How are ATS Moderators chosen?

a reply to: IAMTAT

Any time a moderator, super or not, is in thread, posting to the topic, they are there as members. Any thread that we participate in, we are forbidden to moderate. By all means come at us as you would anyone else, as long as it's civil and within the T&C.

a reply to: soulpowertothendegree

i thought it was rock paper hammock?

The bare bone of selection...

A member that was shown over time a passion and commitment to ATS. They can ( and usually have ) deal with subjects in a rational manner, even if their side of an argument is in the minority. They don't have to have a clean record, I can think of at least two mods who were a hairs width from being banned from here at one point in their membership.

What they do have to have as the ability to be impartial, regardless of what their stance may be on any subject and the ability to recuse themselves from a discussion amongst staff if they know that their bias will affect their judgement.( I have done this, as have most staff )

You don't need to be a "popular" member, whatever that means, you just have to stand out amongst the crowd. What makes you stand out, well that's fairly common sense. I'm sure most people could figure it out.

Hierarchy, if you can call it that, is Mods/Supers/Admins/Owners. It really isn't a hierarchy, we all discuss things on an equal basis. The only time that any sort of hierarchy comes into play is certain actions require a certain status, meaning only an owner can do certain things and so on.

That's it in a nutshell.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I am so glad I am not a mod - for that reason exactly. I firmly disagree with many topics... especially on the encouragement of guns in the streets and of revolutions. If I were a mod, I think my beliefs would clash with my moderation duties. I lost count of all these ad hominem attacks I suffered and which I secretly dreamed I could delete to teach the poster a lesson about civility.

I admire your impartiality - you make a great mod. Whereas I fear I would be a natural catastrophe to too many posters...

..... I still have nightmares....

a reply to: swanne

That's one reason that everything we do is done by concensus. The most important thing in what we do however, is the T&C. That's what it's all about.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hm, good point. You are right indeed.

All the more reasons to recognize the validity of this strategy.

Thanks for the insight!

originally posted by: SLAYER69

originally posted by: IAMTAT

Who do you report to...or receive direction from?

They get their orders from Larry Tate?

a reply to: violet

You're not wrong really, but many of us have very strong views that definitely tip the scales one direction or another.

Generally, we're fairly mellow in expressing our opinions, but we do have, like many of you, very strong opinions on certain topics. If you look at our posting histories you'll find out where most of us stand on various topics.

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: violet

You're not wrong really, but many of us have very strong views that definitely tip the scales one direction or another.

Generally, we're fairly mellow in expressing our opinions, but we do have, like many of you, very strong opinions on certain topics. If you look at our posting histories you'll find out where most of us stand on various topics.

And that is as it should be.
Still, one can't argue that it is potentially a bit intimidating when a member goes up against a Mod or Super Mod in a discussion...risking bad feelings, all the while knowing that they have the power to penalize (even at a future date...in a future discussion)...when an average 'member' does not possess that same ability.

a reply to: IAMTAT

I remember it well, before I was on staff. I ran up against a couple of mods in discussions/arguments. It is, or can be, intimidating.

But I can safely say, none of us will ever use the title against anyone. Because it can go away as easily as it came, easier, in fact... As has happened in the past.

If we get too big for our britches? Mark, Bill, Stephen, and a few others won't hesitate a heartbeat to remove us. From staff, or even from the board totally.

So never fear that. Fear our arguments, instead.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Legendary

Hilarious.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
Still, one can't argue that it is potentially a bit intimidating when a member goes up against a Mod or Super Mod in a discussion...risking bad feelings, all the while knowing that they have the power to penalize (even at a future date...in a future discussion)...when an average 'member' does not possess that same ability.

There is the ability of members to put in a complaint if there is a feeling that a moderator is penalizing unfairly.

Believe me on these two things:

1) While uncommon to see such a complaint come to us, it is...

2) Seriously looked into by all of staff and often responded to by a private message.

On a personal note, I find it disheartening that when a moderator opines in a public thread, there is a feeling that a member cannot go against that opinion for fear of retribution. That's just sad. I know this happens and all I can say is that it often holds me back from posting publicly.

It is one of the most difficult parts of being a staffer.

a reply to: IAMTAT

When it comes to good debate, I only have one thing to say.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It IS fun, isn't it?
At the end of the day...Mems, Mods & Super Mods,...we're all here for the same thing; a good and challenging meeting of the minds.
Just keep on keepin' the trolls and operatives at bay.

This has been a very interesting thread!

There is one part that I wanted to add my thoughts to and that is the process of "who mods what."

For the past few years I have been responsible for the "Forum Assignments" for our mods. I remember when the senior staff had the sad task of taking over responsibilities for our beloved Admin Emeritus WilliamOneSac and I thought to myself how hard can it be to assign forums? All you need to do is just make sure each forum has some coverage and you're good to go! Yeah... not quite. While ATS is certainly a passion for me I can assure you the process is a rather lengthy and complex one.

I'll use Zaphod as an example since a member mentioned him on the previous page. Zaphod is certainly an expert on all topics Aviation. I don't think anyone who's spent time in that forum can question that. So you'd think that he'd be great to mod that forum. The problem is that just the opposite is true. He would be the absolute worst person to moderate Aviation topics.

The reason I say this is because ATS has a very firm rule that a mod can not perform any staff action, whether it be a warning, a post removal, closing a thread etc if he/she has participated in that thread. We established that policy to prevent even the slightest perception of bias. Zaphod disagrees with my theory that I can fly a hang glider to from NY to Switzerland so he closed my thread, that bully. Etc etc. Granted there will always be complaints about something, that's life, but we try to avoid blatant ones.

So really when it comes to assigning forums, I don't want to ruin ATS for our mods. If I assign Zaphod the Aviation forum he is left with a choice between two options: 1) Stop participating so he can mod, 2) Keep participating and never be able to mod.

Neither of those choices is acceptable to us. When someone is kind enough to accept the offer to mod for us it would be terribly unfair for us to make their time on ATS less enjoyable.

So... assignments are a balancing act. Luckily we have enough staff to cover, and by the way a current list of staff is available on the main forum page here on the left side underneath "Board Stats." That roster is always up to date.

I hope that helps clarify how we determine who mods what parts of the board.

A few other blurbs I saw...

Supermod a senior member of staff who has rights to perform mod actions in all of the forums on ATS as opposed to a list of assigned forums.

No, no one gets paid, although I really wish that could one day change because the amount of time and effort that our staff puts in is really incalculable.

If there's anything else I can shed some light on that my colleagues haven't covered in previous pages please feel free to ask.

Well ATS has changed over the years. I was brought onto the staff almost 11 years ago. I still believe that they brought me on to shut me up. It didn't work.

as a left of center member, who is boisterous and sarcastic, in both tone and rhetoric, I have nothing to fear as to becoming a moderator....when most of the messages I get are "ill-mannered" and "warning" it's evidently clear. I admire any moderator that has the patience and emotional control required for the job...maybe alcohol helps too, who knows.....geez, I even had to go back in and moderate (edit) myself in this post.

Good answers from other staff/administrators!

I think it's important for everyone to know we're serious when we mention that decisions are made as a group. If your post is removed or thread closed -- more than one us had to agree to it. We're a diverse group, and that's a good thing for everyone.

Oh, and use the complaint button! We try to be on here when we can, but we miss things sometimes -- you guys act as extra eyes and ears!

As for me and why/how I'm on the staff? The conspiracy side of me sometimes thinks the powers that be just want to keep a closer eye on me. . .

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

I thought you were a mod at one time. I went away for a year or so because of lost internet connection and came back to see that you're a regular member.