What does an OBD Moderator do? You read posts as you normally do, and as you do–you look for any violations and check off a box that the post has been moderated. (Takes seconds is all) If you find one, in just three quick clicks you can hide it from public view. That is it!
You can do this on your desktop, pad or cell phone, just save the site on your favorites or bookmarks and sign in the first time. Don’t sign out, just leave by clicking out of the browser and when you come back–you are still signed in. This way you don’t have to sign in each time. I am not a tech guy for phones, but you can Google any question and get an answer; if you have an iPhone–you can call 1-800 275-2273 and they will help you.
Our 33 rules at the free OBD Forum can be summarized to this: 1) be polite and respectful, 2) keep it clean, and 3) no reference of any kind to politics. Easy-peasy!
–1. When you find an objectionable post—hide it and send a PM with the name of the offender and a few words out of the title of the thread it is in. Send a text also except for between the hours of 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM PST. I will then deal with the offender, not you. Moderators just “read-and-hide” posts. But if it is urgent, such as a spammer, site down, etc. then do text me anytime in addition to the PM.
–2. Sometimes it is just a word or a short phrase that needs to be removed or slightly altered so that the whole post is not removed. In that case, do edit it; first copy the phrase, word, or sentence to be altered or removed and paste it in an email to me. Then make the change and copy that and place it in the same email to me. This way I can keep track of who has violations, and can notify the offender of the issue.
–3. Two questions that catch 95% of the bad behavior posts is…
“Is this post polite and respectful?”
“Is this post something a highbrow reader, a person of substance would even want to read?”
Ask those questions above and use them as a filter to detect the majority of disallowed behaviors.
–4. If in doubt…take it out! (Hide it and notify Mr. FishDuck) We shoot first and ask questions later, as posts can be unhidden quickly. I want the violating posts hidden immediately so the readers/members do not have to read that nonsense.
–5. On occasion, people will write a post complaining about a prior one being hidden and these complaint posts are to be hidden as well. (See Rule No. 3) We do not do these violation discussions in public; it is all by email or over the phone by Mr. FishDuck. This way it saves embarrassment, and isn’t a buzzkill for everyone else reading it. If someone keeps writing complaint posts—PM (Personal Message) the person and tell them that Mr. FishDuck will be in touch later. And keep hiding all complaint posts!
–6. Most people know enough to not to do the obvious violations, so we will be looking primarily for the subtle behavior violations such as sarcasm, snarky posts and “Throwing Group-Shade.” Sarcasm and snarky posts are easy to detect when they are directed at you, but harder when directed at someone else. You need to put yourself in the place the post was directed and ask yourself…“would I be OK with that if it was directed at me?”
–7. Moderators are all covering each other; there are times I simply missed something, and another moderator caught it, and the reverse happens. If you read any post that has a violation—hide it and notify Charles, even if it was already approved. (No matter who approved it first, even if it was the Big-Fish!) More moderator eyes looking at the posts will result in a higher quality forum, which we all want.
–8. Let me know when you see nonsense or immature posts, and who is writing them. I want to weed those out, so our wonderful community does not even have to read the silly posts.
–9. Note the tone of a post; sometimes new people naturally have a “bite” in their post, an aggressiveness that is not needed and should be discontinued. When you see it—let me know. (And those members need to know to be kinder in their writing)
–10. Writing about the negative is fine, as that is what we do in forums…is discuss player performance and coaching decisions. However, if someone is writing the same extreme negative posts repeatedly—let me know. Negative is fine, but venting is not. I define venting as posting the same extremely negative view more than three times in a week.
–11. Members of the OBD forum can also be negative about other locations, sportswriters, players, fans, and coaches of other teams, etc. The rule, No. 26, pertains to not getting personal with the current Duck coaches and players. If they leave Eugene—they are fair-game again.
–12. Opposing fans cannot come to our site and trash-talk about our Ducks or taunt the fans. We can write negative about Oregon’s football team, but opposing fans cannot. They can only be here if they follow our rules and are respectful of our team.
–13. The words, “liar,” “ass” and “pissing contest” are now acceptable as they are so common and because bugging people every time, they write them would be a ton of work. It would also be construed as taking the “keeping it clean” too far.
–14. Everyone has to be moderated the same; no favoritism or the culture will begin to erode, and people become jaded and dissatisfied. This includes moderating/hiding posts of Mr. FishDuck, as sometimes even he will get off-track.
–15. Do review the rules carefully; spend an hour reading and digesting them as each one represents hours of haggling, emails, phone calls along with reflection. Know what a “Straw-man” argument is, why we don’t “win an argument at FishDuck,” and the other items listed in the rules. You would be surprised how you can recognize these tactics once you have read and internally embrace the rules.
–16. Sign in, and no need to sign out; learn how to use the “Reading Marks” and the “Mark Forum as Read.”
–17. Do not judge a violation based on who wrote the post, and hide it if it is against our rules. It does not matter if it is a “popular” member, or a moderator or even the “Big-Fish.” If it is a violation—hide it, let me know and I’ll take care of it from there.
