Moderation Guidelines && Applications for Moderators

Enough so there is very little room for interpretation. Those interpretations are usually on the negative side as we have already seen.

Jeroen.

This morning I promoted two more members that are now global moderators.

Which members and for what reasons?

I presume from looking it was Coding Badly and AWOL but this is what is getting people annoyed - lack of communication.
The Arduino team to an outsider such as myself seems very secretive and does not seem to want to accept help from others for fear that it may extend out of the tight group of developers into a more community developed project.
That view may be wrong but I think that's what many people who hang around here see. Don't get me wrong either, we have seen some great things from the Arduino project and the universal acceptance and knowledge of the platform is rather impressive but it would be nice if we knew more and people had the opportunity to help more.

I know we have our opposing views (and likely for that reason I will never be made a moderator on this forum - which in part I am glad as with a new job and many other changes I don't think I'd have the time) but my views are not alone, I'm just one to voice my feelings.

I'm an outsider too.
I have no contact with the founding team other than via email, and I consciously didn't apply for the position, even when they opened up applications a few months back.
I had no warning either - I just woke up with some new blue stars and an email from Massimo.

I can only assume they wanted a touch of "poacher-turned-gamekeeper".
Or possibly, like Zaphod Beeblebrox, anyone who actively wants the position on no account should be allowed to hold it!

(I promise not to use my new super-powers for evil)

I have no contact with the founding team other than via email, and I conciously didn't apply for the position, even when they opened up applications a few months back. I had no warning either - I just woke up with some new blue stars and an email from Massimo.

Now, what about 'room for interpretation' in that. Remember that when people don't know the reasoning they will probably make something up or start guessing. So do it your, the arduino team, way and don't rely on the community or make use of the community which needs communicating before deciding. If you want both there will be guesses/interpretations/'bad climate'.

I try to explain this in a general way as i don't mean to start some fight over details.

Jeroen.

The Arduino team collaborates with a lot of people and we accept contributions from everybody.
In any open source project there is a "benevolent dictator" that has to make decisions in the end following the original spirit of that made the project successful in the first place. (you can find that concept in a lot of writings about Open Source)

Having said this we're not many people and we can't cover all areas as quickly as some of you would like.

The criteria is very simple, I'm looking at the ones who have reported the most posts while considering the amount and quality of their contributions. I've started from the "non-english" forums and now I'm working on the international forums.

There is still a lot of work to do.

m

Having said this we're not many people and we can't cover all areas as quickly as some of you would like.

I'm not questioning that, at all. I am a bit disturbed by the fact you seem to think we only want to receive.

Maybe there is a misunderstanding, the community could lighten your work load. Collaborating doesn't have to mean that you get yet another task that eats time. Though that will mean you have to share some reason about why you decided on things. Maybe the arduino team doesn't want to let go of some of that power. (you see, some of the interpreting/guessing there.)

Maybe you/we need to appoint one or several spokespersons. That way the team can have a single point to throw info to without taking much time in clarifying/discussions.

Jeroen.

Blue Stars - Bar Sport - Arduino Forum ?

The criteria is very simple, I'm looking at the ones who have reported the most posts while considering the amount and quality of their contributions.

UweFederer?
I presume a personal friend...

Mowcius

Your ability to see evil in everything we do is becoming legendary :slight_smile:

Uwe Federer is one of the top contributors to the forum (see http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=14713) and in particular to the italian forum. Considering that he speaks german as well as italian and english he does a pretty amazing job in multiple forums.

He requested a different username in order to be able to clearly separate his moderation activities from the times when he's just speaking for himself.

m

Ahh yes I do remember about the dual name thing...

Mowcius

Your ability to see evil in everything we do is becoming legendary

I should hope so :smiley:

Massimo, you absolutely should publicly announce new moderators.

This serves two purposes. First, it recognizes people for the service you're asking of them. Second, the addition of moderators impacts the culture of forum. It's just a fact of human society. New leaders in any system affect the culture of the system. So when you say, "Person X is a moderator," you are saying, "Person X is the kind of person we value here, this is the kind of society we are." This is valuable and useful information.

New leaders in any system

I'm a leader?
Wow, am I in the wrong place!

(I think of myself more like a humble policeman. The kind who isn't handed wads of cash in plain brown envelopes)

The kind who isn't handed wads of cash in plain brown envelopes

That was an option? Dang! Typical of me. A day late and a plain brown envelope short.

1 Like

AWOL:
I'm a leader?

It's a fact. Those who control the levers of power, like it or not, participate in setting the direction of the system. People will look to you guys as role models for how to treat people. This can be observed in pretty much any significant on-line community.

AWOL:
I think of myself more like a humble policeman.

This speaks to my first point. Acknowledging your service to the community in a public way is a nice touch. Since you're not actually getting any cash, it's an easy way to show appreciation for your police work.

Those who control the levers of power

You'd be surprised how short those levers are :smiley:

Almost everything I do here is pretty tongue-in-cheek, so don't expect too much leadership from this direction (I'm new to this "online community" concept)

Edit: Pondering further on the subject, the role it is less like a policeman, more like a school caretaker (or "entropy control engineers" as I believe they are now called).
Think Filch from Hogwarts, or Willie from The Simpsons. (in fact, physically, both are pretty good likenesses)

David
Sorry to but in on this thread
I am new to forum - I can not see how to post a new thread
Would appreciate some help
Simon

I can not see how to post a new thread

Pick the forum that you want to post the question/statement/whatever in (whichever is most closely related to the topic of your post). Select the New Topic button. Type away.

Thankyou

I am applying to be moderator for the new FAQ topic area. (Area is locked, so only moderators can write to it).

I think I might apply to moderate the moderators !

Yesterday I posted
http://www.forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=24144
Banned from official Arduino forum?

New postby joecool17 » Mon Nov 14, 2011 1:53 am
This probably isn't the right place, but it seemed like the best fit, as it has to do with my latest project. MODS: If not, please move it to the right spot.
I was apparently banned yesterday from the Arduino forum shortly after my first post. It asked about speech synthesis and singing, and included a link to one of my favorite XKCD comics where HAL replaces Dave with GLaDOS. I did nothing else, aside from filling in some profile info, and I have received no communication from the Arduino forum. I can't even access it logged out. I have been able to see it at a friend's house, and it seems my post was also deleted. Could someone post this to the Arduino forum and help me figure out what happened?

That post disappeared without explanation whatever.

Now if there is a problem with the guy OK - remove the post and tell me why
If you have fixed his problem OK tell me

Removing it without explanation is downright rude!