from the sidebar, but not from the forum. It was solely Jim's decision to keep our presence hidden as was the decision to announce our presence.
There is some concern about people beyond Jim and John having access to participant's personal information, including email and ISP stuff. Was this already answered somewhere else?
We do not have access to that sort of stuff. The Senior Admin Moderator may have, but he/she will have to speak to it.
When you state that records are being kept, what kind of records do you mean, and who is keeping them? And for how long? Is each moderator assigned a group of people to monitor, or how exactly does it work?
A log is kept for every abuse report. A place is provided for the moderators or Jim or John to make a comment in that log, similar to what you do if you submit an abuse report. There is also a log of actions taken against individual users for us to refer to if we want to know if someone is a repeat offender. I have no idea how long the log files stay available. That's up to Jim and John. We do not each monitor groups of people or threads. We rely solely on abuse reports and occasionally we will see a problem in the course of normal FReeping and act on it.
What constitutes a 'flame' (war)? Is this left to the individual moderator to determine, or are there written guidelines spelling them out, which will/are followed?
A 'flame war' is pretty obvious once you've seen some. Calling a flame war is up to the discretion of the moderator, but all moderators can look at all abuse reports and if they feel strongly enough, over rule a previous moderator.
I think the idea of various anonymous moderators is a bad idea. Jim uses HIS name which is very visible-we all use screen names that are recognizable. "Moderators" should too, imo.
It was Jim's decision to have us anonymous and I support it. What we do may not be visible to the forum at large, but Jim and John can review and change any action we take. So far, they have been supportive of our calls.
Having said that, since it IS Jim's forum, he gets to choose how it works, and has." It's not the end of the world, of course--most forums have moderators. Having said that, I think these are reasonable questions-obviously, providing answers is not mandatory....
I don't think questions about the moderators are unreasonable and will attempt to answer any I see. In fact, they can be beneficial as we modify how we use the powers Jim has given us.
Let me expand a little on this one.
A year or more ago, the sidebars were totally out of control and many people complained to Jim about it. Jim didn't have the time or the inclination to try to deal with the sidebars and was going to do away with them.
Someone Jim trusted volunteered to monitor them and John came up with a program to do just that. That 'someone' recruited a few of us to help out, and that's what we did and continue to do. I guess Jim gained some trust in us by observing us in action for a year or more and now he's given us a little more authority to help him out.
If the conditions you stated are true, I don't know the answer. If you have a specific post in mind, I can look back and see what happened.
Do we call you Mr. or Ms. Moderator or is just Sidebar with your number okie dokie?
I'm a Mr. sidebar moderator and I honestly don't know about the others. We don't know each other.
To page us on a thread, use either 'sidebar moderator' or 'admin moderator'. Those are our screen names which each level of us share. We have assigned numbers to keep each other straight and we're hoping for a better software solution in the future to separate us. It gets confusing logging off and on from sidebar moderator to our normal screen names and monitoring two freepmail accounts and doing self-search on two userids.
I'm sure you didn't mean to infer that you have plans to modify the use of the powers that Jim bestowed upon you , did you?
We can't modify the powers or the guidelines we have. But, we are in constant communication with Jim and John and each other about how we are using them and if we need to change our ways.
I was given the number 4 so that I could identify myself in communication between sidebar moderators. Can you imagine a thread with all from's and to's addressed as 'sidebar moderator? Gets pretty messy. I am not privy to any plan to change how we are identified if there is one. So for now, 1=1, 2=2,...etc. in all correspondence. The flaw in this system is in always remembering to plug the number into our replies. It's not automatic.
As you can see in my reply #134
You'll have to address that request to Jim or John, we have absolutely NOTHING to do with banners or messages posted on the latest posts page.
Please advise AdminMod that while others have asked for direct answers to questions which seem to have perplexed the Moderator Crew, I have merely requested a retraction of Message 79. Perhaps my request in Message 119 was missed since it was so rudely hijacked.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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