Moderator Elections

[fett527]

Fett, do I need to say why this is a problem?...

Only because I think you've got a sexy voice.

 

[fett527]

Sit down, old man.

He can't. Hemorrhoids. Old.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

All the moderators here beat me with sticks.

So fight back with your hongstick.

 

[Mark]

He can't. Hemorrhoids. Old.

My bad. Forgot about that and how troubling they can be when so close to the brain.

 

[diaglo]

:doh:

no piling on.

rectum hell
darn near killed him

 

[Mark]

:doh:

no piling on.

rectum hell
darn near killed him

You forgot to say "mang"

 

[BSF]

With all due respect, it's not about you. It's not about how you or the other moderators do your jobs. It's not about whether this is a benign (a.k.a. responsive and competent) or malign (selfish and/or unjust) oligarchy. For all this proposal cares, you could have the omniscience of the divine right of kings. This proposal didn't spring from discontent.

Your opinion or my opinion or Hong's opinion as to whether the virtual trains run on time is not the point. What matters is whether the addition of a very limited form of virtual enfranchisement would make this virtual community better.

I've argued that it might do so by fostering more involvement, bringing in more money, gaining a competitive market advantage, sparking more discussion, and decreasing work loads and stress.

Whether more enfranchisement than this proposal offers would make the site even better is definitely something I'd be willing to discuss.

Or are you arguing that having one democratically elected moderator would undermine community confidence in the others?

OK, what makes you think there is a significant element of the user community looking to be enfranchised? In the interest of discussion and debate, let me ask some questions.

How would this proposal improve the user experience?

No, more to the point, how would it improve my experience? I mean, if we are talking about enfranchising me, how will it improve things for me?

As it is, I already feel comfortable posting in the Meta forum. I feel comfortable emailing several of the moderators and the owner if I have any concerns, questions or comments that don't belong in a public post. I feel as invested in the site as I want to be at any given time.

How would a CS advocate improve these things for me?

Why should I buy into this proposal? I don't see how it benefits me.

On the other hand, I see risks.

What if I don't like the elected advocate? What if I can't communicate clearly with the advocate? What if, in the long run, the advocate became the only avenue of discourse with the moderators and admins simply because that is what the advocate position was created for? How would that serve me better?

For that matter, what about thinking about the current moderators and administrators? What if the elected advocate is not somebody they can work with very strongly? What if the advocate turned out to be somebody that acted in a manner that created more work load through uneven decisions, a confrontational attitude, and a general sense of entitlement because he or she was elected?

What market advantage will an elected advocate provide? What is EN World marketing against? Is this a potential pre-emptive measure against Gleemax/WotC? Is there market competition with RPG.net for subscribers? To have a market advantage, you need to be competing for market share don't you? I am not currently aware of such competition, but maybe I need more information?

If there was a significant chance that this could increase community supporter accounts, that might be interesting. But my decisions on whether to become a community supporter have much more to do with personal finances than wanting to feel some sort of enfranchisement.

 

[Piratecat]

This won't be implemented here. We disagree with your assessment of risks versus rewards; the downside potential is far greater than any upside gain, and we have a philosophical objection to other folks using this site as a proving ground for their thought experiments. If you start an online community that does use this philosophy, though, I'll be very interested to follow how it works.

Sorry to be blunt, RR. I know this is something that's important to you.

 

[hong]

I use this site as a proving ground for my no-thought experiments.

 

[jaerdaph]

I vote for Hong...

What?