What Is a Moderator?

From Barbelith

(See first Distributed_Moderation - it'll explain why YOU are a moderator, too.)

WHAT IS THE JOB OF THE MODERATORS?

Janitorial, mainly. They're park rangers, not policemen -- keeping the paths clear and making sure hikers don't get lost. Moderators correct HTML mistakes, delete multiple posts, and so on. They won't change the content of your post, except in extraordinary circumstances (and bear in mind that Barbelith is not a censorious environment, so uninvited mod changes are usually due to faulty HTML), and even then, it'll take either two or three moderators to agree to the change.

When you submit a moderator request, the moderators of that forum then receive a message asking if they want to agree or disagree with that suggested change. A change to text requires only two votes (yours and a moderator), and is usually a formality. More profound changes require more votes - it takes three votes to delete a post, for example.

Moderators can also delete threads (to keep the thread numbers in the Conversation down, usually, or because two threads are asking the same question), move threads (if they are better suited to another forum), or add keywords to topic summaries (also known as Topic_Abstracts). All of these require the approval of other moderators.

A subsidiary function of moderators is to keep things in their forum moving, by introducing new topics or asking pertinent questions in existing ones. This is more important in low-traffic areas, obviously, than in somewhere like the Conversation, and is generally seem as an extension of the interest the moderator would take in their forum anyway. As such, although they may occasionally put on their "moderator hat", to tell somebody that they are off-topic or share some bit of admin info, they are essentially just like other posters.

Basically, mods are here to serve. If you have a question or request, PM one and ask them.

HOW WERE THE MODERATORS CHOSEN?

Fiat - when moderation was introduced to Barbelith (for a number of reasons, but mainly to encourage people to think about the contents of their posts by removing the ability to edit them immediately), Tom appointed moderators to each forum, based basically on who he knew - people who were involved with that forum a lot and so would not be put out by keeping an eye on it, and had been around the board long enough to have an idea of how it works.

Subsequently, moderators have been added whenever it looked like a forum needed a couple of extra hands, by the same system. There are also four administrators, who are able to respond to moderation requests in any thread (currently, that's the only difference between an admin and a mod). And there is Tom Coates himself, who can do that also -- he is the board architect and ultimate arbiter. They help to keep the time gap between request and response down to a minimum - most changes take place within minutes.

Addendum: as of June 2003, Tom removed a number of moderators who appeared no longer to be active on Barbelith, in order to rationalise the moderation system, and has created some new people as moderators, based on selection from volunteers. This process is bedding down, and means that there are some new moderators learning the ropes about now.

Addendum 2: As of April 2004, Tom decided to do this again, in order to up the number of moderators per forum to something resembling ten.