Has anyone thought that maybe the Southeast Regional Board needs a new mod? Florida hasn't logged on to the forum since May of 2021, almost 2 years ago.
The fact that that mod position hasn't really been missed should maybe give you an idea of how necessary it is.
Quote from: US 89 on February 08, 2023, 04:58:36 PM
The fact that that mod position hasn't really been missed should maybe give you an idea of how necessary it is.
Probably should just remove them then, it could cause some confusion to new users.
Same can be said about the Canada board. They might need a new mod there since Alps appears to have resigned as a mod and is now a regular board member.
There's an inactive admin (last login is current but hasn't posted for months). Since all admins were offline during the Crash_It incident, this indicates that we have too few, and we might need a new one.
Note on what was previously reply #14: I deleted it because it would lead to this thread being locked. Current #14 and #15 went in a different, safer, direction, so I deleted mine.
Quote from: 1 on February 08, 2023, 05:14:45 PM
There's an inactive admin (last login is current but hasn't posted for months). Since all admins were offline during the Crash_It incident, this indicates that we have too few, and we might need a new one.
Flaroads. Didn't bring them up as they could still be moderating in the shadows without posting.
Quote from: 1 on February 08, 2023, 05:14:45 PM
There's an inactive admin (last login is current but hasn't posted for months). Since all admins were offline during the Crash_It incident, this indicates that we have too few, and we might need a new one.
I think "all mods are currently offline" is a situation that is pretty much normal for websites not run by corporate entities. We had round the clock coverage here by accident, because I happen to be nocturnal.
Can we rename Admins to Grand Alans?
Quote from: JoePCool14 on February 08, 2023, 07:16:48 PM
Can we rename Admins to Grand Alans?
There is but one Grand Alan.
Quote from: 1 on February 08, 2023, 05:14:45 PM
There's an inactive admin (last login is current but hasn't posted for months). Since all admins were offline during the Crash_It incident, this indicates that we have too few, and we might need a new one.
The mods have lives and one shouldn't expect them to be available 24/7. I've seen people gripe about Facebook group or page mods/admins not immediately acting to remove spam or spammers, delete problematic posts or threads, ect. That's an unrealistic expectation for someone who just does things in their spare time.
And the "Crash_It" incident" -- I'm just going to go ahead and say this and I don't really care how many feathers it ruffles. Why was there a need to immediately respond to it? What was so pressing that it warranted prompt attention? Nothing, really. And I'm going to state for the record that it is my belief that there was no need to ban him over that incident. Yes, I thought he was mostly a jerk, but people probably think that about me. His problematic posts could have been deleted, and he could have been given a public or private admonishment, but banning was a step too far. Granted, his content wsn't great, but he was and is a content producer.
This forum doesn't store delicate information like users' credit card or bank account information. I can honestly see no reason for an immediate response for anything that happens here. There's no need for a mod/admin to be available 24/7. Honestly, what could happen overnight that couldn't wait until the next morning to handle?
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PM
His problematic posts could have been deleted, and he could have been given a public or private admonishment, but banning was a step too far.
I mean, we'd already warned him seven times before, so...
I honestly thought he'd been banned already and was rather disappointed to see him back...
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PM
I can honestly see no reason for an immediate response for anything that happens here. There's no need for a mod/admin to be available 24/7. Honestly, what could happen overnight that couldn't wait until the next morning to handle?
I must confess that the Crash_It incident is fairly mild on the spectrum of things that I can think of happening that would require immediate attention. There have been much more explosive situations that I can recall, and probably more that I'm not aware of.
The problems he'd had in the past are important context though. No doubt it was somewhat of a "last straw" situation.
Crash_It is just a scam artist. His world view was deplorable and he has nobody to blame but himself for being exorcised.
People have been sternly warned (but not banned) for stereotyping hotel owners of a certain nationality...
Honestly, the modmins probably had wanted to ban him for a long time, but unfortunately being an idiot and going on about how not-flat Illinois is isn't against forum rules. This was the excuse they'd been looking for.
Quote from: US 89 on February 08, 2023, 08:58:52 PM
People have been sternly warned (but not banned) for stereotyping hotel owners of a certain nationality...
Honestly, the modmins probably had wanted to ban him for a long time, but unfortunately being an idiot and going on about how not-flat Illinois is isn't against forum rules. This was the excuse they'd been looking for.
The amusing thing off forum was that he tried to rebrand after getting so much backlash from the flat-Illinois thing and bad driver videos. He couldn't rebrand himself here though, or at least he never requested a name change.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 08, 2023, 07:49:02 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PM
His problematic posts could have been deleted, and he could have been given a public or private admonishment, but banning was a step too far.
I mean, we'd already warned him seven times before, so...
I did not know that. Then again, I don't read every thread so the warnings could have been made in posts I didn't read.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PMAnd the "Crash_It" incident" -- I'm just going to go ahead and say this and I don't really care how many feathers it ruffles. Why was there a need to immediately respond to it? What was so pressing that it warranted prompt attention?
The immediate need was probably to lock the thread as opposed to needing to take modmin action against him immediately, before the thread turned into even more of a dumpster fire. If someone felt the need to email Scott at his personal email address, so be it. Scott didn't have to answer it or do anything about it immediately, but he did. Not really sure why you're second-guessing what was ultimately his decision.
I moderate a FB tag group and we try to have 24-hour coverage (mods in each time zone in the US, plus a handful of mods in Australia), but that's more to prevent the group from getting zucc'ed than any immediate need to address problematic content.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 09, 2023, 09:35:16 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 08, 2023, 07:49:02 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PM
His problematic posts could have been deleted, and he could have been given a public or private admonishment, but banning was a step too far.
I mean, we'd already warned him seven times before, so...
I did not know that. Then again, I don't read every thread so the warnings could have been made in posts I didn't read.
Formal warnings are sent privately, and are generally not also publicly announced, to avoid drawing undue attention to the user. (There are two reasons for this: if the user is operating on good faith and simply messed up, it allows them to save face; if they are more malicious, the reasons outlined in the Wikipedia essay WP:DENY (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deny_recognition) come into play.) So even if you read every thread Crash_It ever posted in, you wouldn't know about it.
Quote from: abefroman329 on February 09, 2023, 04:36:49 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PMAnd the "Crash_It" incident" -- I'm just going to go ahead and say this and I don't really care how many feathers it ruffles. Why was there a need to immediately respond to it? What was so pressing that it warranted prompt attention?
The immediate need was probably to lock the thread as opposed to needing to take modmin action against him immediately, before the thread turned into even more of a dumpster fire. If someone felt the need to email Scott at his personal email address, so be it. Scott didn't have to answer it or do anything about it immediately, but he did. Not really sure why you're second-guessing what was ultimately his decision.
The message I got just happened to arrive about the time I was waking up, so it was the first thing I saw. Given that I do my first forum check of the day around the same time, it probably affected the time that I showed up by all of about ten minutes or so.
Quote from: BlueOutback7 on February 08, 2023, 05:11:22 PM
Same can be said about the Canada board. They might need a new mod there since Alps appears to have resigned as a mod and is now a regular board member.
I can still mod it, but truth be told there's been really nothing to mod.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PMHonestly, what could happen overnight that couldn't wait until the next morning to handle?
Legal threats, imminent self-harm talk, objectionable or illegal content, threats to harm/ kill others, doxing, DMCA stuff, outing, etc. Just guessing...
Quote from: on_wisconsin on February 18, 2023, 09:28:51 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PMHonestly, what could happen overnight that couldn't wait until the next morning to handle?
Legal threats, imminent self-harm talk, objectionable or illegal content, threats to harm/ kill others, doxing, DMCA stuff, outing, etc. Just guessing...
Cats and dogs living together -- mass hysteria!
Quote from: on_wisconsin on February 18, 2023, 09:28:51 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 08, 2023, 07:36:16 PMHonestly, what could happen overnight that couldn't wait until the next morning to handle?
Legal threats, imminent self-harm talk, objectionable or illegal content, threats to harm/ kill others, doxing, DMCA stuff, outing, etc. Just guessing...
And what among any of those things, horrible as some of them are, require immediate response from a volunteer admin/mod of a forum on which participation is voluntary, there is no paid staff, and no binding terms of service (such as you see on Facebook or Twitter) agreement is in place?
All of those are serious enough I would like to respond to them immediately if it's at all possible for me to do so. It's just that it's not always practical to do so.