Moderator Busyness

 
The moderators have been quite busy lately, apparently.

For one thing, two previously inactive moderators have suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
 

• aliantha_v  -  Became a moderator on 10 July 2002.   She completely vanished between 3 December 2006 and 3 August 2008, and her last message was posted on 18 September 2008.   She has been approving group messages but not posting herself.

 

• valpone_a  -  Vanished for three years after posting a message on 5 February 2006.   In that message, he announced that he had deleted some posts and closed a thread, apparently on the grounds of preventing a flamefest.

  Reappeared today, 6 March 2009, after his three-year absence, posting two messages.   The first was conversational, and in the second he announced that he is closing a thread because the moderators are suddenly reviewing their previously undisclosed decision to prohibit blog links.

 
I’m noticing a pattern from this individual  -  if there is an issue, impose silence.   So apparently, discussion amongst members about group matters  in the group  is a no-go area if moderators happen to say so.

Good thing I’ve got this blog, then.   :)
 
 

The Inactive Moderators

 
Of the “nearly twelve moderators” whom  fig367/dunravin2002  claimed are cooperatively moderating the bdsmireland yahoo group, one is no longer a moderator as of today, one has  reappeared today  after being inactive for three years, and four others remain inactive.   That leaves just  seven  active moderators.

(which is still way short of “nearly twelve”)

 
For general background, here is a summary of the four  (two are the same person)  inactive bdsmireland moderators.
 

• wetnwaitin_2002  -  Became a moderator on 27 January 2004.   She was fairly active up until 15 April, 2005, she posted twice in 2006, twice in 2007, and her last message was posted on 30 January 2008.

 

• shanka2023, shanka_0001, and shanka_x  -  Apparently all these are nicknames of the original group owner.   shanka_0001  became a moderator on 25 February 2000,  shanka2023  became a moderator on 29 September 2000, and  shanka_x  is not currently on the bdsmireland moderator list at all.   shanka_0001 is listed as having a bouncing email address.   The most recent message posted by any of them was by  shanka_x  on 5 February 2004.

 

• molly_mise  -  Became a moderator on 3 March 2002.   Her most recent post was on 16 February 2006.

 
 
And as I have mentioned above, today there has been some reorganisation of the moderating structure.   To wit:  

As of 6 March,  dublinswitch  is no longer a bdsmireland moderator.

 
I think that the actual reason why he is no longer a moderator is likely to be hushed up.   If he or anybody else  does  give a reason, I think it will likely be either something innocuous, like he got too busy or something, or he may be scapegoated for something.  

Based on my past experience with this group, I am not expecting any of them to tell the naked complete truth.
 
 

For Those Whom They Ask To Be Moderators

 
Right now I am noticing two main points to consider for any person who is considering accepting an invitation to join the bdsmireland moderatey teamliness.
 

1. It might be worth noting that when moderators choose to implement decisions which enforce member silence, such as having to manually approve nearly every post or edit selected blog links, these choices are directly responsible for increasing moderator tedium and time investment.   Since moderators have voluntarily and willingly chosen these tasks, they can also choose to reduce them at any time.   Yet the choices they make most usually tend to  increase  their workload.

 

2. In my life, I have friends whom some of my friends don’t like, and some of my friends have friends  I  don’t like, and I’m fine with that.   From what I’ve seen in this group, moderators have a history of pressuring each other and their friends to take sides.   I have recently been on the receiving end of this.

 
So if you are a member of bdsmireland, and the moderators extend an invitation to you or one of your friends to join their moderatey teamliness, you may wish to keep these things in mind:

you may feel pressured to increase your moderatey workload in ways you may not agree with

you may feel pressured to drop friends you might really want to keep