Where are the moderators?

[One_Girl]

I have been wondering this for quite a while.  The threads seem to be going downhill and there is a lot of sarcasm and fighting in them, there have been a few advocating hitting, plus some weird posts by new members asking about nudity.  The atmosphere is getting negative and I really would love to see this site go back to the guidelines it enforced strictly when I first joined.

[Cynthia Mosher]

We are trying to give members more space and opportunity to work things out between themselves and those in the discussions to encourage one another to do that. However, when we become aware of discussions deteriorating into fighting, insults, and advocation of things against our policies then we do step in to handle such issues. If you are seeing these things then it may be that the moderator of the forum is not aware of the issue and has not received a report about it. Please do report what you see of concern and we'll take a look. 

[Talula Fairie]

Honestly? I'm so glad Mothering has decided to do this. I thought it was a bit on the overmoderated side before and I'm really glad that people are able to share their own voice again.

[treeoflife3]

me too... it is a website of adults, and I always felt people were a bit too sensitive to need another adult constantly stepping in about every little thing.  I've enjoyed the lighter moderating and letting people learn how to figure things out for themselves.

however, posters advocating for things not really 'mothering' probably has more to do with the site trying to bring in a new member base without the magazine than less moderation.  Besides, we will always have members who don't agree with every little thing mothering stands for anyway.

nudity and stuff from new posters though is probably spam that should be deleted.  companies pay real people to sign up on forums posting as many times as they can before they get banned.  If the nudity ones have links... they are hoping at least one person will be dumb enough to click the link which can lead to money from ads or people buying into whatever it is they are trying to sell.  Report the spam.
 

Originally Posted by Talula Fairie 

Honestly? I'm so glad Mothering has decided to do this. I thought it was a bit on the overmoderated side before and I'm really glad that people are able to share their own voice again.

[DariusMom]

I think it can take some getting used to, but that it's ultimately a good thing. The old site was *way* overmoderated -- and inconsistently moderated at that. "Taking exception" to someone could, depending on the moderator, mean disagreeing with someone. Lots of good, interesting, thoughtful posters left because of this.

[D_McG]

People can now speak freely and offer their heart felt opinions without overmoderation. What's not to love?

[Mulvah]

I may have to start visiting more frequently now. 
 

Originally Posted by DariusMom 

I think it can take some getting used to, but that it's ultimately a good thing. The old site was *way* overmoderated -- and inconsistently moderated at that. "Taking exception" to someone could, depending on the moderator, mean disagreeing with someone. Lots of good, interesting, thoughtful posters left because of this.

I completely agree.

[APToddlerMama]

I agree that there was way too much overmoderation going on before, but I also feel like MDC has recently become more of a place where you get "yahoo question" types of answers sometimes instead of the higher quality posts that used to be the complete norm.  Why is that?  It was nice to feel like you were asking informed people who wrote with some punctuation and knowledge instead of the text message type quality my fifteen year old cousin uses.  Maybe I am just pregnant and cranky.....

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by APToddlerMama 

I agree that there was way too much overmoderation going on before, but I also feel like MDC has recently become more of a place where you get "yahoo question" types of answers sometimes instead of the higher quality posts that used to be the complete norm.  Why is that?  It was nice to feel like you were asking informed people who wrote with some punctuation and knowledge instead of the text message type quality my fifteen year old cousin uses.  Maybe I am just pregnant and cranky.....

I just simply refuse to respond to posts like that. That may seem mean, but they're often trolls or spam.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by D_McG 

People can now speak freely and offer their heart felt opinions without overmoderation. What's not to love?

Exactly. 

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by D_McG 

People can now speak freely and offer their heart felt opinions without overmoderation. What's not to love?

It was over-moderated before and I do like that this part is gone but I feel like it has now gone to far in the other direction.  What I don't like is seeing spanking advocated, debates on the merits of spanking (even after hitting the button to flag the moderators), the fighting and open sarcasm, and the new atmosphere in general.  It seems like a lot of members have left since the new moderation rules took effect and that has also had a negative effect on the site.  I am considering leaving also but was hoping to see if a change had happened and if it would be considered before making a decision.  There used to be a new post all the time and many good discussions almost daily.  The posts were thoughtful and the atmosphere was respectful.  Now it is rare to see a new post and the atmosphere is often not respectful at all, especially when a one person doesn't like being disagreed with at all.  I think the moderation is what made this site such a strong and unique site before and now that is gone.  This site is now no different than the ones run by other parenting magazines.  I guess I know what my decision needs to be, it is just hard to leave something that was so good.

[Drummer's Wife]

I haven't noticed pro-spanking or CIO advocating, but it could be b/c I don't frequent certain parts of the board where these discussions are occuring. I don't think MDC has changed their stance on these issues, and my guess is that once they are aware of them being mentioned and others approving of them, they would be edited out or posts removed all together.

I think the reason many members are not on as often or at all, is b/c of the new format - not b/c moderation is lacking.

Maybe we could take a poll in TAO or here? I feel like many people left a few years ago when everything was moderated heavily. I think this step of letting more slide is taking a middle ground approach.

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife 

I haven't noticed pro-spanking or CIO advocating, but it could be b/c I don't frequent certain parts of the board where these discussions are occuring. I don't think MDC has changed their stance on these issues, and my guess is that once they are aware of them being mentioned and others approving of them, they would be edited out or posts removed all together.

I think the reason many members are not on as often or at all, is b/c of the new format - not b/c moderation is lacking.

Maybe we could take a poll in TAO or here? I feel like many people left a few years ago when everything was moderated heavily. I think this step of letting more slide is taking a middle ground approach.

I guess I have only noticed the change in moderation since the switch to the new format and the threads I have seen where some posters discuss spanking as an acceptable punishment aren't shut down nor are posts being edited even after notifying moderators,  Maybe this has been an ongoing thing before the change and I just didn't notice or it could be that people are now realizing they can say anything they want to because this isn't a moderated site anymore so they are acting on that the same way people on other non-moderated sites act.  A poll is a good idea.  I have never mastered them though.

[MSWmama]

Honestly, as a newer member of the community, I'm often shy to speak up in threads because of the moderation (I've been lurking here for years). I would never advocate CIO or spanking. but I do remember a thread recently where I felt like the mom really wanted "permission" to formula feed, and I felt uncomfortable saying that because I know that the "party line" here is to breastfeed, even if you must go to great great lengths to do so. Interesting that some members feel the moderation is too hands-off - I guess it's just a matter of perspective! 

[Sharlla]

Originally Posted by Cynthia Mosher 

We are trying to give members more space and opportunity to work things out between themselves and those in the discussions to encourage one another to do that. However, when we become aware of discussions deteriorating into fighting, insults, and advocation of things against our policies then we do step in to handle such issues. If you are seeing these things then it may be that the moderator of the forum is not aware of the issue and has not received a report about it. Please do report what you see of concern and we'll take a look. 

I appreciate that. 

[DariusMom]

I think that there are fewer posters because of the new format. I have an old PC and no money for a new one. I do have high speed internet, but the site takes *forever* to load and I simply don't have the patience or time to spend visiting new threads.

[Subhuti]

Yes, I've been wondering where all the new posts went ... there seems to be very little traffic on MDC.  I could hardly keep up with all the amazing threads in the past ... now it just seems like not much traffic at all sometimes.

I don't know if some people dropped out because of the end of the print magazine?  Or, perhaps other types of media have lured them away --- people seem to talk about migrating to FB.  I personally will never join FB, it sounds like too high an addictive potential for me, not to mention invasive .... but people love it and perhaps it "steals" away the traffic from the forums.

I love MDC so much and have found that this place and the parents on it have helped me a million times over as I've parented ...

 

[Mama Mko]

The new site is horrible when compared to the old one. Half the time I can't reply or have to hit full page editor to reply and it just makes it not worth it. I think the format change drove a lot of people away and I don't blame them.

[Subhuti]

I haven't found the new site to be bad at all, except when I use my "device"( I use and iPad) -- then it is slow and ackward and hard to respond to posts and impossible to send pm's ...  maybe the reduction in traffic is because so many people are now using "devices" rather than computers and a forum like this isn't well suited for that.  I find that when I am on my iPad I read rather than post because posting is so awkward.

[ramama]

I did think it was over-moderated before, and I thought to myself "we're adults here, surely we can have a civilized conversation without constant moderation" but sadly, many of the threads have been taken over by petty immaturity, cattiness, snark, judgment, fight-picking, and condescension.  I don't know how long I will continue coming back to MDC, honestly.