It's that time again: Democratic Underground is looking for new moderators

[EarlG]

DU NEEDS YOU...

If you are interested volunteering to serve as a moderator on Democratic Underground, please read on.

The next moderator term will last three months, from the beginning of May until the beginning of August. If you have never served as a moderator before but would like to volunteer some time to help keep our discussion forum running smoothly, now is your chance.

Here are some things to bear in mind before you apply:

- Your political ideology is not important... We need centrists and leftists and everyone in between to serve as moderators.

- We prefer people who have been members for a while, and have made at least a few hundred posts. You must be at least 18 years old. You must have donated at least one time to Democratic Underground using your own name.

- You must be able to log on to DU regularly, and should not take any long vacations between now and the end of the term.

- We prefer people with a generally positive outlook on life, who can be fair and evenhanded, and who don't get easily frustrated. If you sign up to moderate, we expect you to stay as a moderator for the full term. You must understand that it is perfectly normal for the admins to occasionally overturn your decisions, or to make specific requests regarding the manner in which you participate on DU while you are a moderator.

- We prefer that moderators avoid highly controversial topics, or at least moderate their behavior significantly when participating in such discussions. If you have a history of rhetorically hot postings on controversial issues, we may not choose you to serve.

- If you know that you aren't very good at controlling your behavior or your emotions, or if you know that you can't be fair to a particular group of people, please do not sign up to be a moderator. There is no obligation to serve as a mod, and we won't hold it against you if you choose not to.

Here's how to volunteer:

STEP 1: FILL OUT, SIGN, AND SNAIL MAIL THE MODERATOR CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

IMPORTANT! If you mailed us the form before, you might need to mail it again. The form was updated on August 26, 2005, and we need the most recent version from all of our moderators.

The moderator confidentiality agreement is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/moderator_form.html

Double-check to make sure the page says "Updated August 26, 2005." That way you will know that you are looking at the correct form. If it doesn't say that, click reload/refresh on your browser to reload the page.

Fill it out and send it in to the address provided ASAP. We hope to receive completed forms from all applicants *before* the new moderator term begins in the beginning of May. If we do not receive your form before that date, we may not be able to give you access to the moderator forum at the beginning of the moderator term.

We will keep the moderator confidentiality agreement forms on file in our office, so once you mail us the form you should not have to send it again if you apply to serve in future terms. (This time, we promise.)

STEP 2: SEND US AN APPLICATION EMAIL WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION

Send an email to [e-mail] with the word "moderator" in the subject line. By volunteering to serve as a moderator, you are giving us permission to take all necessary measures to verify your identity. Include the following information:

- Your real name

- Your forum username

- Your address

- Your telephone number

- How much time you spend on Democratic Underground

- Which forums you'd like to moderate, or would not like to moderate (if you have a preference)

- A brief statement which generally outlines your political views

- Are you taking any extended vacations during the the next three months?

- Have you read, and do you agree to follow, the Message Board Rules and the Moderator Guidelines?

- Have you filled out, signed, and mailed the Moderator Confidentiality Agreement (Updated August 26, 2005)?

We hope to select a new group of moderators on Wednesdsay May 6, 2009. There will be a free conference call for moderators on the following night.

EarlG
DU Admin

[LeftyMom]

1. I'd like to apologize in advance to anybody who gets a slot as a Lounge mod.

Poor guys. :scared:

[Political Heretic]

6. GD:P would be a worse gig I think.

[LeftyMom]

8. You must not have looked at the Lounge this weekend.

:scared:

[Political Heretic]

10. Heh... I didn't in fact. I miss all the good stuff I guess.

[LeftyMom]

12. It was kind of like GD:P, but with more drunk people.

[seabeyond]

13. yawl say gd is rough. i listened in this weekend, ooooosh

gd has nothing on lounge.

[omega minimo]

20. GD: P is the Chess Club; the Lounge is the locker room; GD is the Quad.

:hi:

[seabeyond]

21. that is so funny. and awfully cute, but scarier.... you are right

i have never been a locker room type gal, certainly not the chest gal, but would sit in the quad. so funny.

thanks for the giggle

[omega minimo]

22. LOL

:toast:

[awoke_in_2003]

40. ...

:rofl:

[Joe the Liberal]

2. k&r n/t

[Oregone]

3. If you would like a terrible mod, who cannot so much as read this post and follow directions...

Consider this my application post.

[Political Heretic]

4. EDIT - wrong place.

[Soylent Brice]

5. i would love to, but

i'm not completely batshit crazy. when i get there i'll let you know.

[seabeyond]

7. i like the moderators we have. MAKE them STAAAAY, lol. n/t

[azmouse]

9. My heart goes out to all who apply.

You are braver than I.

[SteppingRazor]

11. I'll be out of the city, and even out of the country, a couple times during this mod term.

Sorry! :hi:

[DevonRex]

15. Yeah, me too. LOL, as IF they would want me to do it anyway. Heh heh.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Thanks to all the outgoing ones! n/t

[cbayer]

16. Kick. n.t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Question: Can I use the position to exact revenge on people I don't agree with?

[Boojatta]

23. Well, you're not supposed to.

However, you could torture them to find out why they believe something that you don't agree with. Disagreement is like a ticking time bomb and only timely information can stop an explosion and save innocent DU members.

[krispos42]

29. Can you?

Hell, it's mandatory!




Just... don't try to tombstone Skinner.


Again.


:hide:

[cbayer]

30. Or yourself.

Not one of my finest moderating days.


:hide:

[krispos42]

31. !

:rofl:


Oh my God, did it actually work?

[cbayer]

32. Well, if by "work" you mean actually terminated from the site, why yes!

:rofl:

[krispos42]

33. I bet that was a fun email to write to the Admins

"Yo, Skinner, I just dropped a hot fresh pizza on myself..."


:rofl:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

46. Skinner would be sympathetic....

He tombstoned himself a few years ago.

[Renew Deal]

42. You tombstoned yourself?

:rofl:

[mainegreen]

43. You're my favorite DUer of the day, just for that.

:rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

44. That's awesome

You'd think you couldn't do that. I mean, you can't PM yourself, but you can TS yourself?

:wtf:

[intheflow]

45. OMG, that's funny!

:rofl: I'll be you were real sorry for whatever you did to ban yourself for, though, weren't you? :rofl:

[flvegan]

47. If this doesn't get a DUzy, then justice is dead.

[greatauntoftriplets]

48. And I reinstated her.

It was very funny. And quite accidental.

:rofl:

[cbayer]

49. Yes, you did. And I am still trying to figure out how to repay you.

:pals:

[omega minimo]

18. Will there be renewed enforcement of DU Rules after Skinner's recent thread/discussion?

Skinner's excellent OP stated that the framework is fine. The inconsistency of enforcement came up many times in the discussion. Skinner acknowledged that linking to other Forums/threads/Groups is a problem.


Please also address now the linking/posting from one thread/forum to another for abusive purposes


Skinner ADMIN (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-25-09 03:51 AM
Response to Reply #658
708. I think it is one of the major contributors to making people feel victimized on DU.

For both the people who are doing the linking, and for the people who are being linked to. It's against the rules, but we don't usually step in unless it starts causing an obvious problem.

To be honest, recently I've been thinking we should go back to the zero-tolerance approach. This behavior is toxic. Of course, if we did, I suspect the most determined offenders would either move the behavior to private messages, or off-board.


<end quote>

It does cause an ongoing "obvious problem" because some posters/forums know they can get away with serial "toxic" behavior that others don't do and wouldn't get away with if they tried.

One person pointed out it "makes people feel victimized" because it violates DU Rules. Uneven enforcement and a few serial perpetrators make the victimization "an obvious problem."

[omega minimo]

24. .

[BlooInBloo]

19. Oooh! Oooh! ME ME ME!!!!

Just kidding. :P

[intheflow]

25. K&R. n/t

[cliffordu]

26. I'd love to do it but I'm......way too cranky.

[NYC_SKP]

27. If I was a moderator.

You'd have some serious problems, brother! :rofl:

[cliffordu]

28. I'd have to get a tattoo or something...wear a cowbell.....

Ya bastid

:rofl:

[DainBramaged]

41. That would be for me too, but, I don't pretend to want to sit here and censor anyone

I just hit the red x and all the problems of stupid go away. Besides, with the battles I fight, I think I would be given a no as I started to apply, they probably have a special list on "those types' somewhere and a program that sends an electric shock through the keyboard if those of us who are not line toers apply.

[billyoc]

37. Oooh, sorry, I nominated you.

:rofl:

[cliffordu]

39. Ok, billy,

"Here lies a disruptor...."


:rofl:

[bridgit]

34. If I were a mod I would ban myself

[mogster]

35. K&R n/t

:kick:

[tomm2thumbs]

36. talk about a hard job!

good luck to all who participate - a labor of love no doubt!

[Adelante]

38. Thank you to outgoing mods

And staying-on mods :loveya:

[uppityperson]

50. Is there any way to find out if it would be worth applying, or if it would be futile to?

While I wouldn't mind giving you the fun of laughing at me, would you pm me and tell me if it would be of any worth to apply? Thanks.

[cbayer]

51. I think you should just apply if you are interested.

It's a simple process and I think they look at all the applications and try to achieve some balance, so they may not be able to tell you that up front.

:hi:

[Mike 03]

52. Appreciation to the current Mods. This can't possibly be a very easy job.

The Mods here always do a good job.

[xchrom]

53. really? -- i did not know that.nt