h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm not a rabid Zaphodista. I'm just an ordinary H2G2-goer. But I do agree with the Zaphodistas that the Moderation thing is a bit over-done on the BBC's part. I also agree that we were doing just fine without the Moderators.

I think that we should have, instead of Big Brother Moderator, someone we should /tell/ if someone does something really offensive. None of this pre-emptive Moderation, but if a "Now listen here, you" in the actual forum isn't enough, we want someone to intervene and mediate the problem. If it works in real life communities, why shouldn't it work in an online community?

The reason, one might argue, is that we haven't recieved ANYTHING, post, page, or E-mail, directly from the Moderators other than "Removed by Moderator". I have never been in any other online community where the "mods" were no more than Big Brother. I even can attatch a name, if not a face, to the moderators in, say, Bob and George's community or that of RPGClassics. I even know some of them. But on the H2G2, the most you can say of them is "Big Brother" and they contribute to the H2G2 in no positive way whatsoever. I want Moderators I can relate to.

Of course, the reason Moderators have never tried to join in the community is probably half because they feel alienated by all these anti-Moderator sentiments. (And the other half is because they're part of a bureaucracy. ) They feel that if they join in and say "Hi, I'm a Moderator," they're going to get flamed to bits. (Though why a Moderator would be afraid of /flames/... ) Of course, they should have joined the fun in the first place to prevent this very situation from happening.

If any BBC Moderators want to talk to me via E-mail during their off-hours, my E-mail address is [email protected] and is also on my front space.

heya, YK!

i came across this and felt i should comment...

while i agree that the moderation system isn't perfect, it's not the moderators' fault. the system you suggest (self-moderation) is the system we had before... and while i also preferred that method, the BBC wanted this one, and they're the ones who pay the bills. sadly, we all have to deal with that. it sucks, but that's how things are, you know?

and there *are* researchers who are mods. i know of a few, and i don't blame them for not coming out and admitting that they are. i wouldn't, if i were in their place. a lot of h2g2-ers are a bit crazy about the moderation bit, and though any flaming that might result would be moderated away, it still hurts.

the good old days of h2g2 were the best, but they've gone. all we can do is behave under the current moderation system and wait for the rules to relax a bit more.

I think I speak for all of me when I say "whatever."

Oh, and check the forum where we're doing something stupid. I don't want the eventual plot there to be /entirely/ my own.

Trouble is, the nice Moderators really offended more researchers than they helped to KEEP from getting offended. Does that help build the community at all? No. Absolutely not. It just gets rid of a lot of really good long-time researchers and replaces them with more people who spend all their time posting conversations that have a thousand smileys in them and only a couple of words. Whatever happened to the idea of creating an actual /Guide/, for crying out loud?

Another thing: most of those researchers that left (and a few who remained) had always loved the fact that the Guide also seemed to be the ultimate free-speech forum, where we could all complain about the goings-on in the world and, through that, learn to understand each other. But hey, who needs world understanding when you've got Big Brother to control us, right?

Okay, rant over. Moderators, you can stop hanging your heads in shame now... nah, just kidding!

so do you think its worked

Okay, rant over. Moderators, you can stop hanging your heads in shame now

dont think so

still have noticed few new faces
and by the way who pays the bill well i pay part of them by way of stealth tax (telivison liscense)and under current law if you have a tv
capable of recieving bbc you have to have a liscense, fines being up to 10 times cost of liscense.

..So if you get away with it for more than 10 years, you win!

Only if you get caught,then a fine and you have to pay the liscence fee for when you didn't have one.