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I honestly don't pay much attention to the boards anymore. But I'd like to use this as an opportunity to nominate Knast as moderator of the chat. If you're willing to consider a chat moderator, that is. I think it could really use one and I can think of no better candidate.

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Is there something about the way the forum is currently moderated that you aren't happy with David? Are the current moderators and admins being relieved?

It would be helpful if you gave us more information, so we, the forum members, can better assess your offer and what it entails.

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I haven't concerned myself much with moderation of this forum. I have heard complaints about how it has been moderated now and again but I have not been on the wrong end of it if there has been any poor moderation, nor have I heard specifics of any of these supposed cases so I cannot say anything about that.

However I really would have to agree with Amaroq that we badly need a moderator in the chatroom, the majority of the people that frequent there seem to agree at this point on this matter. In fact the majority of the people that don't agree are the people that I am certain would be the ones moderated.... The ignore function simply does not do the job based on the specific problems we have been having. We have actually had about 7 people this last month and a half, new people, that didn't post on the forums (but I think read them) but really enjoyed the chat feature, because it gives them a way to truly interact with other Oists in real time, which is great for people that don't have any around their area....well...they were run off. I have not seen a single one of them again, because they just could not deal with the constant trolling etc. The chat room is a great place when these people (delinquents rather) can handle themselves or are not around, but the rest of the time it is frustrating. People do not put the users on ignore when they should and so I end up having to ignore most of the chatroom when these outbreaks happen, in which case I might as well not even be there. We simply cannot afford to be losing people that may be interested in Objectivism and find the chatroom to be an essential component of that process to be run off by these idiots that cannot handle themselves like adults. I mean hell, my own girlfriend only went in there a few times because she got frustrated with it, even though she really liked some of the people there and felt she was learning some valuable things.

So I am begging you to consider placing two people as moderators in the chatroom, so that we can have the entire time cycle covered fairly well. I personally would suggest Knast and Dwayne for that.

They are both level headed people that are more than fit for that job and they, together, cover the majority of the 24 hours with their presence. I am not saying we need to start banning people, we can have certain rules for them for what they can do to users who need to be moderated, and we can put specific chat room rules up in a post on the forums or something, but I think this needs to be done. It can be just kicking users, or 1 day or few hour suspensions max or whatever works out. This is the only active Oist chatroom I am aware of, there are several well trafficked forums around the internet but I enjoy this one the most regarding both the content and the people, and I think the chatroom is a bit undervalued by people here regarding its utility and its importance to the overall online Oist community. I honestly think that chatroom would get substantially more traffic after a while, and in turn, these forums, if it was properly moderated in some fashion.

Edited by CapitalistSwine
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I honestly don't pay much attention to the boards anymore. But I'd like to use this as an opportunity to nominate Knast as moderator of the chat. If you're willing to consider a chat moderator, that is. I think it could really use one and I can think of no better candidate.

Seconded! :)

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I haven't concerned myself much with moderation of this forum. I have heard complaints about how it has been moderated now and again but I have not been on the wrong end of it if there has been any poor moderation, nor have I heard specifics of any of these supposed cases so I cannot say anything about that.

However I really would have to agree with Amaroq that we badly need a moderator in the chatroom, the majority of the people that frequent there seem to agree at this point on this matter. In fact the majority of the people that don't agree are the people that I am certain would be the ones moderated.... The ignore function simply does not do the job based on the specific problems we have been having. We have actually had about 7 people this last month and a half, new people, that didn't post on the forums (but I think read them) but really enjoyed the chat feature, because it gives them a way to truly interact with other Oists in real time, which is great for people that don't have any around their area....well...they were run off. I have not seen a single one of them again, because they just could not deal with the constant trolling etc. The chat room is a great place when these people (delinquents rather) can handle themselves or are not around, but the rest of the time it is frustrating. People do not put the users on ignore when they should and so I end up having to ignore most of the chatroom when these outbreaks happen, in which case I might as well not even be there. We simply cannot afford to be losing people that may be interested in Objectivism and find the chatroom to be an essential component of that process to be run off by these idiots that cannot handle themselves like adults. I mean hell, my own girlfriend only went in there a few times because she got frustrated with it, even though she really liked some of the people there and felt she was learning some valuable things.

So I am begging you to consider placing two people as moderators in the chatroom, so that we can have the entire time cycle covered fairly well. I personally would suggest Knast and Dwayne for that.

They are both level headed people that are more than fit for that job and they, together, cover the majority of the 24 hours with their presence. I am not saying we need to start banning people, we can have certain rules for them for what they can do to users who need to be moderated, and we can put specific chat room rules up in a post on the forums or something, but I think this needs to be done. It can be just kicking users, or 1 day or few hour suspensions max or whatever works out. This is the only active Oist chatroom I am aware of, there are several well trafficked forums around the internet but I enjoy this one the most regarding both the content and the people, and I think the chatroom is a bit undervalued by people here regarding its utility and its importance to the overall online Oist community. I honestly think that chatroom would get substantially more traffic after a while, and in turn, these forums, if it was properly moderated in some fashion.

I could not agree more! :)

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I'd have to agree with both Amaroq and CapitalistSwine. Since you're already considering moderators, now might be a good time to consider chatroom moderators as well. The trolling is simply getting out of control there. It's hard to have a serious conversation when you have a number of well known (at least to the chat users) trolls active in the chatroom.

I can't say exactly who I'd like as a moderator. There are several good members who frequent the place. Dwayne (Prometheus98876), Eiuol, and Knast are all good possibilities to me.

I also would have to agree with Myself's post. I'm on the forum almost every day, at least looking around a bit, though I only post when I think that I have something to contribute that hasn't been said already. I may be interested in a position, but I'm not sure what exactly is desired.

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I agree with everything CS says. I have nothing against being a moderator in the chat, if the majority of the chatters think that would be a good idea. There should, obviously, be some explicit rules so people know what can get them into trouble. Whoever the moderator is, he or she should have _limited_ powers to stop trolls. This to minimize the risk that the moderator/moderators would abuse their power. Kicking for a day or hours should be enough. Banning is overkill and tragic if abused. (One suggestion: If the moderator is not around and somebody wants the moderator to act, then there must be objective evidence in the form of witnesses and quotes from the chat.)

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(One suggestion: If the moderator is not around and somebody wants the moderator to act, then there must be objective evidence in the form of witnesses and quotes from the chat.)

Of course there can be other ways to handle this, but my personal way of dealing with that in the past is to use a free program that is light weight, I know there are others like it, called screenshot captor. Just can take pictures of your screen or parts of it and that is usually a good form of evidence.

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Chat is logged. So, as long as the person reporting the offence can give even a single line with the time, the chat-moderator will be able to narrow down to the relevant part of the logs. Even with an approximate time, it is not too hard.

I think a chat mod is a good idea.

Edited by softwareNerd
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I honestly don't pay much attention to the boards anymore. But I'd like to use this as an opportunity to nominate Knast as moderator of the chat. If you're willing to consider a chat moderator, that is. I think it could really use one and I can think of no better candidate.

Agreed here. Knast would make a great moderator for chat! :)

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... please don't put the party poopers...
Chat is a more impromptu and informal medium than the forum, so the rules there might need to be slightly different. "Party pooping" is pretty vague, but if anyone has suggestions for special rules that might work well in chat, please feel free to suggest them (in a different thread).

The forum moderators decided to make Knast chat moderator, based on recommendations and past history.

Let's take this thread back to GC's original subject: volunteers to be Forum moderators, and start a new topic if there are any chat-specific comments.

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If you would like to be a moderator of this forum, please let me know. If you are not happy with the way this forum is run, this is your chance to influence it.

I am in principle interested in being a moderator, but I don't know exactly what is involved.

Mindy Newton

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The only reason I didn't nominate Dwayne alongside Knast is because Dwayne is having computer troubles lately and can't seem to stay connected to the chat. But I think that he would be a great moderator along with Knast. I think he's going to get a new computer soon so his ability to be in the chat should become more reliable.

(Of course, these are just nominations. Those who are nominated should want to do this voluntarily for selfish reasons.)

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I'm not sure I wanna be a mod, but please don't put the party poopers Dwayne and Knast in.

Excuse me...I have never once been guilty of this. At least not of pooping any party that did not warrant beeing "pooped. Carl and me have often protested against extremely disruptive users and their behaviour or anything that is really stupid ; however not once have we ruined anyones fun, nor have we been able to really. I dont appreciate silly charges being made against me or Carl.

Though while it is slightly offtopic, I would like to suggest that a second chat mod would be potentally handy for when Carl isnt around ( which I think is quite a bit of the time when the chat is fairly busy ). I would be fine with this as I am often ( not during the last few weeks though due to technical issues which are resolved) around quite a lot most days. Though at the same time, it is possible that Carl is / intends to be around enough so that a second mod is not required.

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Like I said, comments like that are from the people that were afraid to be moderated. The two people that are on frequent enough that are level-headed enough to be a 2nd mod would be Dwayne (Prometheus, the poster just above) or Mikee.

Edited by CapitalistSwine
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Like I said, comments like that are from the people that were afraid to be moderated. The two people that are on frequent enough that are level-headed enough to be a 2nd mod would be Dwayne (Prometheus, the poster just above) or Mikee.

I second that.

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I am in principle interested in being a moderator, but I don't know exactly what is involved.

Mindy Newton

You said in the chatroom you were leaving, wanted your account deleted, and had no interest in staying here not long ago. Do you aspire to have a career as some sort of ninja? Either stay or leave but please do make up your mind. The fact that so many people on this board seem to have some sort of issue with you (which I cannot gleam merely from looking up your post history) suggests that there is likely a reason why you are not suitable for a moderator position, no disrespect intended. I mean I have gotten into some pretty heated arguments on sensitive subjects on here yet I have not managed to pull anywhere near the straight out disrespect that you seem to have been receiving from a handful of people on here, many of them individuals that I have intellectual respect for and that have been here for quite some time. All of them people that I (or anyone else from what I can tell) have not been able to stir up in any way near what you seem to have managed. I have been pondering whether or not the start of this thread had something to do with recent events regarding your desire to leave, in which case it would not be appropriate for you to apply for the position in any manner in the first place. That is all I have to say about this given by lack of knowledge given events that have occurred.

Edited by CapitalistSwine
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You said in the chatroom you were leaving, wanted your account deleted, and had no interest in staying here not long ago. Do you aspire to have a career as some sort of ninja? Either stay or leave but please do make up your mind. The fact that so many people on this board seem to have some sort of issue with you (which I cannot gleam merely from looking up your post history) suggests that there is likely a reason why you are not suitable for a moderator position, no disrespect intended. I mean I have gotten into some pretty heated arguments on sensitive subjects on here yet I have not managed to pull anywhere near the straight out disrespect that you seem to have been receiving from a handful of people on here, many of them individuals that I have intellectual respect for and that have been here for quite some time. All of them people that I (or anyone else from what I can tell) have not been able to stir up in any way near what you seem to have managed. I have been pondering whether or not the start of this thread had something to do with recent events regarding your desire to leave, in which case it would not be appropriate for you to apply for the position in any manner in the first place. That is all I have to say about this given by lack of knowledge given events that have occurred.

I don't know what you are talking about. I did not say I was leaving, or contemplating leaving. Nothing of the sort. I can't imagine what you are talking about. Could you identify the incident, so chat records could be checked?

No, I am not popular when I point out people's fallacies, etc. But that is a comment on them, not me. My posts are all extant. If you can't judge for yourself if I am knowledgeable and reasonable, it is a shame, but I stand by what I've written, and am willing to defend it.

This sort of thing is revealing as to what people value. I am surprised you, CapSwine, defer to your friends' opinions on a matter you can judge for yourself perfectly well. Of course, you and I did have that argument on chat...

If being a moderator is a matter of being popular, that's a different matter.

Mindy

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Aside to Mindy and CS: I suspect CS is mixing up Mindy with another member who recently said -- in chat -- that she was leaving. (I base this on a couple of PMs that she sent me, saying so.)

Back on topic, I'm starting to wonder if this thread can be made more productive. Here is my suggestion for making it so: I suggest that rather than people merely volunteering to be Mods, they should speak to the things they would like to be able to do as Mods on the forum. I think it would be great to have new moderators who bring new enthusiasm and new ideas. So, I'd be interested in what types of new ideas a prospective moderator would like to implement. Nothing detailed; even a couple of sentences along the lines of: "I'd like to see moderators do XYZ, and I'd like to volunteer to make it happen".

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I suggest that rather than people merely volunteering to be Mods, they should speak to the things they would like to be able to do as Mods on the forum. I think it would be great to have new moderators who bring new enthusiasm and new ideas. So, I'd be interested in what types of new ideas a prospective moderator would like to implement. Nothing detailed; even a couple of sentences along the lines of: "I'd like to see moderators do XYZ, and I'd like to volunteer to make it happen".

I'd like to see a forum in which moderators or rules helped point out when germane questions or arguments are left unanswered; and where previous discussions on the forum are referenced or summarized, so as to shed light on the current discussion--with the exception, possibly of "newly" newbie's questions.

I would like the formal rules to be up-to-date, and enforced, where possible, or modified.

Perhaps a buddy system for newcomers who want it, someone who knows how to work everything on the site, and, also, who can discuss why the newbie is getting different responses than they anticipated. Explain fallacies, give help with expressing themselves so as to get their point across, that sort of thing.

What about an overview of logical terms, fallacies, etc., as they are frequently seen here, though that would be a few pages of content, not a moderator function.

Other than two closed threads, I've never seen a moderator do anything. If moderators' actions (or some of them) were public, their presence and the reality of the rules would be believable.

Mindy

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Damn, you are correct I did, somehow (I am oblivious as to how I made such a mistake) think of the wrong person in this instance.

As a result everyone can ignore my comments in my last post and I hope that Mindy will accept the deepest possible of apologies from me. I don't know if I just had some kind of momentary brain blank-out or what... :dough: and I should have been more careful and double-checked that I was addressing the correct person. Again I am deeply sorry about that. :(

In fact, if a moderator could delete that post of mine so no one thinks poorly of Mindy for no good reason that reads it that would be much appreciated.

"What about an overview of logical terms, fallacies, etc., as they are frequently seen here, though that would be a few pages of content, not a moderator function."

I have often thought this was a good idea. I would also like to see one on incorrect statements on Rand/Objectivism in general that are frequently brought up by non-oists or even Oists...that has been attempted twice by myself and someone a few months before me and people were squabbling over the supposed senselessness of it (why they would care if anyone else was willing to participate if they don't think it is a worthwhile venture is beyond me) which ended up just causing the threads to derail and never get anywhere.

Edited by CapitalistSwine
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