Forum Moderation

I have been a member of quite a few forums. Those were the things that were so popular before Blogs came along.

I have loved the forums format. I liked the idea of "community" that the forums provide(d). There is something about bouncing ideas off of one another, and just to be honest, I love a good debate.

Almost all of the forums that I have been a member of have had one recurring problem: over moderation.

For the uninitiated, moderators on any given forum have the ability/responsibility to delete posts they deem objectionable. Yes, I have had posts deleted, and even had an entire thread deleted. And, you know what? I am fine with that.

The problem comes in when the moderators of a forum begin taking the job too seriously. Like a web site Barney Fife, they over moderate a forum.

For instance, one forum I am a member of has a very strict rule about "bumping." Bumping is posting on a thread just to bring it back to life, or to bring it back to the top of the thread list.

Now, that rule is fine by me. There are threads that have long since died that need to be left, well, dead. But, if you happen to be a new member on that forum, and go find an old thread and post on it, the moderators will nail your hide to the wall. And two infractions will get you banned from the site.

One site that I am a member of, sogospelnews.com/forums , has moderated it's self almost clear out of existence. They at one time had literally thousands of posts per day, and now, due to, IMO, over moderation, they can go for a few days and no one posts. Period.

On that site, they recently shut down entirely the Religion portion of the site. Had the moderators not interfered, I think that everything would have resolved it's self. But, they "had" to step in, the problem escalated, and, viola, that section is now closed.

Why do moderators do this? Well, of course, I have an opinion. It could be a power trip. It could be that bad choices were made in who was named moderator. Or, as I stated earlier, they could just be taking the job too seriously.

Now, what does that have to do with my little home on the web? Well, should this little site take off, I will let any one say what they want to in my comments section, except for profanity, and only if the will give their name and thereby take responsibility for what they say.

I am new to this, so one person was able to make a comment anonymously. That one will be the last.

So, join me for a discussion. Grab of cup of your favorite hot beverage, and let's talk.

And remember, I love a good dabate!