We have a feedback forum so we can discuss Forumosa - not only how its moderated, but its changes, improvements, policies, progress and setbacks. I count on the feedback because it reminds me that my perspective and experience are simply not enough. And having a special forum to collect this insight is critical
igorveni made a good point that some feedback we get is “unhelpful” - that is, it consists entirely of “I don’t like this place” or “I don’t like the moderating” as if any of us are expected to know what this refers to. Sometimes, we don’t know and we can only shrug and think, “well, thanks for stopping by”
When I change something on Forumosa, I can’t expect everyone to like it, get it, understand or want it. There are just too many of us. But what can I do with a comment like, “Ugh, you changed things again”? If this is all that is posted, all I can pretty much say is, “I’m glad he noticed”
Now, if he explains why the change isn’t a good idea, or even offer an alternative(!) - then this a completely different story. Not long ago, there was a complaint about our choices for words in our auto-censor. I am jaded about this - I dismiss it as an “annual rite” - and it’ll blow over. But there was a difference this year. The forumosan who complained about it didn’t just say, “this is fucking moronic”, but made the case that it made him feel like we thought he was being racist, when he certainly did not intend to be. In fact, he actually feels the opposite about racism.
I am talking to Maoman about re-thinking our very short list of slurs because of this. Since this “annual rite” happens so infrequently, I got to wondering if we it was ever really a problem here (it’s annual and the usage isn’t inflammatory)
This kind of change happens becauase we have a feedback form which we can check and refer to easily and regularly
Here’s a funny thing: I don’t like that moderating is needed in the first place. However, we have a Flame Forum full of recent reminders on why this chore is helpful and valuable. I am grateful that there are so many of us who moderate and who keep these forums readable and orderly.
Would it help if responses to non-specific complaints were not the “take it or leave it” variety? Instead, when someone posts something like “you guys suck eggs” moderators could say, “Sorry you feel this way, can you be more specific?” or “I’m sorry to learn you feel this way, but this is the way I moderate my forum. I am glad that you know where I stand”
Tetsuo, I’ve often see you say something to the effect of: I don’t mind that my posts are moderated, because I was being jerk. You are blessed to have that kind of self-awareness - and it would be cool for everyone if you weren’t always being a jerk when you knew it.
As Forumosa grows and evolves there will be new forums and new moderators to help. On those fronts, there are boundaries still being drawn, so having a feedback forum where people express their frustrations by point out possible errors in judgement or a need for change is indispensable (imo).
I hope this helps clarify things for you