So, what is it like to be a moderator?

[Sandro]

I've been wondering about this for sometime, what with all the crap you guys have to put up with. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being not at all stressful and 10 being so stressful that I'm on the verge of suicide), how would you rate the job?

[Barb Gordon]

well, I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to modding.At the moment it's only a 3...but it'll probably be a 5 later on, maybe even a 7. Heck, I'm still in awe of the more experiences mods and what they juggle around and have to deal with!

~Barb

[KingKoopa]

I can say from experience on other forums that it's about a 3 for me on the stress scale, but back when I modded a certain forum I was a completely different person and enjoyed most of the stress of the spammers and newbies. I had fun insulting them, and if I was still a mod, I still would. I just got bored in December and quit.

[Dark Spider]

Well, I am one of the moderators of both the Toonami and Video Game boards and have been for about a month and a half now, so I'm still relatively new.

But on a scale of 1 - 10, its a stress level of a 1 or maybe a 2.

I haven't really encountered any problems (because of the swift action of my counterparts and those boards are relatively benign)...the problems I have encountered were kinda stressful, but not really because it caused me to think of ways out of a problem, and that's somewhat of a joy for me...

[Nightwing]

At first I didn't want to say anything here, in an atempt to keep my ego at bay. I dunno what it would have done but you can never be too carefull. :p Maybe the whole, "oooh I've been here so long and seen so much blah blah blaaah." But this subject has been more than just this 'job' to me. And I wanted to gather my thoughts on it, and posting on and on is an easy way of doing it (when I do, they eventually become coherent sentences, as opposed to jumbled thoughts). So I'll just jump on the train and see where it takes me.

I've been a Mod for the World's Finest boards for like 2 years. Basically what you are, is being a low level police officer/mayor for the boards you moderate. You're in charge of the boards, a lot like how you're in charge of yourself, because with both of those you're making a lot of decisions.

Now, your decisions in life are super hard, and we always screw something up, cuz nobody is perfect. That much is given. But logically, making similar decisions for an entire community of people is going to be a bit more complicated. Try to think of what's best for not just one person, but the opinions and convictions of every poster (and the other mods you work with) that you have.

But in learning how to do this the best I could, it helped me with the regular life decisions, which were easier by comparision, since there's only one guy in me and a bunch of ya on those boards. :p

I guess by now I should be explaining how exactly. Well, (I always say well...it means I'm thinking a lot; please forgive repeated uses) the pattern I've generally seen is that there really is no pattern, so you have to be as general as possible (oooh Nightwing throws a verbal curve ball! ....wise guy). That isn't always too hard for me specifically, because that's how my personality and way of thinking are, so it's not that big of a stretch. But (and life always has a but....a big fat but) with all those opinions out there it's still a big job to do. And the part that connects the two (life decision, mod decision) is what type of problem is it, and how you handle it. Controversies on the boards are the same ones you have in your life. Conflicting opinions between two people you agree with and respect, missunderstandings, troublemakers, the list goes on. And each catagory has it's own fifty page novel of different kinds. It's hard, but what you have to do is show in your decision that you acknowledge and respect each and EVERY SINGLE opinion involved. Now that can be a lot of work, cuz sometimes it's accidentally overlooked, but it's very important.

To get that done right, I like to think of being a mod as a job without being a job. That's how I don't let the stress or whatever get to me any. If it's a "job" you'll go nuts. If it's just a detailed helping hand, of sorts, then that could help by keeping you from being paranoid in your mod duties or something.

Lucky for me, I started out as a poster, so I got the feel for that first, without having all the responsibility that comes with being a mod. The two should technically be blended so you do the right thing for everyone and not just yourself, but as a poster first and mod second I keep myself from getting too into the whole mod trip vibe; seeing posts and topics only as problems or potential problems. Poster Nightwing was just here to have fun, so that's what mod Nightwing has to do too. Only now he was doing it for more than just himself.

And with all that said.....it's still pretty complicated. Badum, pish! I guess you could say it's like trying to explain life. So that must be why my post and myself apparently suck at trying to rate it's difficulty with an exact number. But even with that true, I don't think I could rate it, as hard as it may get. If anything it varies, just like the intensity of life's challanges vary, and you have to improv a lot, and rise to each one. It's hard, and it's still hard as we speak in fact. But I wouldn't knock it, or change any of it.

lol. No one else is going to reply to this. I'm such a tool. Well thanks for helping me get my thoughts together folks. Enjoy this and the other entertaining freak shows brought to you by Nightwing's head.

[Barb Gordon]

Nightwing's head scares me.....hehe, I don't think Sandro ever expected a reply like that! But I've just got to say that, albeit it's lengthy, and that's an understatement, it was really great to read. I hope that, as I become a more experienced mod and get more months behind me, that I'll have a mindset like yours in time.....and if that isn't scary, I don't know what is.

~Barb

[Joe Wagner]

As one of the newest mods on the boards I haven't really had a real difficult decision to make yet but of the few that I have I sometimes wonder if I've made the right decision - whether it be just simply moving a thread to another board, closing a thread or just having to generally tell people to calm down when a thread looks to be getting a little heated.

At the same time I've had a lot of fun with the boards and feel that by being a mod I can help others out and make sure that their experience is as fan as possible. I hope that as time goes on I will get better at modding and feel more comfortable with the posistion - carrying on the great job that the other mods have already shown they can do.

-Joe!

[Frozen]

Man, it's a rush - the wild parties, the orgiastic sudstance abuse, the illicit liasons, the adoration of criminally attractive young groupies... oh, hang on, that's my other job..! :D

[The Guitar Slayer]

Despite the fact that the Fan Fic board is really quiet right now, there is still a lot of activity, messages, and chaos going on the RPG. Fun chaos, but it can wear on a person really quick. Overall I'd say it's a 7, partially because my little sister took up all the memory on the computer and now I can't run AIM and my browser at the same time. :mad: But it's a fun suicidal 7!!! :D

[James Harvey]

25. I cry myself to sleep every night becuase of this. The therapy isn't helping either.

Just joking...just joking....:)

For me, it rates somewheres between 5 and 6. There are days when modding is a very simple chore. And then there are those days when all hell breaks loose and the last thing you want to do is spend the day defending the board and dealing with the worst the internet has to offer in scum. And trust me, in the 4 years that WF has been around, I have definatly dealt with alot of scum. I'm sure alot of the WF vets remember certain times when the boards would be spammed and flooded with smut...which I'll get into later.

What makes this unjob (yup - unjob) the easiest is the fact that I got a great group of mods working beside me to help me out. Recently things have gotten hectic in life. I got something that resembles a job and something that resembles a social life, as well as something that barely resembles privacy. I have all of those as well as a position in this great place we call TZ. Yes, there have been problems now and again, but at the end of the day, I always find myself skimming these boards one last time to make sure everything is okay. I take comfort in seeing other mods are online and ready to step in at a moment's notice to deal with anything that comes their way.

Being an admin here has been amazing. I've made some amazing and lifelong friends who are always on the ball as well as the kindest, coolestpeople around. They know exactly what you're thinking and know how to bring things down when it gets overheated. Without these other mods, both TZ and WF mods, to help out and do their unjob as well, I am convinced this plac e would fall apart. Every mod here, from the newest to the ones that started it all way back in 1994, plays such an important part here. It's like an elaborate orchestra where every instrument has a vital role. Yes, mods may go on vcacation, on a break, on a breif hiatus, or just get spme air, but in the end -- they all play a big part. Every mod and admin here is a cog in a very well oiled machine. To lose one would just cause it to fall apart.

What I like is how the mods act here. The WF mods here all have been posters before being asked to be a mod. I always make sure that the mods have been around for awhile before I take the next step. There are certain posters who have that potential that I always keep an eye on. I can never say who, but they are out there. Posting and interacting. Most importantly, having fun. I think the oldest WF mod aside from myself is Nightwing. I've had the pleasure of knowing Nightwing for about 4 years. He was one of the first posters on the original WF Boards (the called Batman: The Animated Message Board, which was along side Superman: The Animated Message Board and Batman Beyond: The Animated Message Board - there's a long history in WF which I'll fill all of you in on in the future). I believe he was either the first or second person to post on the original Batman Board. The very first reply I got was a vicious slap at me which I still remember:

"This board won't survive! It's a cheap knock off of the Bat-Toon Board! You should be ashamed. I can understand the Superman board, but this board should be closed immediatly!"

Well, the popularity grew from there :) WF also had the first Batman Beyond and Justice League message boards online! (Hopefully we can follow this up with the first Teen TitansBoard if that series comes to pass. And Nightwing was there for all of them. I can still remember alot of our ICQ and AIM conversations. Sometimes we'd joke around,other times we'd be discussing mod duties and what to do about certain posters. I remember he was the first one to tell me that the boards were being flooded on Christmas Eeve 2000. Yup...I spent alot of my Christmas Eve trying to stop a poster from flooding the boards and being halfway successful. I deleted all of the flood posts, but lost all the conversations that were there mere hours ago.

Bird Boy and The Flash are also two other posters who have grown to become much more over the years. They are two of the nicest and smartest people I've ever met and I am glad to see them apart of the mod squad. Bird Boy with his generosity and know how, and Flash with his gift for giving and damn good humor. Two awesome mods. And Clayface has been a big part of these boards. Another WF veteran, full of determination and spunk, who has always given his own opinion, and made it stick out.

Nightwing, Bird Boy, Clayface, and The Flash are the four oldest WF mods currently on the roster. And of course...Maxie Zeus. He is the glue that kept everything togethor. The man with a plan. He always knows what to do and when to do it. I eagerly await his return. I'm looking forward to hearing all of his stories and just having him around. RobinIII, who is currently off pursueing a career will always be a big part of this site. Granted he doesn't post, but without him, WF would have never come into pass - another story I can share for another time. Plus all of the newest additions to the WF crew like Karkull, Barb Gordan, JJWspider, The Penguin, SJJ, Failure and The Mad Hatter. All great people. All extraordinary mods.

These boards have gone through alot of changes, and these buys and gals have stuck by. From all the name changes to background changes to everything - they have been there - which is the best thing they could ever do. Just being here.

Well, I've gushed for long enough. Now for some of the juicy stuff...

Here's a true story about seven people forced to live...ah..oops. Wrong story. Anyways, at the beginning of time...well...for these boards, they were held at the now defunct www.insidetheweb.com site. They were set up on Sept. 20th (Superman), and then Sept. 27th (Batman and Batman Beyond). Within no time, these boards became pretty popular, much more popular than I anticipated. And with popularity comes consequences. The first major problem I ever dealt with was a poster by the Madame Freeman who flooded the boards with stuff like: "Hand over the boards of smel my anus!" "Lick my stinky fart" "Give the boards over, Grayson, of you will lick my bunghole!". That's no lie. Madama Freeman still tries to come here now and again.

Anyways, this was before banning options were around that could ban IPs and usernames. So, I'd delete the posts, but the user would still come back. It got repeatedly worse, too. Eacxh and each attack got huge. So, in an attempt to stop this, I closed the www.insidetheweb.com boards and moved them all to www.boardhost.com . That helped for about six months as in April of 2001 the boards got his massively. Everything was completely wiped out. Madame Freeman and her henchmen (which was really him/her with a different handle - which is why we don't allow more than one handle on these boards) flooded the boards with complete smut - the worst I've ever seen.

I didn't know what to do. www.boardhost.com has some new banning features which boosted my confidence. I tried to ban the IP. No luck. I tried to ban the name. No Luck. Ban the email? No luck. It was useless. There was nothing I could do. So...I did the only thing I could. I closed the boards. I posted a final message, saying that the boards were closed and I was unsure if they would re open. This was when the stress level was up to aroind 20. I was beat. For the first time ever, I was beat. I was ready to throw in the towel.

But Nightwing sent me an email that just picked me up. I wish to God I kept it, but it got lost during one of Yahoo!'s good old "upgrades". It was long, emotional, and honest. To this day, I have him to thank for moving these boards and making the smartest decision of my life - moving them to Toon Zone. Within minutes after I read that email, I emailed my friend Harley and asked for assitance. Within hours she had three new boards set up for my site. Talk about service! Harley is a genius at this web design stuff - no doubt about it. Brian Cruz helped me get started on all of this. Their help has been amazing and so far reaching. I wouldn't know half of what I'm doing without them. On Saturday, July 1st, 2000, we opened the new WF boards here at Toon Zone and haven't looked back.

And here we are today.

So to answer your question, which I think I already did...5 or 6...:)

[JohnCrichton]

Depends on where you're modding.

First place I did it, it was more trouble that it was worth cuz you couldn't excersize discipline due to the structure of authority. A structure I *thought* would be a good idea. In the end you couldn't make a judgment call without passing it by seven other people first. The place spiraled into chaos and alot of hatred so I left. That experience and the stress rated around 8 and 9. You cease to become just a regular happy go lucky fun poster and turn into someone who's words are carefully looked at with every post and alot of other stuff....

Now I work at Japan Hero who's fan base is modest, but growing. And there.... my word is law. :D Therefore I can dispense justice as I see fit to make sure my land stays a just and fun place to be. I'd have to give that experience an 1. Moving posts, banning trolls, giving warnings and keeping the peace.... there I like my job. ^_^ And the people are happy too.... :D

[Chris Sanders MSX]

Hmmm, JC I wonder what place you were talking about that was so stressful... ;)


One day I hope to become a mod so I can have an excuse for my mental break down. :p

I used to Mod my own Board a year back and it was pretty bad. But then again I didn't have the kind of cool peopel that visit TZ on my board. Everyone here has common sense and knows what to doa ndw hat not to do for the most part so I'd have to guess the job for these guys(and gals) isn't too bad.


Now I have a question... Have any of you ever wanted to abuse your power or play pranks on posters, just because you can ?

[James]

Interesting.

Everyone - on the whole are good boys in my neck of the woods (Entertainment and DVD) so there aren't that many problems. I still like to post and get involved so it's not too different for me. It's not like I've stepped onto a stool and now survey from on high - I like to post as much as moderate!

I think the best part has been getting the chance to get involved in the Entertainment redesign. That was fun. Oh and having input into some of the ideas and possibilities that go on behind the scenes!

I concur with Jim that the other benefit is working with some great people. For most of the 9 months or so I had as a poster I rarely communicated with anyone outside a thread. However since I started modding I seem to have fallen into a right friendly crowd of bizzare peeps ;) - both mods and posters. I seem to be spend long nights being catty with Flash or trying to work out what the heck Nightwing is talking about while avoiding the 'boppings' of Red Dragon...

It's a wonderful board. Could be a good remake of an old classic ;)

[Maxie Zeus]

It's like being part of the Justice League:

You sit around the Watchtower all day gossiping and waiting for the Trouble Alert to go off. Then when it does, you hope that Superman doesn't accidentally punch out Green Lantern when aiming a haymaker at the bad guy. :p

(Actually, I guess they don't have a Trouble Alert on JL. Do they just watch CNN like everyone else?)

[Mad Scientist]

I know I'm not a mod, but I'll give my guess on it.

I think they all say "10." They're so stressed out that they'll give DOOM to the threads! Just look at TylerL's title and you'll see my point. :)

[Singin' Stray Cat]

What's it like being a mod? Well, if you want to rank the stress on a scale of one to ten - and here I'm assuming 1 is the least - I would say between 3 and 7. :p Seriously, it does vary. Many times you either have no problems or you have problems that are easily solved. For me, the stress comes when you're up against something that you're not sure how to handle (happens in real life too, not just here. :p ) Fortunately, the other moderators here are very approachable. At first I'd always feel stupid asking a question, but bless 'em, they were patient with me. Still are, I hope. :D

Like some have already said, I don't really see this as a job. It's more like...I dunno... being a part of something great, something unique. I haven't seen every message board on the 'net, but I'm pretty sure this is one of the best, if not THE best, boards out there. Both the posters and mods are intelligent, friendly people (for the most part), the place is well-run - that's why I like coming here. I'm just amazed by the stuff I read here. (I can't compete... may explain why I don't post a whole, whole lot, yes? ;) )

In short, it's great. Not perfect, but so close it could pass for it. ;)

[The Flash]

Originally posted by KingKoopa
I had fun insulting them, and if I was still a mod, I still would.

You insulted them?? I guess our definitions of the word "moderator" must be diffrent.

Well, much like Barb, right now it's at about a 1 or 2. Nothing major has happened in a quite while, but it's been up for 5 or 6 before. Just certain things, which I refuse to get into. For the most part, everybody around here is great and understanding. Which really makes our job (“unjob” what ever!) more enjoyable. All of the admins here are great to work with, no egos here! Oh, and, DG. Thanks, man. :)

[Jimmy Kustes]

Really not stressful at all. I am lazy mooching bum, and just mow lawns and hang out here. I will slow down a lot here when I'm in college.

If it's stressful for anyone, it's probably because of one of my crazy ideas.