[wlug_org] List moderation

[Ewen McNeill]

The events of the last couple of weeks have indicated (to me at least)
that we really need a better way of "moderating" the main list to try to
curtail the flamewars about breaches of "the rules" and what "the rules" are.

Mark Foster suggested that the NZLUG/AuckLUG approach of having a small
team of list moderators, with the mana to moderate the list, seemed to
work well.  A small team both so that there was usually someone
available to act promptly, and also so there were people to discuss an
issue with (or for someone who felt wronged by a moderation to ask about
it).

The approach used is to handle most situations off the list,
individually with the person, and try to limit posts to the list to
"This has been taken care of" and "This thread is now over" and the
like, allowing the list to continue with more normal discussion and to
discourage flamewars breaking out.

I've mentioned this idea off list to a few people and they seemed
generally in favour of it, save concerns about the definition of my 
"no advertising" request.  We seem to have settled on "no advertising,
for profit or otherwise, without prior approval of the list moderators"
as a defintion, possibly augmented with some guidelines for moderators
as to what might be appropriate notwithstanding the fact that it is
advertising.

In terms of people Jeremy has already been playing this role to some
extent (especially recently), although sometimes his job means that he's
unavailable for a while.  I'd also suggest that Brend Wood and Tony
Wills have the necessary regular presence and mana in the eyes of the
group to play this role, if they're willing to assist. 

I think the ideal number would be about 2-4 people to ensure there's
always someone around, but not too large a group that they can't easily
agree on things amongst themselves.

FTR, I see these list moderators as primarily making their own policy,
although while I'm hosting the list I'll obviously have an opinion on
what is too "advertising like" for my tastes (which I'll mention to the
moderators off list as required).  If the general group will and/or list
moderators policy diverges too much from what I feel comfortable with
then we'd need to find another list host.

Comments?  Objections?

Ewen