Virtual Dr. seems more than a little sick: "Member Participation Issues"

I come to VDR for help on any pc problem I have, and to learn about 'computing' in general and for specific issues.
I do not come here to be spammed, or talked to like I'm an idiot, nor do I want to be preached to about subjects non-pc related...(other than in the lounge).
IMHO, the mods here are the most civil of any help site on the web,and for the huge $ they make...ZILCH....they are to be commended...the mods do an excellent job.:cool:......
I personally don't want all the old ills dredged up, and prefer the discussions of them to be between the mods and the offending poster.
If any poster has a problem with the mod, then they should pm BJ and/or the mod, but posting open discussions of their mal-content solves 'nothing' and only serves to disrupt the forum and distract it from it's main purpose.
poppy

Amen and Halleluiah !!!!

:)

Well, I hope everyone feels good that we made one giant step forward. And that was a big step by reinstituting full page width for the individual thread pages.

And by the way. I want to say how much I for one appreciate each and every post that has been made. Really really great. My gosh you guys and gals came up with some good "Stuff". (I know some of you have been waiting with baited breath to see if that word would surface one more time.:) :) ) I love ya all. :D

And all the thread pages concerning the current state of VirDr in feedback is contained in pages and threads that have seen the view count approach the 20,000 mark. Shy less than 3,000 to reach it. Phenomenal growth in such a short time. Shows we do care about VirDr. I am excited about it all.

The work that now needs to be done is contained in these feed back threads. Has to be broken out but in starting to do that something popped out at me and that was the following key words: dull, boring, staid, heavy handed, intimidate, uniform, standard, customer service, members, VirtualDr, sick and participation to name a few. (Looks like more than a few. :)

So let's figure out where to start. What should we concentrate on first, and second, and third, and forth etc. etc? Would coming up with answers concerning member participation first also help solve other items in question? :)

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Originally Posted by Steve R Jones

So as simplistic a violation as Nix’s thread was and as good as his standing at VDR is, maybe saying nothing was a “courtesy.”

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I wasn't trying to drag up the past I was merely using my thread as an example of the inconsistencies applied by different moderators.

The fact that other members had to tell me what happened to my thread before BJ stepped in and explained the lay of the land to me was in my view disappoinitng.

As a long standing member, should I have known better - probably.

Had it have been locked with an explanation or just locked I would have accepted it without complaint.

The fact that it just disappeard perplexed me and I would have rathered be berated in the thread or via PM - there have been other threads where this has happened and I acted adultly and resolved them amicably.

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maybe saying nothing was a “courtesy.”

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Well in my opinion no. I think it was rude, arrogant action by someone in a position of power and it could have been handled a lot better than it was and that's why there needs to be consistent rules for moderators etc to follow - which is the point I was trying to make.

Eg a simple

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Your thread has been locked for being OT

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either in the locked thread or via PM would have been all that is needed.

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It would be nice, if all moderators handled things this way but sometimes there are not enough hours in the day.

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Sorry, but I think if you are going to take the time to make a decsion to lock a thread then you can make the time to provide an explanation.

Most do, but it needs to be consistent - that's all I'm saying.

Nix,
point well taken...Consistency......gotta have it...:)....

greengoose1
......clear summation , and timely, .....lots to ponder.

Nix, I just looked up that particular thread (it was before my time as a Mod), and it was in fact locked with this comment by the Mod who locked it:

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While I personally love these insights into your real lives...this is a bit off topic...gonna lock it up.

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It was obviously removed at some point after that, presumably to avoid cluttering up the forum, but it was not locked without explanation. In fact I think it would be hard to find threads that have been locked without explanation in the more recent past. Undisputably that is something that did happen at VDr at one time, but it isn't something that I've seen in quite a while now, if anyone can show me differently, then that's something we will definitely sort out in our Moderators forum.

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Originally Posted by SuperSparks

Nix, I just looked up that particular thread (it was before my time as a Mod), and it was in fact locked with this comment by the Mod who locked it:


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While I personally love these insights into your real lives...this is a bit off topic...gonna lock it up.


It was obviously removed at some point after that, presumably to avoid cluttering up the forum, but it was not locked without explanation. In fact I think it would be hard to find threads that have been locked without explanation in the more recent past. Undisputably that is something that did happen at VDr at one time, but it isn't something that I've seen in quite a while now, if anyone can show me differently, then that's something we will definitely sort out in our Moderators forum.

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Unfortunately by the time I came into work the next day the notification took me to a page saying I did not have authority to browse it so I never saw that notice.

But thankyou for telling me that's what it said.

Well that's something we can try and avoid in the future then Nix. If we do have a tidy up of locked threads, we can try and make sure they're at least left there long enough for the OP to see the reason why thay were locked.

Yes maybe a week or something.

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/ is my opening page and beginning point in VDR. I see very little of the bad things most of you seem to be complaining about. There are 9 forums that I try to visit each and every day and let me tell you; I have found very little to complain about. I feel it a must to go to each of those forums that interest me every day and if I don't, I feel like I have missed "something".
Now, perhaps I am too much of a conformist type person and very little upsets me in our forums. I haven't any doubt about my computing skills because I have so few but what few I do possess I largely attribute to having gotten them here at VDR. There are 4 boards that I am a member of and only 1 other do I regularly visit. I have found nothing but admiration for Mods here, and there, and I think they do a fantastic and thankless job of looking after us and the owners of the board. Imparting their wisdom and knowledge and just giving of themselves is far and above the call of free duty. The same can be said of 99.9% of the membership--maybe even 100%!!! I just don't usually have any trouble here or there or anywhere else I may go (double posted once on another board and didn't realize I had done that. Was told about it---politely and it hasn't happened since.) Hey maybe I am just too complacent!!
Tell you what I think of our Mods. Drove quiet a few miles once to personally meet one and have since had he and his wife visit with us in our home. That is what I think of him and I strongly suspect I would be equally comfortable with either of you. Sorry--not taking reservations at this time :D
Just keep up the good work and let's try to appreciate this free board and treat it accordingly--with respect. It's FREE!

Thank you for your kind words buf, it's members like you that make my & the mods jobs worthwhile. ;) BJ

Been looking over the comments of the last day or so. Good to see things are rolling again. Time has and does prohibit me from saying (responding to) all that I may like at this point, but I'll throw out a few things here.

Let me put forth (briefly stated) a couple ideas (maybe philosophies) that I would be interested to know other people’s (members and staff) feelings on. Don’t take what I say as any assertion on my part as to the way I think things are or are not done here today. I’m just trying to get at people’s feelings as to where they stand on certain aspects of the way things should be done. Anyway…

1) It is my belief that it is the members that drive a board such as vdr. That (subject to the obvious fact that the board is owned and operated by Jupiter media, and therefore subject to certain common sense, business and legal constraints and boundaries) member wishes, needs and wants should be what guide and shape vdr. And let me note here that I consider moderators to be in the “member population”, as really they are just members with a slightly different hat they have to wear occasionally.

2) It is my belief (again within in some limits, and recognizing the existence of some obligations to Jupiter) one of the primary, even the primary, responsibilities of a moderator is as a representative and advocate of the members, and as facilitators for helping the members at large achieve what the "membership" wants/needs.

3) I believe the members and moderators are and need to be equal partners (no us-them, no boss-subordinate) in this thing we call vdr, what it is and what it becomes.

Agree? disagree? Thoughts? Qualifications?

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Originally Posted by DrMDJ

1) It is my belief that it is the members that drive a board such as vdr. That (subject to the obvious fact that the board is owned and operated by Jupiter media, and therefore subject to certain common sense, business and legal constraints and boundaries) member wishes, needs and wants should be what guide and shape vdr. And let me note here that I consider moderators to be in the “member population”, as really they are just members with a slightly different hat they have to wear occasionally.

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Agreed. Without the members (mods included) and their input, everything about the site is moot. I'm also sure the moderators here are glad you didn't categorize them as a different species than the members. ;)

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2) It is my belief (again within in some limits, and recognizing the existence of some obligations to Jupiter) one of the primary, even the primary, responsibilities of a moderator is as a representative and advocate of the members, and as facilitators for helping the members at large achieve what the "membership" wants/needs.

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Disagree somewhat. While the role of a facilitator, advocate or representative may come up from time to time, the primary role of a moderator remains to moderate...make sure the AUP is being observed and maintain order on the forum. Members need to understand (and some mods perhaps) is that a moderator is simply a person deemed responsible enough and was asked by the Admins to volunteer to keep watch. I do not believe the role of "representative" or "facilitator" even come up. Certainly those elements come up from time to time, but members need to know that a moderator is limited....they do not dictate policy or can make instant design changes to the site or things like that. The most they can do is make the Admins aware of the issue, perhaps bring it up for discussion with the other Mods in the Moderators Forum, but that's it. Moderators are not Congressmen...they are monitors...helping to make this a nice place to be for the members and vistors alike. Making sure people are getting the help they need and that the advice they are receiving is accurate. Keeping the bozoheads off the site who recommend reformatting the hard drive as the answer to every computer problem, etc. etc.

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3) I belief the members and moderators are and need to be equal partners (no us-them, no boss-subordinate) in this thing we call vdr, what it is and what it becomes.

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They ARE equal partners for sure, just different roles, that's all. Members need to respect the role of the moderator and the moderators need to remember who they are and who they serve: members. Moderators and "regular" members both have the same stake in the site and need to work together. A Mod is not a "boss"...any Mod who thinks so needs to be removed from that position. A Mod needs to think of themselves more like a "Host". A proper host makes sure everyone in the house is comfortable, but they also set the rules and maintain order...for the benefit of all who are in the house. It's always a matter of the benefit of the majority. I moderate on another forum...my attitude is that I am a member first...I just happen to have some extra tools and a tidge bit of authority to help out, maintain order and make the visit to the site more enjoyable. And I ALWAYS welcome it when a "regular" member catches someone screwing around, warns them and then notifies me or another Mod about it. Shows that members care and that we are truly "equal partners" at the site.

My 2¢....

Good input. Thanks! Let me just slide in a quickie response to your statements Bistro regarding my question/point 2…

I guess I can accept your idea that a mod’s job is maybe first and foremost to watch over things, etc. Yes, I do realize the limited (generally non-existent) ability and authority they have to make certain (many) things happen. So I would be willing perhaps to back down a bit or rephrase my assertion that being a representative/advocate/facilitator is a mod’s primary responsibility. But I do feel these things can be roles a mod needs to fill (within their limited scope of influence/control). I would suggest that because they are closer in proximity (shall we say) to the true powers to be, where the need arises it is reasonable to expect them to see that member wishes and needs are carried forward (As an aside, I would note that is not the role of mods in and of themselves to judge the validity, merit or worthiness of wishes/issues/requests). Unless the members are given a direct avenue themselves it really has to be this way.

Hmm. Interesting points. I agree with what has been said although I believe that moderators have several hats to wear bsides the primary function Bistro explained concerning Item 2 above. I guess it would depend on degree. Or I just have a slightly different perspective. :D

(I have to say something about Bistro - He was one my my mentors a long time ago. :D :D)

But we are seeing what happens when people do discuss issues and VirDr is one of my favorite issues to discuss. Anyway we are seeing how members feel as they respond to the call. Very very nice. :)