Should mumsnet be moderated?

The best argument against moderators is to think about who would volunteer to be one if they could.

God, no. MN wouldn't be MN if it was moderated. Have you ever tried to have a proper conversation on a properly moderated website? Try 'discussing' something on one of the BBC websites, for example. Like pulling teeth.

leningrad... honestly i didn't know...our paths never cross much on here,.. what with you being all intelligent and me being a bit thick like..

are only men gay?......sorry, don't know much about alternative lifestyles.

I want one, yeah!

What is a killfile?

Having mused this over [and with limited insight as a newbie who wasn't here when it was small] I might wish for a middle ground.

Like a prefect, who is a poster who is around a good deal and will be lurking and posting in the normal way - but who has a set of guidelines and the ability to hijack and say 'now now chaps, this is not cricket, the point of the op was not to slate x.y.z.'.

As younger students we would all tug our forelocks and behave a bit better. I think threads can get heated and x-posts get lost in the bun fight and the thread veers off topic, off road and into a car crash. A stern eye gaze from someone might calm things down.

Or that might ignite dynamite and the whole thing would be a disaster. Or be totally unworkable. Or be mildly insulting to all our inteligence. On that note we are all going to have to be brave at telling each other to get a grip and stop being horrible, and also be aware that it may not be rl, but it is real people in question.

So no to moderators.

Lenin, clarify the terminology. Not gay but lesbian? Is that just cos you don't really like the word gay, or because it means something excluding lesbian? Also, I recently saw the word queer being used in a phrase like 'not only gay but also queer' -- as if it meant more than simply being homosexual (or bisexual, transgender, etc.) What extra iss involved in 'queer'?

no no no no no no NO!

Moderation is the same as censorship and is not A Good Thing.

I had written out a sensible reply when MN broke.

So now I shall just say 'I wish my best friends were lesbians'

If by moderated you mean that each post has to be checked by someone before becoming live on the system - then NO. The power of Mumsnet I feel comes from the fact that you can post a message and quickly have other users views, comments, suggestions. Google also loves that concept - have you seen how quickly Google will index a new message thread, it's quite incredible how you can write a message - then google yourself a few minutes later and see your message in the Google search results.

Why am I going on about Google you may well be wondering... well, I suspect that a lot of people still find out about Mumsnet, due to them doing an internet search - and at present Google is the King of Internet Search. Google brings visitors to the Mumsnet site for free... it does not cost Mumsnet anything (other than letting GoogleBot have free reign of public parts of the webservers - so there is a 'bandwidth' cost... anyway starting to get to techy ). In return Mumsnet allows Google to quickly index new content, which GoogleBot feels is of high value and thus quickly ads it to the Google Search Results. Parents then search the internet for something, and Google provides a link to Mumsnet... the loop keeps going round and around.

If posts were moderated prior to being made live, then I feel that Google may start considering the site to be of less value and thus not index new threads as quickly, which may mean that less parents find Mumsnet for the first time.

I feel that all Mumsnet users act as first-line moderators - we are all able to report a post that we feel is concerning to us.

Following a post being reported, someone then takes a look at it (or maybe several people, I don't know how this part of Mumsnet works).

Maybe there are not enough people in that message loop, for there to always be at least one person, if not a few people who can take a look at reported posts and make a decision as to what to do with that post (such as deleting it). Or maybe when certain posts have been reported in the past, those with the power to delete have not agreed that the post meets the criteria to warrant deletion.

Keeping a post live may well upset someone. Deleting a post may well upset someone.

Is there really any Win Win solution?

some of my best friends are lesbians

All the cocksucking broke Mumsnet.

jesus...are you gay leningrad?

Voltaire. I may not agree that we are all cocksucking motherfuckers, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

(Actually, you are all cocksucking motherfuckers though)

I have always wanted to be called that..

Agree with the consensus - I don't think it's a good idea. With the best will in the world, a limited no of moderators will have their own agendas/take on things - self moderation allows a wide range of views, and god knows MNers do have a wide range of views... This is more like a normal adult conversation, rather than having a prefect stand watch.

ace

I'd like to call you all cocksuckingmotherfuckers while I still can.

Can you imagine the politics, cliques and DRAMA that would occur if we had mods.

Please god no.