- Mod presence/Sociability
- Communication/improving mod to user interactions
- Role of moderators
- Moderator accountability
- PM privacy
- Role of socialization in Resource/modding of socialization
- PG ratings discrepancies
- Adding mods
- Modding actions as they pertain to DantanaSkywalker

This is really the biggie that I think needs to be dealt with more than any other issue in this focus group. How to improve communication between mods and users and thereby improve mod/user interactions?

- Mod presence/Sociability – I’m adding this in as a subset of communication. For my own part, my experience as a user before I became a mod was that I had almost no interaction at all with moderators. Like Leona said, I felt that if I didn’t see them, all was well. This was the expectation that I brought with me when I became a moderator myself, that my work would be done in the background and best not seen and not heard at all—i.e. if everything’s running smoothly, I’m doing my job. What I realized subsequently, was that I failed to recognize that some things had changed on the boards in the time that I became a moderator; namely that there had been a breakdown in mod/user trust and communication and that this required some extra effort for repair. I have to admit that I was very stubborn about the idea of doing extra reading and posting. My initial reaction was that people would think that I was ‘flaunting my colors’ so to speak, and that it would upset people rather than reassure them, and moreover, I couldn’t see how it was necessary. And, it definitely takes a huge chunk out of my time to read. However, I finally had to admit to myself that the way I was going about things didn’t seem to be working out and so I tried to branch out more by trying to read more fics and in more ships and eras than I did before. I’ve definitely read several more fics than I normally would, and have had the side benefit of reading many very enjoyable ones that I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise, and it appears that people seem to be reassured by extra moderator presence at this time, especially with so many newbies to settle in, so I agree that this system works. I still believe, however, that in a more stable environment that moderators should not be required to post nearly so much, but certainly given the current climate in fan fiction, I do agree that some mod presence that is non threatening can let people know that we don’t only show up to yell, and that we can be approached, and I’ll certainly continue to try to keep up my presence in the forums for reassurance’s sake as long as necessary.
- Fanfiction updates – while I have been the one ‘presenting’ the updates, all the moderators have a chance to give input on the updates before they’re posted, and so please know that this is another way that we’re trying to let people know what’s going on and another form of communication from us to you.
- Explanations for modding actions – I’m a firm believer that corrective action always needs to be accompanied by explanations as this is the only way to keep the mistake from occurring again, as well as to let the user feel that s/he is being treated with respect.
- Politeness – this should be a given, although I know I’ve slipped up too. I do agree however, that moderators are in the same line as people in service industries and it behooves us to treat our users with a ‘customer is right’ attitude as much as possible. (Of course, trollers and spammers are a separate issue) I think sometimes the problem is the fact that we’re writing into cyberspace and it can be hard to remember that there are sentient beings reading what we’re writing, and to also remember that unlike spoken words, the written word shows up and stays there like a silent condemnation of our own failures to keep a cool head, and can inflame more than the person for whom the ‘rudeness’ was written (intentionally or otherwise).

I was overzealous when I gave Melyanna permission to host the awards, as I should have discussed this with my colleague before any decisions were made (that’s the normal policy).


Since when is it the business of mods to give permission?

If this is a case of several people having volunteered to run the next awards and Mel was mistakenly told that nobody else had volunteered, then I can see a legitimate reason to re-think who is going to coordinate the summer awards.


But, as has been hinted, if this is a case of Mel being told she can't run the next awards because what may have been said off-site, then that's completely bogus.


The job of the mods (as it pertains to the award threads) is to first make sure that we don't return to the state when there were weekly/monthly awards threads and secondly to ensure that two or three people aren't working on the same idea at the same time.

This notion of picking and choosing who gets to do what is a bit unsettling.


I see way too many threads (both here and around the JC) where the person who starts the thread begins with an announcement of "mod permission" to create that thread.

I can understand checking with somebody who is supposed to know what's going on to find out if an idea has already been done or is being done by somebody else. However, if people are under the mistaken impression that they need mod sanctioning before they can post a new idea, then the future of these forums doesn't look too bright.

As a corollary to this, Although I feel that discussion of most the points brought up regarding DantanaSkywalker’s moderating actions and methods should be answered IMO by Dantana herself, there is one issue that I think should be seriously evaluated by the administration, which is the issue of publicly quoting a PM. IMO, ignoring this topic would just make things worse because I feel it would only widen the gulf between moderators and users and worsen the distrust that is already there. To be fair, Dana has apologized for this, and I’m not mentioning this to make more trouble for her, however, I think this issue is serious enough that unless an administrator weighs in on this issue, it will never truly be laid to rest.

1. Role of the Moderator
   
   At some point the moderators became more than protectors from trolls and TOS violations and moved toward policy writers. There is ample evidence that this change in role is not working. Much like a police officer is simply the enforcer, so too should the moderators limit their roles. I’d like to see all aspects of the moderator’s role within fanfiction discussed, including participation. I’d also like to hear admin’s input on what happens when a moderator has ceased becoming an active member of the boards. We currently have two moderators and two people sporting colors. This must change.



2. Moderator accountability
   
   One of the major points of contention has been accountability of moderators. Ophelia made a great post on her perceptions of where admin might have helped sooner. While often vocal complainers are the marginal users of the forums, there is no doubt that those who ended up butting heads with the moderators were in fact some of the most active members of the fanfic forums. For the most part, these users aren’t the type who will eventually become so enraged that their actions and complaints will result in bannable offenses. These users aren’t typically troublemakers.
   
   To say too that the user who never enters FFRF is unaffected is totally false, too. We’ve seen numerous of these active members having to limit their writing/participation as a direct result of the board drama over the course of the last 8-9 months. So in essence the oblivious user is an unwitting victim of all that has passed.
   
   It seems that admin’s current stance is to not interfere in how and why moderators mod. As a mindset I don’t think that is entirely a bad way to go. But I think in this instance, that mentality was flawed and hurt everyone – users and mods – in the long run. Consider these facts – admin had been getting PMs concerning all the mods since January of this year. The latest set, concerning Dana, were sent to Sape immediately after the ‘ships thread incident on 5/2 and continued to come after that. Sape’s open letter was posted on 5/11 and reactive to a situation that had been brewing over the course of 5 months. Too, it was more or less stated that nothing any user or group of users did would convince him to take action. That statement was entirely troubling.
   
   Coupled with this discussion, I’d like to review with our moderators how they perceive accountability to each other and the users. Dana brought up the issue that we the users fail to recognize when she is posting as a mod and a user. Well, I don’t think you can separate the two. If, as she stated, mods were chosen for a reason, I would have to think it was because that individual has proven he/she can post respectfully and thoughtfully on matters without crossing the line set by TOS. Personally I think that the other moderators should have taken action in multiple cases in which one of their own forgot he/she was a moderator and posted below standards for even a user. No user would have gotten away with the “selfish” and “arrogant” post of the Awards discussion, nor the PM quoting, without being publicly moderated in some way. It’s unfortunate that this even needs to be discussed but moderators must police their own as well as us. I think that many of the recent moderating decisions were knee-jerk reactions to problems within the moderating ranks and not necessarily problems with users as a whole. The ‘Ships thread is a prime example and interesting case study to see how we can all do things better.



3. Senate
   
   Honestly I am unsure of the specifics of how a Senate works in other communities. I’d hope that perhaps Raven could clarify for those of us unfamiliar with the dynamics of other boards. I find the idea intriguing for many reasons. The FG1 has proven that a group of users – acting with the mods – can define policy that is mutual acceptable to a majority of the fanfic members. So why not have a standing group to deal with such matters? Most importantly, this would remove mods from the role of lawmaker and make them into what they should be, protector and enforcer. I think the issue warrants discussion solely because the events of the last 6 months have proven that the current system isn’t working. As to whether a Senate will work for us I am still undecided.

I am deeply troubled by the fact that your One Post cited the “Rebel” petition as an excuse for leaving the quote up. Once again, I feel you have decided to punish a user for offenses you perceive against yourself and not the boards as a whole. Perhaps you did forget where that quote came from when you first posted it. Although I find it hard to believe that you could remember the exact words, and in fact actually say you were “quoting” someone, yet not recall where that verbatim quote came from. If those words stuck so distinctly in your mind (including my idiosyncratic use of the word “And” to start the sentence), I find it hard to believe your attention to detail was only to the quote and not its origination.

For the record, your original explanation to Herman – as relayed to me – was not that you had been mistaken, but rather that your post was acceptable because you didn’t state directly that the quote was mine . (At that point, even if you had been mistaken the quote should have been removed, as any mod would know that quoting PMs was not allowed.) Later in the WHTG thread you did not state anything about mistakes,