I hereby apply for the post of night time moderator

I don't think I would feel comfortable with a mner being a moderator. I think mumsnets great strength is the fact that it isn't peer moderated - and is only monitored by mnhq staff.

Plus I don't really think it should be a voluntary role. Mumnset isn't some start up managed out of someone's spare room. It's a successful business - think any moderator should be a staff member like any other, and not a mumsnet regular modding for free.

I'm sure I've offered to do this before - for a small amount of cash, preferably, what with it being actual work for an actual revenue-collecting business, and all.

I'm still offering.

The other problem with volunteers is one of coordination and staffing levels.
If I say, for example that I'll do every Monday morning from X-T times, but can't how would that spot be covered?

Actually, you're all right, what am I thinking?

I've had my head in the charities sector for too long. MN are a commercial operation so if there's a job that needs doing - and this really does need doing - somebody should be paid for their work.

I really don't like the idea of agency though. IME they never really understand the community they're modding and so they end up too rigidly applying a set of guidelines with the result that discussion is shut down and the modding system is too easily gamed and manipulated. I've seen agency modding kill forums.

Pay the going rate, I say

My rate is £100/hour very competitive

Seriously, using volunteers would never work.

I actually think there's something in Mumsnet employing people in places like Oz or New Zealand, for the night time shift.
We have loads of posters from there anyway, they'd be bright and alert and things like last night just wouldn't happen.

Yeah, Pan, until one day...

Me and a couple of other Y chrome types could stand guard, bayonets fixed, staring out into a vast featureless landscape, muttering "It's quiet. It's too quiet......no really it's too quiet. There's no fecker here."

s'true.

cos there's never any fucker there Pan!

These brave, hardy souls never seem to make it as far as Dadsnet. Wonder why??

I think as long as they were anonymous and were held to the same standards as regular MN employees it should be OK.

We get accusations of favouritism and unfairness anyway from time to time. Sometimes someone more senior looks into it and occasionally we get a 'we got it wrong on this occasion' message. That would stay the same except that 'we' would include effectively managed volunteers.

I would expect MN to choose very wisely - they have access to our entire posting history, including name changes and deleted posts and threads.

I think there are enough people here who are not power hungry and who genuinely care about the MN community to provide a large pool of potential applicants. Also it could be fantastic work experience for anyone wanting to get into this as a job - a job which fits round DC and can be done from home. It would be a great thing for MN to be able to help parents into work.

Also, it's really easy to get rid of volunteers if you need to. They don't have employment rights.

Nooo not agency mods! IME they tend to be over zealous and stick to the letter of the guidelines rather than the spirit. There wouldn't be the understanding of nuance that we get currently from MNHQ and certainly no explanations.

I've seen good and bad with volunteer mods.

Where I've seen it go wrong is where everybody knows that mod A is regular poster B (maybe even using the same name) who is best mates in rl with C,D and E and who has been the sworn enemy of X, Y and Z since the great loo brush fracas of 2002. Add in a total lack of supervision and accountability and it's a recipe for power-crazed disaster.

If we were to have volunteer mods they would need to be anonymous (i.e. not identifiable as regular mners) and speculation about who they 'really' were would have to be against the guidelines (no 'mod-hunting' ), then, as long as they were expected to be as professional as any other MN moderator it should be fine.

beer - totally agree. I used to go on ivillage many moons ago and one particular board nearly imploded due to volunteer moderator ishoooos.

Perhaps a lock out for new registrations overnight?
I know some genuine posters might be prevented from posting but that's the price of protection

Be happy to help, will take payment in wine rather than gin though. Or chocolate.

I'm quite sure there are more night time invasions in the last few months than ever before in my mn career, both of spam and of trolls. I gave up the night of the payperview boxing/football spambots, and didn't come back for a day or two.

It might be an idea if HQ looked into banning links to other chat forums.

It seems whenever someone discovers people on other forums slagging off Mumsnet, and they start a thread linking to it/complaining about it...Mumsnet gets invaded by members of that chat forum.

This has happened recently with Digital Spy and ARRSE...and has in the past happened with other forums too.

So what if some people slag off Mumsnet? Just let them get on with it and ignore, ignore, ignore.

Why bring it here unless some people actually want an invasion?

It's for this very reason that some forums make it against their rules...to give their moderators a break!

definitely more common

never used to be like this

they DID used to go offline EVERY day (night) at 2:00 am (remember that?)

Yes, I know that it is frustrating but MNHQ are working in it and drawing more attention to the fact just means that more nutters are aware that MN is not moderated at night.

There have always been overnight trolls. Are they more common now or are we more vocal about protesting?

i'm in foreign climes - would be happy to help out at night - hey it's something i can do with baby attached - sounds better than just faffing around on here great to me! (and then DH couldn't complain that i'm MNing again cos it'd be a 'job"!

Another insomniac volunteering here.