Mods

[jim69]

I would just like to comment if thats allowed. If not then feel free to remove this thread.

Appointing Puspawarna as a mod was a great step forward for this forum.

The style of moderation is so professional, always starting with "moderator note". It is something I suggested before, and it makes it very clear to all that the post is not a personal post but one of moderation.

The pm I recieved was both polite, factual and honest.

Thank you Puspawarna, you are a great asset.

[Puspawarna]

(1/2 speaking as a moderator, 1/2 as a poster): Thanks, jim69. It is nice of you to single me out, but now that I've had a peek "behind the curtain" I can tell you that the moderators work as a team and almost always see eye-to-eye. So anything that comes from me could just as easily have come from another mod. While there are times when we act individually because a situation needs to be quenched quickly before we can deliberate together, any message delivered as a PM was almost certainly shared with, and agreed to, by the team as a whole.

The strategy of prefacing a remark with "Mod note:" is from another board I used to spend a lot of time at. I think I've seen it done on this board as well, by other moderators besides me. At any rate, I'm sure we'd all agree that it's a good idea to make it our official policy that mods should clarify, if the situation is at all ambiguous, whether they are speaking as a mod or as an individual poster. We'll try to do that as a matter of routine in the future.

[ponyexpress]

The appointment of Puspa and John as moderators has been very important step for this forum to achieve its objective. I am aware that there is always a room for improvement. But rest assured that we've been constantly trying to make this forum as a friendly, welcoming and informative place for expats who want to live in Indonesia. I am pretty sure our fellow moderator Atlantis will be happy to share his view on this matter.

[atlantis]

The appointment of Puspa and John Madden as moderators is indeed a blessing. The more we work together, the more happy I am that we've choosen the both of them (and thanks to pony to guide me to the right decision).

If a situation is ambiguous, especially with newbies who may have not noticed the moderation status of the moderator or who may not be familiar with the policy of the forum, it's obvious that a clarification may be required. It also is in accordance with our policy concerning newbies. We generally are much more tolerant with newcomers, and prefer to warn them rather than issuing an infraction straight away for example.

However, for users with a bit of seniority in this forum (say 1 month or 50 posts) it only requires a brain to deduct if a moderator is speaking as a poster or as a moderator.
[COLOR=#333333]If a mod step in to request to keep on topic or to step down the tone a notch or two he/she obviously speaks as a mod. Same goes if he/she remembers to a poster a point of policy or elaborates it.

I am used to be spontaneous, meaning that I am not prone to formalism. I write the way I would speak, especially as a non native speaker. I don't spellcheck my posts and often edit them for correction after submission. I volunteer in this forum and want to keep my burden as low as possible. If any non-newbie user doesn't make the effort to read, understand and abide by our Posting Guidelines he/she shouldn't expect me to add much decorative paraphernalia to my posts remenbering him/her the policy of the forum.
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[COLOR=#333333]If I speak to a newbie who may not have noticed my moderator status I may explain him that I am a mod and therefore that it is in my duty to moderate the forum. If I speak to any poster who have a bit of seniority here, I believe that he is able to do the difference in between posts concerning indonesian laws where I act as a poster, and posts concerning forum policy where I speak as a moderator.

This being said, I encourage any mod to express himself/herself with his/her own style. What imports to me is the discussion we have in our mod channel. It has been a great relieve to me to add Pony and Mas Rob in October and it's a delight now to work with Puspa and John madden. I already said it a few times to Pony, but if he and Mas Rob wouldn't have joined me, I would not be posting anymore in this forum today. I was fed up in October and it was a pain for me to just log. I am thankful to both of them to have contributed to remotivate me. I am now thankful to Puspa and John Madden to not only contribure to motivate me to stay with the forum, but also to have adapted very quickly to our moderation discussions and to have made them even more intellectually interesting.

Thanks to all of you guys, Pony, Mas Rob, Puspa and John Madden.[/COLOR]

[Alia]

I miss Mas Rob ..

[atlantis]

I miss Mas Rob ..

We all miss him. He is definitively an asset to this forum. I guess he still needs more time to fully recover.

[john madden]

Sorry I'm late for the love fest! Seriously, I want to extend a public thank you to my fellow moderators for their warm welcome, excellent technical training and ongoing support. Puspa's mature, helpful contributions, Pony's quirky, intelligent approach and Atlantis' genuineness and incredible legal knowledge impress me beyond my ability to express. It's a privilege to be associated with them.

[Pak Gondrong]

Tough job guys good luck God bless you all with strong nerves. It's really hard to be a member and at the same time being a moderator. No matter how you act at the end you will be a moderator. It sound nice for a while but at the end of the day you will have lots of enemies and hate from others.

As Puspawarna said since everything discussed by other moderators, why not use an moderator account for moderation purpose and use your own accounts as member, so no need to mention as "moderation message"...

[Pak Gondrong]

Btw; Atlantis, u were super moderator before and I didn't notice or u recently become one?