On 2012/01/04 13:29, JB wrote:
Patrick Lists<fedora-list<at> puzzled.xs4all.nl> writes:
On 04-01-12 20:08, JB wrote:
I think this list should not be moderated at all because as I already said it
can be easily manipulated into killing it.
IMO that Linda person is killing this list and with the baseless
personal attack on Neal this Linda person has shown to be a threat to
the reputation of others on this list. Google does not forget so Neal
definitely has a point.
I'm in favor of moderation.
I am for restoring "Linda" to her full list membership, w/o moderation.
I am against restoring "Linda".
Regards,
Patrick
Patrick,
I do share your disdain for and Neal's concern about "Linda"'s Google searches,
etc.
But let's be clear about the effectiveness of "Linda"'s actions. By now, any
body searching Internet for clues about a person proves to be a lunatic and not
qualified in any way to make a judgement regarding that person of interest.
After so many years of Internet and Information Revolution most people know
that there is a lot of garbage out there.
That is not to say that ""Linda"'s actions should be ignored.
But we should not throw out the baby with the water. First you throw out
a trouuble maker, later your "opponent", and after a w hile you are the only
one left on the list.
We can survive "Linda" on this list.
"Linda",
please stop harassing somebody whose identity you do not even know.
You cross a line.
JB, for over a decade, 1985 til BIX died, I ran the Amiga "forums" or as
we called them the Amiga Exchange conferences. If one wanted to be a
moderator I learned that one must first learn to swallow just a whole lot
of abuse. (And it is quite rewarding when the abuser finally hangs himself
with his own abuse and slinks away.) I also learned that to keep the
conferences "alive" I had to maintain the active threat of banning a person
from the conferences. I had the power. I seldom used it. Used too much and
it stifles the discussions just as much or more than drivel. Given its
"forum-like" nature I also had the ability to move drivel to a drivel topic
that others could avoid or browse as they saw fit. You can't do that with a
mailing list. But you can ban somebody who chronically creates noise. Any
person with that power must exercise it with extreme caution, and not
necessarily work in a windsock manner as people scream "get rid of this
troll!"
One thing I prohibited, with the extreme sanction as one of its punishments,
was direct personal attacks at the level of Linda's attack on Neal. I used it
maybe three or four times in 10 years.
For a list like this the administrators must keep an eye on complaints
about what the list moderator(s) might do. I'd recommend operating like
the BIX Amiga Exchange. The moderators must ask the list administrator to
perform any banning that might take place. The list administrator who is
about to lock a person off should read back over that person's history. The
moderator should provide a list of URLs for examples. In this particular
case Linda's action on the message which started this thread is sufficient
to lock her off. She fairly obviously did not search properly for the evidence
she used to target an apparently innocent person. That is not a forgivable
offense as she acted. Let her sit it out in moderated status for some time
the moderator and administrator agree upon before she is allowed to post to
this list like the rest of us. When she learns to act like an adult she can
be allowed to participate like an adult, not before.
And, again, I stress that any action of this sort must be undertaken with
extreme caution. The moderators must identify themselves in their signature
blocks as moderators. And they must be prepared to swallow a fair amount of
abuse targeting themselves before they ban a person for attacking any of the
moderators. Under these sorts of conditions it can work quite well.
It also can burn out moderators fairly quickly. I was lucky in that I was
given a budget to pay them. It was not much. But it helped take away some
of the sting from the slings and arrows.
As a side suggestion, I discovered people over maybe 30 or 35 survived better
as moderators than younger people. The added maturity seems to help.
{^_^}
--
users mailing list
users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
