Should Winston Make Me a Moderator?

[Pixel--Dude]

Hey guys I was thinking recently and thought about taking a more active role in the forum as a moderator. I really like the community we have here and the diversity of people and opinions. I've noticed that jamesbond and fschmidt aren't around that much, and this is no way a criticism of them as moderators, but just wondered what you guys thought to having someone made a moderator who is frequently online and participates often with some of the discussions.

I've private messaged @Winston and asked if he would be interested and I thought I'd make a poll so that members of the community can share their feedback which may or may not influence Winston's decision either way.

Go ahead and vote honestly or give any honest feedback and I'll take it all on the chin like a man. I understand there are members I don't get along with and as members of the forum they are also entitled to their say. I won't take anything personally in this thread.

I'm not exactly an expat. I haven't spent any time living abroad, but I have dated foreign women and visited a few different countries as well as looked into various cultures and their history. I do hate the west and particularly the UK and I might have done some travelling if I hadn't have got my ex knocked up and had a child to think about.

As a moderator I would be a fair guy and would not really let my personal opinions of some of the members affect my judgement when it comes to serious issues. All in all I think we have an awesome little community here and I want to do more for it.

Being an active member as well means that I can approve more posts from new people who might be commenting and not getting their posts approved because nobody is around to approve them. Which will bring in more users and make the community more lively.

[MarcosZeitola]

Sure, why not? You seem like one of the few people who keeps the forum up and running as it is; you always make new threads about various deep subjects, you tag a ton of people in those threads and do your best to ensure lively debates ensue in all your topics. I like that. Also the other moderators aren't very active; Fschmidt sort of hates all of humanity at this point and considers this forum to be rife with scum and degenerates (he's not entirely wrong there), JamesBond sort of comes and goes, and Winston is largely inactive although he does pop up from time to time. Having a moderator around who's actually active would be a good thing. It all depends on what Winston says, obviously, but I say, why not?

[Pixel--Dude]

Sure, why not? You seem like one of the few people who keeps the forum up and running as it is; you always make new threads about various deep subjects, you tag a ton of people in those threads and do your best to ensure lively debates ensue in all your topics. I like that. Also the other moderators aren't very active; Fschmidt sort of hates all of humanity at this point and considers this forum to be rife with scum and degenerates (he's not entirely wrong there), JamesBond sort of comes and goes, and Winston is largely inactive although he does pop up from time to time. Having a moderator around who's actually active would be a good thing. It all depends on what Winston says, obviously, but I say, why not?

Thanks MarcosZeitola. I appreciate your response. I haven't seen jamesbond around for ages. I've seen fschmidt pop in and out for a few weeks a while back, but haven't seen him since. It's a shame he has such a negative view of the community he moderates. I actually have a very positive view of the community we have here. Obviously I don't get along with everyone, but my enthusiasm is for those members of the community who do make this place so awesome! I want to moderate and make it better for those people in particular. So people have someone they can depend on if they need an issue dealing with. As I say though this isn't a criticism of Winston or any of the other mods, I just thought it would be good for Winston to have someone moderate who is here often and tries to get conversation going as you pointed out.

[Voyager1]

I voted no. There are too many moderator wanabees. Besides you are new here and inexperienced.

Winston has had other moderators in the past that were too hasty and would ban for the most minor infractions or for someone expressing a differing opinion. I think you would do the same. You've also shown a lack of ability to control your temper when you get into it with someone and you degrade to name calling.

Winston just needs to be here more. It's his forum after all. I am not sure what to what degree jamesbond and fschmidt are effective moderators (I think they are the same person.)

There are other members here that have seniority over you to be appointed as moderators, but I think Winston is doing a fine job.

[Pixel--Dude]

I voted no. There are too many moderator wanabees. Besides you are new here and inexperienced.

Winston has had other moderators in the past that were too hasty and would ban for the most minor infractions or for someone expressing a differing opinion. I think you would do the same. You've also shown a lack of ability to control your temper when you get into it with someone and you degrade to name calling.

Winston just needs to be here more. It's his forum after all. I am not sure what to what degree jamesbond and fschmidt are effective moderators (I think they are the same person.)

There are other members here that have seniority over you to be appointed as moderators, but I think Winston is doing a fine job.

Okay, you're entitled to your opinion. There might be people here who have been here longer than I and therefore feel they have more a legitimate claim to such a position. I was just offering to help out because H.A. is somewhere that is one of the few areas online that advocates free speech and absolutely should be well looked after. As I said, it isn't a criticism of the current moderation team. I've just noticed they don't come online as often. I mean, look how long it took to get a response about the appeal? Maybe the current admin team are busy.

Where I confess that I have lost my temper a few times with some people, especially NPCslammer, I mostly try and keep my debates civil to a degree. I do resort to name-calling at times, but things get heated and I give what I get. My opinion is if you can't take it don't dish it out.

I know I've had a go at you in the appeal for Tsar's ban, but that was because I thought some people were deliberately provoking Tsar into talking about things they knew would rub moderators and Winston up the wrong way or trying to wind him up to get a rise out of him and I didn't think it was right.

But thanks for the feedback and your honesty. If Winston ever did make me a moderator I wouldn't ban people just for having a difference of opinion. I wouldn't even ban people I don't like personally. I'd just be around to help out with stuff often or ban people who really deserved it according to the rules of the forum.

If anyone else thinks they deserve it more because they've been here longer then they are welcome to put themselves forward, but nobody has.

[Lucas88]

I also voted yes, @Pixel--Dude. And not just because you're my buddy either. I see how passionate you are about HappierAbroad and how much you want to make it the best community possible.

You're quite a prolific poster for somebody who has only been here for a short time and you always make an effort to stimulate productive discussions and make well-thought-out posts about a variety of topics. In light of this I think that you would be an ideal moderator.

I have no fear of you becoming a tyrant or banning people arbitrarily. I know how much you appreciate the diversity of points of view within this community and how committed you are to free speech.

So you have my vote!

[Shemp]

I voted no. There are too many moderator wanabees. Besides you are new here and inexperienced.

Winston has had other moderators in the past that were too hasty and would ban for the most minor infractions or for someone expressing a differing opinion. I think you would do the same. You've also shown a lack of ability to control your temper when you get into it with someone and you degrade to name calling.

Winston just needs to be here more. It's his forum after all. I am not sure what to what degree jamesbond and fschmidt are effective moderators (I think they are the same person.)

There are other members here that have seniority over you to be appointed as moderators, but I think Winston is doing a fine job.

Second the no. Guy is obviously immature and on a power trip. The main problem with this forum is repeated database outages, not lack of moderation.

[Cornfed]

Who exactly is to be moderated?

[Pixel--Dude]

I voted no. There are too many moderator wanabees. Besides you are new here and inexperienced.

Winston has had other moderators in the past that were too hasty and would ban for the most minor infractions or for someone expressing a differing opinion. I think you would do the same. You've also shown a lack of ability to control your temper when you get into it with someone and you degrade to name calling.

Winston just needs to be here more. It's his forum after all. I am not sure what to what degree jamesbond and fschmidt are effective moderators (I think they are the same person.)

There are other members here that have seniority over you to be appointed as moderators, but I think Winston is doing a fine job.

Second the no. Guy is obviously immature and on a power trip. The main problem with this forum is repeated database outages, not lack of moderation.

Why immature? Everyone has a go at someone at somepoint in here. I'm not on a power trip. I don't care for lording it over others, that isnt why I offered to become a moderator. The other moderators are not here as often as I am, I really like this forum. I love the community here and care about us all having a place to discuss different things. But sure. A no from you is fine.

[Pixel--Dude]

Who exactly is to be moderated?

I'm thinking more of helping out with things like the Tsar Appeal which didn't get addressed for a while, approving newcomers and their posts so more users can join our community and things like that. Obviously there are trolls and whatever, but I'm not going to ban people frivolously like Voyager1 and Shemp think I will.

[MarcosZeitola]

Everyone has a go at someone at somepoint in here. I'm not on a power trip. I don't care for lording it over others, that isnt why I offered to become a moderator.

Usually, not in all cases of course, but usually the people who volunteer for a position of any sort of relative 'power', however minor, tend to be the people least suitable for the position. I think you may be the exception of this rule, because I don't see you turning into one of those completely useless morons that they call "Reddit mods" who are absolutely awful in every way.

We just need an active moderator here, for things like the Tsar situation and occasional trolls if ever they pop up and cause too much of a disruption, and community votes to get rid of them and Winston or JamesBond isn't around to deal with stuff. Since I see no one else jumping to take the position, why not you? You seem like a fair chap. All we need is to ask @Winston for his view. So far most voters seem to be cool with you taking the position. So far, so good.

[galii]

Everyone has a go at someone at somepoint in here. I'm not on a power trip. I don't care for lording it over others, that isnt why I offered to become a moderator.

Usually, not in all cases of course, but usually the people who volunteer for a position of any sort of relative 'power', however minor, tend to be the people least suitable for the position. I think you may be the exception of this rule, because I don't see you turning into one of those completely useless morons that they call "Reddit mods" who are absolutely awful in every way.

We just need an active moderator here, for things like the Tsar situation and occasional trolls if ever they pop up and cause too much of a disruption, and community votes to get rid of them and Winston or JamesBond isn't around to deal with stuff. Since I see no one else jumping to take the position, why not you? You seem like a fair chap. All we need is to ask @Winston for his view. So far most voters seem to be cool with you taking the position. So far, so good.

Pixi is immature. That newbie wanted me to get banned. He does not know even who is what.

[Pixel--Dude]

Everyone has a go at someone at somepoint in here. I'm not on a power trip. I don't care for lording it over others, that isnt why I offered to become a moderator.

Usually, not in all cases of course, but usually the people who volunteer for a position of any sort of relative 'power', however minor, tend to be the people least suitable for the position. I think you may be the exception of this rule, because I don't see you turning into one of those completely useless morons that they call "Reddit mods" who are absolutely awful in every way.

We just need an active moderator here, for things like the Tsar situation and occasional trolls if ever they pop up and cause too much of a disruption, and community votes to get rid of them and Winston or JamesBond isn't around to deal with stuff. Since I see no one else jumping to take the position, why not you? You seem like a fair chap. All we need is to ask @Winston for his view. So far most voters seem to be cool with you taking the position. So far, so good.

Pixi is immature. That newbie wanted me to get banned. He does not know even who is what.

I wasn't the only one who thought you were a troll, Galii. You are always trying to antagonise Lucas88 and myself and we generally don't reply to you. And do you make genuine replies to threads or mostly derail and shitpost? If I got the job, don't worry, I won't ban you

If you think I'm immature and you think me being a moderator would really be a detriment to the forum as a while then by all means vote no. That is the idea, to get an idea what the community thinks as a whole and unfortunately you are part of the forum as well

[galii]

Everyone has a go at someone at somepoint in here. I'm not on a power trip. I don't care for lording it over others, that isnt why I offered to become a moderator.

Usually, not in all cases of course, but usually the people who volunteer for a position of any sort of relative 'power', however minor, tend to be the people least suitable for the position. I think you may be the exception of this rule, because I don't see you turning into one of those completely useless morons that they call "Reddit mods" who are absolutely awful in every way.

We just need an active moderator here, for things like the Tsar situation and occasional trolls if ever they pop up and cause too much of a disruption, and community votes to get rid of them and Winston or JamesBond isn't around to deal with stuff. Since I see no one else jumping to take the position, why not you? You seem like a fair chap. All we need is to ask @Winston for his view. So far most voters seem to be cool with you taking the position. So far, so good.

Pixi is immature. That newbie wanted me to get banned. He does not know even who is what.

I wasn't the only one who thought you were a troll, Galii. You are always trying to antagonise Lucas88 and myself and we generally don't reply to you. And do you make genuine replies to threads or mostly derail and shitpost? If I got the job, don't worry, I won't ban you

If you think I'm immature and you think me being a moderator would really be a detriment to the forum as a while then by all means vote no. That is the idea, to get an idea what the community thinks as a whole and unfortunately you are part of the forum as well

You mean you were wrong like your immature gang

[MarcosZeitola]

Pixi is immature. That newbie wanted me to get banned. He does not know even who is what.

I think he was just standing up for his buddy @Tsar which was a friendly thing to do. Personally, Galii, I hardly remember you at all so I don't quite recall what you did that's offensive to the point of warranting a ban. I don't think Pixeldude is immature; he strikes me as a pretty solid bloke.

PS: Why are you calling him out for being a "newbie" when you both signed up this 2022? Lol.