A Member's Responsibility

Hello everyone :)

Some of you take a mod's job for granted, some of you don't. I will say that most of you ignore your own job.
All of us are here voluntarily. Mods do their jobs voluntarily. Increasing activity on PnQ is not part of a mod's job, but many of you think it is. We try to do it regardless.

Actually, as a meaningful member, it is your one responsibility to be active. If you want a more exciting PnQ, then you need to come up with ideas for the site and start threads and contribute to them. You need to write more poetry and leave more feedback. You need to write poetry related articles. It is YOUR job, not ours, though we will continue to do it.

Remember that while we are given the title mod because we have the task to regulate PnQ, we are still your peers. Anything we do beyond regulating is a factor of our individual goals to be meaningful members.

That's all. Have a nice day :)

The irony of it all.

I do love so.

Haha!

Go Jane!

Kev -

Yes, I did move away from the main boards for a time, and yes, perhaps the golden years have gone away.

However, I'm not pointing at history with this thread. I'm pointing at the future, and hoping some of you realize that it is not a mod's job to incite activity. We do it because we care about PnQ. If you care about PnQ, then incite activity with us...

I made this thread because there have been PM's lately addressed to mods asking us why we aren't making the boards more active - why we aren't making more threads, etc. These people may be confused about why mods exist on PnQ.

** Hey buddy, thanks for erasing your post so now I'm talking to myself :)

I edited my post Dave, didn't want to rain on jane'o's parade.

Jah crusade go on boyee!

Now there is an idea. Make everyone a moderator!

We can then read their forums and cringe and laugh at all the rude/insightful and true/untrue things they've said about us.

I remember getting a sneak look at the mod forums when Bobby ballbag was still around, and lol..what a charming collection of expletives he linked to me! Was really funny!

"What happens if the mods number over pass the number of active members"

HAHAHAHAHA! Well then this thread will be irrelevant I guess.

Hold on...Jane and Sibbyllene are mods now, yet you still haven't changed the system, even after Bob is gone.

I'm guessing we can't say the f word. If were talking good old times, I would say that the thread about changing pnq with everyone giving good ideas is a place to start

What system are you thinking of, Noir?

Aside to Jane: Can't we say "fuck" now? I was pretty sure that rule got taken out, as long as you're not cursing at somebody. Feel free to edit that out if we need to keep up propriety. Or was the "f" word "fastidious?" "Farinaceous?" "Farkle?" I forget. (Maybe that's the one!)

Ha, Sibs. Not sure I've ever seen you write that word? I'm grinning hugely.

Tact is keeeey!

How I've missed you, Noir ;)

~ rides off into the distance on her horse named Ignorant Dobin ~

Time for Captain Nana to step in and start philosophizing XD...
I am sad that the main concept of the 1st post is being a bit ignored and generalized by the random posts, but I am not complaining just saying..

And I think you are definitely right Jane regarding the part that says in a way and another that we members are responsible regarding how much active/inactive P&Q is.

And I think that a few number of well active people are active but for a chit-chat purpose, come to the boards talk a little whenever the opportunity allows, or through pms. Maybe submit a poem at the end of each year..And I rarely see them commenting poems or joining contests..
The reason I am saying this is because many people forget that this website is for poetry, in the 1st place.

Even in clubs, I have changed many clubs as you all know, and the most active ones didn't dedicate half of it's activities for poetry related ideas.. (Despite if they should) I believe we all should. This is not only a big family and a bond of friendships, it's a place for poetry.

Even the mods, like I do fully understand how much activations you all have to do and how much stuff you have to get done daily as Mods. along with your personal life..but regarding feedback I rarely see real comments by you on the poems of other members (exclude me am not asking for comments lol) although you all write, but still the job as a member here or a Mod. is not done yet. And few comments a week are not worth it for such a huge website..

I think I am one of those many people who do their job Fully as a member (from all sides); for an example Brit as a Mod and as a Member I see she is the most active between the Mods. she comments a bunch of people's poetry and give tips, I see her writing as much as giving feedback and I am not sucking up for her so take a breath; last night she argued with me to take off a word she felt is not appropriate for the main boards; so it's not about being friends or not..she really is active, and never plays it favorites..

What am saying here, many members should rethink about why they joined p and q in the 1st place, if it was only reading poetry then that doesn't need registrations, and I am not referring to anyone, speaking my mind.

"Remember that while we are given the title mod because we have the task to regulate PnQ"

With all due respect to all the mods, I think there are some tasks you have not considered. And mind you, mods regulatory framework may also includes for example promoting discussion :) If people are not posting, mods should start some discussion, apart from being a meaningful member as you mentioned above.I don't mean to sound perverse, but I'm sorry I just didn't like the sound of this line "It is YOUR job, not ours, though we will continue to do it." Along with this line comes the thought of ---you moderate by setting an example. Remember that the tone of your message is SO important because once the tone is set, the members will be raised that way and will continue in that pattern.

Well, I like to participate here. Don't have much time, but try to get people to think about certain things. I know some people don't like me very much, because speak my mind, but that is ok. You can't be friends with everyone:0)

I am going to start a thread now, I hope y'all will participate.

As both Sibs and Britt. stated, you are now allowed to use profane words; however, as already aforementioned, use with discretion, do not direct profanity towards another member of this site. Remember, it is still geared towards being a family friendly site.

In all due respect Nana, I just want to point out for myself and the other Mods, that not all of us have the amount of time as others do. Like everyone always mentions, we have lives and things do happen. We make an effort to comment and read poetry here, granted we don't always have the time to write an in-depth response to a poem, but like I said, we do try. We're only human, nobody is perfect!

Myryn, as Britt. has stated, we do participate in making threads and making the forms active. I 'think' what Jane was trying to say, was that you and other members who complain about the boards being inactive should try doing something about it yourselves. Like I said above, we (mods) are only human, we can't do every little thing on this site; granted we sure do try to make this place active and do 'all those little tasks' which people often forget about.

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For those who ponder what a Moderator is or what we do, here is a small glimpse of it (taken from the new guidelines):

P & Q Moderation

The P&Q Message Boards are a moderated forum. However, the moderators cannot be everywhere and see everything. If you see something that is against the Board Rules, please report it to a moderator. Note that the moderators have the final say-so in any situation that you report to them. They will evaluate the situation on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action where needed.

What Is A Moderator?

Moderators are volunteers who give their time to help board users with questions about our sites and boards. They also are here to ensure that all visitors enjoy their stay. This means enforcing the Board Rules and User Agreement.

What Do Moderators Do?

Moderators monitor board posts and respond to complaints to keep posting free of undesirable content as described in the Board Rules and P&Q User Agreement. They enforce the board rules, and can delete posts (with or without penalty), edit posts as well as suspend you from the site. If a moderator lets you know you are close to crossing the line, take heed of the warning. Likewise, if your thread was deleted or locked by a moderator, do not re-post the topic.

What If I Disagree With A Moderator?

Moderators are not perfect and are only human. Disagreements occur. Try to communicate with them first on a respectful level and settle your disagreement. They are not targets for your obscenities, flames or general insults. If you do not agree with a decision, you are not entitled to start a thread arguing about the verdict or flaming any of the moderators. Any such messages will be removed. This extends to Private Messages and suspension appeals as well, and you are not entitled to insult moderators via either of these methods. Also note that suspensions are between the user suspended and the moderators, and moderators cannot respond about suspensions publicly. Any correspondence about suspension length and reason will be handled through the suspension appeal process. If you feel a verdict is unfair, please contact another Moderator. You are also welcome to contact the Administrators through the Contact Us page, but be prepared to review the Board Rules again and know that the site is able to verify your accusations. The Administrators will not mediate opinion and will only get involved if Board Rules have been violated.

(All this can be found here: http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/discussion/topic.html?topic_id=90951)

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Now all-in-all, do any of you have any ideas to make this place more active?

Please, do speak up, we won't bit...too hard haha, I'm just kidding, but please do word your ideas.

Thanks!

''Now all-in-all, do any of you have any ideas to make this place more active? ''

STOP the ''we mods'' and ''you members'' for starters.

In all due respect Nana, I just want to point out for myself and the other Mods, that not all of us have the amount of time as others do.

^^^

yes I know, and I said I know you may not have the time for etc..... but I was replying to this

"You need to write more poetry and leave more feedback."

---
you see just as you guys won't have time to comment at least at weekends, then the members obviously don't have time either. And I believe it's not a job to leave feedback or make a board active nor a responsibility, this is supposed to be done out of a certain passion for poetry or the website itself.

I don't have time At all, I have my job, and my private students, and my university, and my one day off is Sunday and I do always have things to be done on Sundays.
--
Everyone is free to be active or not, to make one hour per week to comment poems or not. But whoever who joined this place, whether a mod or a member...are supposed to make time to show interest with everything that's related to the website.

Http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/discussion/topic.html?topic_id=82809

I feel like this site has risen from its own ashes several times since the rules and guidelines were first enforced and drama has always got more attention than all of the flowered crap that would be the ideal of a serious poetry site. It has come to my attention that moderating fairly and equally is easier said than done. We have the evidence of the evolution of moderation. To join a site is an investment of time . We have come a long way from the days of rubber lips and Emily Litella and I believe even though most of us have little and less to fear of our investment being deleted . I used the above thread to prove that drama stirs passion though violent rhetoric and racism sells on radio talk shows I am happy it has no place here. If you were one of the people that posted a number like sherry , God rest her soul, we at least know that control of these cyberspaces is desirable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)

And the site can truly only arise from the ashes, when it's been totally buried and everything is anew, including you......Janis and Duntz
^^^

Makes sense

Thank you for your response Britt :) I really do appreciate all of your efforts.

" I 'think' what Jane was trying to say, was that you and other members who complain about the boards being inactive should try doing something about it yourselves."

^ I don't recall ever complaining about the boards being inactive, Joe :) and I do participate on the boards and in the contests along with other little things'

"Like I said above, we (mods) are only human, we can't do every little thing on this site; granted we sure do try to make this place active and do 'all those little tasks' which people often forget about."
^ Believe it or not, we're all humans, lol. No seriously, I didn't mean to push your buttons Joe. :) This is just a friendly talk, you want us to participate while I demand the same from you.:)

Some of you are twisting my words and interpreting the original post as an attack on all members. No, it's not. It's clarification that if you want a more active board, then you must help make it more active. If you want the poetry on PnQ to thrive, you must help make it thrive. We do these things as mods because as members, we care, otherwise we wouldn't do them. I'm not emphasizing the separation between mods and members. I'm trying to diminish it. You all have almost as much power over PnQ as we do. Members (including the mods) make up this website. It's not the mods and then the members.

So get off your high horses and don't try to make me feel guilty for suggesting that people who want more activity must contribute to that activity, haha. As a member, you have no responsibilities. Do what you want. But to be an active, meaningful member... it's your responsibility to be active and meaningful ;) because we can't do it for you.

Nana, I should comment poetry more often, you're right.

Some of you are twisting my words and interpreting the original post as an attack on all members"

Lol...I don't know why Jane, but you're an expert at double meaning. Its only natural that people would take it other than the original meaning...Ofcourse, it happened quite a lot in the past.

Yeah, I revise and revise to make sure my posts can only be taken one way, but they're still taken in a completely different (and always worse) way than I meant them.

Glad someone else noticed... :)

It's fine if some members want to stay inside their clubs. Right? The Club is easily my favorite place on this site. But I think Jane was - not chastising or attacking - but making a call to action. Let's rally the poetry troops!

Gah, no, not even that. All I meant was: If you want activity on PnQ, be active.

Rallying is fun and we probably should, but that's not what this thread is about. It's a friendly reminder that PnQ members have the power to do a lot of the things they want done.

That's it. Es todo. El fin. The end.

Bob, yes there was twisting whether people had iffy intentions or not, there was definitely lots of twisting. I made a very very simple point and people are reading waaay too much into it.

"some have found a refuge in other parts of the site and some have even developed friendships and have taken that friendship elsewhere...."

If that's what those members want - that's great! Members can do whatever they want, but don't come complaining to me that the boards aren't exciting enough when you've barely made an appearance on them, ya know? I can't make people participate. They have to take the initiative.

I could be wrong but it has been my experience that when you for example say to someone..."talk to me, I need you to communicate more" it tends to cause them to go blank and clam up, but if you say hey, guess what I heard, what do you think of this...it can open up involvement. my point is, that admonishing for non participation is not as productive as trying to be creative and come up with new and exciting topics...then that is likely to spread and others will follow suit. It is true that many of us have crazy busy lives and while we would like to be more active are swamped with real life.

Deana, you summed up what I actually wanted to say, so thank you :)

And Jane, I did not twist your words or take anything out of context. If you go through your original post, your tone made some people feel uneasy right from the start. :)

However, I found your last post pretty awesome! :) Thanks!

Ah ok, tone... it's a difficult thing on the internet. I'm sorry if my tone was off in the original post. Everyone should from now on refer to my awesome last post! Lol.

BAN ALL CLUBS..then we'd have to mix with each other!

eeeewwwwwwwww.

Nah, all it takes is a few key people, with enough energy, intelligence and time to respark any discussion website.