[wlug_org] List moderation

[Jamie Baddeley]

good idea. go ahead.

jamie

On Tue, 2006-03-28 at 09:03 +1200, Ewen McNeill wrote:
> 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
> 
> 
-- 
Jamie Baddeley <jamie.baddeley at vpc.co.nz>
ViewPoint Consulting Ltd