Stormfront Advisory - A Moderator Perspective

It doesn't take 30minutes to read a reported post and delete it.

 

One of the great things I've learned from Political Forum and other forums I was on previously is that it forces me to address the logic and facts related to my political opinions.

One point I believe many fail to realize is that it is extremely unlikely that anyone is going to change someone else's opinion they're responding to. When a post it made is is more about changing the opinion of the undecided member that reads the post. To accomplish this requires logic and facts, as noted, and it is the "undecided" that are influenced by logic and facts. Each of us benefits when we take the time to investigate the facts and established the logic in our arguments when we make a post.

Respectfully,
Shiva_TD
Site Moderator

 

What would likely help, would be an increase in the number of moderators. However, you are limited in the ability to promote such people, since being liberal seemingly precludes a person from being a moderator at this forum.


PS. The incredible prevalence of soft or veiled racism at this forum unsurprisingly is going to attract the harder forms of racism, and the more blatant forms. It is just the way it goes.

PPS. Immediately after posting this, I saw this lovely collection of posts!!


http://www.politicalforum.com/race-relations/210134-reparations-slave-traders.html

When you have stupid people posting in this fashion, it is unsurprising that they will attract their even stupider cousins!!

 

Yep, let's not pretend racism isn't already rife here.
Left and right-leaning posters do not "unite" against it, it's a few individuals on the right who join in objecting to it.



"Stormfront light"

 

The suggestion box on the issue is already 4 pages long and is growing with about one post per day. It would be much longer if I had started logging the attacks years ago.

 

For a simple "trolling" or "off topic" post that is correct. For an infraction that could include a temporary ban of a member it could easily take four hours to eventually deal with. The 30 minutes is a rough guess of the average time involved.

Even with a simple violation like trolling it still takes up to five minutes to address the report, delete the post, and provide a record of the moderator action. We also suffer from site performance issues, like the members, and often get vBulletin errors as well that also slow down our actions. Doing an IP search on a member, which can often be involved even when dealing with relatively new members, to identify sock accounts can easily take 20 minutes alone.

As I've noted the members simply don't understand how much time is involved in what the moderators and staff do in their voluntary capacity as staff members.

Of course the next comment is simply add more moderators. Once again member's don't understand all that entails. First we identify members that don't have an extensive record of Forum Rule violations. Then from those we review their posts and see if they address members or opinions in their posts. If they address members then they are generally excluded. We need moderators that exclusively address what is stated in a post and how it relates to the Forum Rules. They must be completely impersonal related to this and in their actions. Finally it has to be someone we trust to keep private information private and someone we believe will work together with us as a team. We're constantly attempting to add staff members and the process is very slow and grueling and each staff member spends dozens of hours simply reviewing those nominated. Finally it moves to a vote and, in some instances, the member selected declines the offer so we start over again.

Being a moderator is not something I would recommend to anyone.

Respectfully,
Shiva_TD
Site Moderator

 

Stormfront is a heavily censored forum where they limit access only to like-minded "white nationalists". It is a business model that encourage people tp pay 50 dollar annually to beocme a "sustaining member' where members are taught that blacks and browns are "scientifically proven" to be dumb and the world politics and finance are "controlled "by Jews.

I agree that there is no basis of debate with these people. And the reason some of them are here are, in my opinion to increase their publicity so that more people, in the long run, end up joining them or paying 50 dollars. I didn't know previously you need to pay money to be a racist. Don't waste time "debating" with them. Highlight on the business aspect of that forum instead which you certainly will not find on their heavily censored home ground. It is the best chance to knock some senses of of them if they are not part of the dirty internet business.

 

I am also Australian and detest others using that as an excuse. Most Australians do not swear, well in daily language, and most do not swear at all really. I will admit that whilst serving in the Army my language deteriorated, but I made sure I never took the gutter home with me.
As for drinking, I brew my own beer because I don't like the chemicals or the watered down taste of McDonald's beer. I will usually consume about 4 to 6 bottles a month (600ml), so even though I love my beer, I drink it for pleasure when it takes my fancy.
As for racism, I live with a woman of the Gumbaynggirr Nation, traditional owners of a small area of the North Coast of New South Wales.
If Ian, or any of my friends called me a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing dickhead they would want to be smiling, if they called me a bloody (*)(*)(*)(*)wit, then they had better be running.

As for stormfront, they are so pathetic it would be funny, if they weren't so bloody (one exception to my swearing, I also tell people to get off their r's too, and to grow some "acorns", so yes I suppose I swear too) dangerous.

I have my personal opinions about racists who like homophobes (which most racists are) are scared of themselves. What they see and hate is a reflection of themselves so they band together in a tight band of very like individuals because they believe there they will not be tempted and stick to what they believe to be safe.

To ensure that they recognise a like individual they restrict their fold to a very small and very similar group of people so as to not tax their limited abilities to distinguish that from which they fear, from their own fear that they are what they despise.

 

Why are the moderators so afraid of Stormfront people? If their arguments are incorrect you can make them look stupid, no need to worry so much about these people.

 

I think they are worried that our members will be sucked in to personal vilification, rather then attacking their posts, which would cause our members to receive infraction notices thereby giving the stormfronters the upper hand.

Discretion is the better part of valour.

 

If you read the OP, you will realize that mods are not afraid of Stormfronters.
Its the rebuttals to flame baiting posts/threads created by Stormfronters which make discussions less enjoyable for everyone.

 

It does when you delete one post, then wander around the forum for 30 minutes chatting before checking the next reported post.

 

I see moderators should not have any posting time or a full time job or weekends with family? am I surprised well not really , I think a good moderator has to take time to enjoy the board and Other aspects of life, I got burnt out a few weeks ago , all I did was handle reports and after a while I was just to tired to bother and took a week off to clear my head

 

It's funny how people who do not contribute always find ways of complaining about those that do. If you don't like it, then do it better, if not, shut up.

You're all doing a great job, this month you can have an hour off to talk to your family, just don't go making a habit of it or think you're getting it every month.

 

good, hope you were smiling, just didn't want us stereotyped, we have enough of that already.

 

I was laughing actually, personally not sensitive at all about the stereotype. Its entertaining to play into it. You dont get out much do you?

 

LOL, I'm out all the time my friend, right now I'm in the Hunter Valley looking at the desecration by mining companies. Personally I do care of the stereotype as I do not in any way fit into it, nor do any of my friends. That Aussie Ocker image is not good my friend, not good at all.

 

Many Australians care far too much about what other countries think of us in my opinion, the ocker image has a basis in truth and while you may not like that image it is part of what makes us Australian. Although we are a pretty cosmopolitan lot these days and while you and your charddonay sipping greenie mates may recoil with abhorrence when coming across what you think constitutes the ocker stereotype it is intrinsically Australian. Oh yeah, and I do swear a lot and so does just about everbody I work, deal with at work and associate with. Its part of my environment and lifestyle and while we have the manners not to behave crassly in front of women and children, behaviour of which I personally detest anyone who tries to portray the average Australian as akin to a cultured European has their hand on it. Our culture is not european, it is not american, it is Australian, thats just the way it is.

 

I agree with everything you say, except I don't drink white wine, prefer reds. Yes I think we have outgrown the ocker stereotype though. Cosmopolitan, true we are finally putting away the blue singlets, shorts and boots and dressing a little better when we go out. I agree we are neither like Americans or English and for that I am eternally grateful.

 

Of, stop with the hyperbole. Of course you ought to life a life to go to outside this forum, but when you're here, you should be a moderator first, member second. That's mean maybe if you got a backlog of a couple hundred reports, well, maybe you going to get the chance to chat in any threads.

I think it's funny how members who've been here no more than a few months think they know everything about all the other members. I have contributed to this site throughout my tenure, as a member, a donor, and a moderator.

 

I spend my lunch hour every day working reports and 45 minutes every evening , I am very dedicated

 

No, first and foremost we're members of Political Forum and not staff members. This is a common misconception by members about those of us on the staff.

Being a staff member is in addition to being a member and we do so in a voluntary capacity. The hundreds of hours we spend voluntarily performing the roles and responsibilities related to moderation are because we're dedicated to the Mission Statement of Political Forum. One of the most important things we tell new staff members is to continue to be members first and foremost. If our time is limited then first we should post as members and then perform our roles and responsibilities as a staff member as time permits.

Shiva_TD
Site Moderator

 

lol then that is something we have in common

You seem quite reasonable and intelligent, in truth I try to jab people sometimes to find their weak points and you dont bite which denotes sagacity in my opinion. But yes, we agree.

 

So, like I said, moderators get around to modding whenever they feel like it, if they feel like it. Your honesty is refreshing. At least it's not that same tired old line about how long it takes to edit a post.

 

The fact remains that working Reports and addressing Forum Rules violations we come across while reading threads does take a lot more time than most members realize. I've just spent about two hours addressing nothing but Suggestion Box issues and issues in the Mod Forums and I didn't work a single Report.

Members also fail to understand that being a moderator can be extremely mentally tiring. We need to address each Report with a fresh mind as if it's the first Report we've worked that day. I'll admit guilt to having allowed my prior actions to overly influence my actions on a specific Report. After dealing with ten or twenty violations for trolling, for example, I've allowed myself to be a little too harsh in the next Report I worked. That is not fair to the member and I know it but it is human nature. To avoid this I often work a couple of Reports, then post for awhile to take my mind off of moderating and then go back and work a couple more Reports. It takes a fresh and unbiased mind to be fair with the members. As Subby noted we do suffer from "moderator burnout" over time and in such cases we simply stop moderating until we recover.

I do believe that most members understand this and accept the fact that we need to take a break. We cannot focus on just being moderators. The job doesn't pay enough for that.

The primary reason I started this thread was to avoid having to "be a moderator" because of the bigoted racism that members of Stormfront bring to Political Forum. Several members have noted that they can attack the bigoted racism propagated by white supremists and that is how it should be. My concern is for those members that have difficulty in separating the opinion from the member and that resort to personal attacks as opposed to attacking bigotry and racism. I really do hate taking action against such a member but I'm forced to in my role as a moderator. I would prefer to not have to.

Respectfully,
Shiva_TD
Site Moderator