Backseat Moderation
When certain forum members began to watch for spammers and violators and then tell them about it in threads I did not see this as being a problem but, it has become one. Some forum members have taken it upon themselves to become unofficial police of the forum and this will stop immediately. Do not Impersonate Mods/Admin - Includes acting like a Mod and/or pretending to be a mod. Leave the moderation to us. If you see a post that needs our attention please send us a pm or email. We do need your help in this respect! 1. What is Backseat Moderation? Backseat moderation is the term the PTK staff use to describe a person who attempts to moderate a topic in the Forums and has no power. To make it simpler: A person is impersonating the staff. They are telling the topic starter or posters what to do or they are pointing out things that they believe are against the rules. 2. What are some basic examples of Backseat Moderation? The most common example of Backseat moderation is a user saying to the topic starter: "This topic is in the wrong place." Another common one is "Read the Board Rules" or "This topic should be closed." 3. Why is Backseat Moderation so bad? Backseat moderation really doesn't sound so bad at first. Its helpful if someone points someone to the board rules or tells them a topic is in the wrong place. Right? WRONG. In many many cases, the topic starter feels offended by the user and tends to attack that person. The Staff members have to put out the fire. Now imagine one or two of these incidents and multiply it by the number or users online and topics everyday. That should give you a rather large number of problems. So to prevent these problems, Simply Don't do it. 4. How can I prevent Backseat Moderation? If you are in the forums looking to answer questions and notice a topic is in the wrong place, send a personal message to a Moderator online. Include a link to the topic and where you believe the topic should be. If you see a topic that should be closed, repeat the procedure and tell the staff member why you think the topic should be closed. If you think the topic doesn't belong anywhere or it is offensive, send a message to any staff member who is online. Now if you go in a topic strictly to point out a topic is in the wrong place, DON'T DO IT. If you don't know the answer to the topic and you can not help the person find the answer, do not bother posting. Let someone else who knows answer the topic. 5. How can I help the staff without Backseat Moderation? If you absolutely, positively know the answer to a topic or question, by all means post a detailed answer to the question. If Support isn't your thing, then behave in the community forums. If you are a regular lurker and notice a topic or user that is inappropriate, send a personal message to a Moderator with a link to the topic or user. And of course if you see a topic needing to be moved, closed or removed, send a message to the staff as explained in question 4. Backseat moderating could be helpful, but not neccessary and maybe annoying to the person being corrected..... So please, keep this in mind when posting. Thank you.