Seems to me that when the "attacks" start happening, they are most often brought on by the "victim."
Originally Posted by rooster69
So then by your logic when a girl gets raped is it her fault because she was "asking for it" by wearing a short skirt and a low cut top? Don't blame the attacker(s), blame the victim...
The Mods can only have so much control and influence.
Originally Posted by rooster69
Mods have total control and influence. They just need to be willing to exert the control they have, which will in turn influence the forum's atmosphere instead of allowing a "small group of someones" being successful in "trying to shape this into what they think it should be".
To answer the original question:
The moderators have one job and only one job. That is to enforce the rules established by the owner of this board.
The rules are black & white. There is no place for personal bias, interpretation, or individual philosophies on the role of a moderator guiding enforcement of those rules.
Forum moderation should be conducted open and transparently. Moderators should confer amongst themselves and act in unison, not as each individual moderator sees fit to do so in any given situation with the others supporting the actions of a single moderator even if they do not agree with them.
Moderators should make public what their expectations are for forum behavior and how they will deal with blatant violations of the rule the owner of this board has established and they have been entrusted to enforce.
Moderators should admit when they are wrong or acted in an emotional, knee-jerk capacity. Moderators certainly shouldn't feel the same rules they enforce do not apply to them.
I don't think anyone would doubt that being a moderator is a tiring, thankless position with little or no tangible benefits but for anyone, especially a moderator, to state that "mods can only have so much control and influence" is part of the problem and not part of the solution.
If moderators are unable or unwilling to do their job, or are constantly frustrated by having to do so, or feel helpless to effect change then they should voluntarily step down from their voluntary position.
Not only is this the "boyz" board, but it is the girlz board as well. I agree with you entirely that "if ya' don't like it, it is up to you to change it" and I openly admit that I am attempting to do just that.
I will make the same suggestion to everyone reading this as I have to everyone who emails or PM's me in support. Whether male or female, Share your opinions about the hostile atmosphere that exists in the Upstate, NY forum with the owner of ECCIE. If you are unwilling or afraid to post then say so. If you have been the victim of the "digital lynch mob" or just witnessed it in action, speak out.
You are far from the only person to have those thoughts or opinions and would not be the first to address them.
Like rooster69 said, it is up to us to change what we don't like...