I hereby apply for the post of night time moderator

[JakeBullet]

...to tackle the trolls which appear once the gin bottle(s) is/are empty and MNHQ have staggered off to bed.

I warn you though...I am not cheap ..but may accept wine in lieu of payment...and promise not to engage with said trolls by trying to help them see the error of their ways....honest.

[HotCrossCatPuss]

This isnt the first time we have been abandoned at 2 am and not rescued until at least 9am.
Relationships is often the busiest forum after hours. Do those posters in need deserve to be left unprotected from evil fuckers who post sick responses for fun, just because they are up late?

[HotCrossCatPuss]

Very probably MMe, but this isnt the first time. not even the second. Something needs to be done.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Of course not, HotCross - and I abhor what happened last night as much as anyone - but I think MNHQ do a pretty good job most of the time, and are considering ways to improve matters, especially regarding this issue.

[HotCrossCatPuss]

I quite agree. Without HQ MN would not be here, and quite frankly, I couldnt manage without MN some days, but we have been told repeatedly that there are protocols in place, this shouldn't happen, it was just a glitch, and then it keeps on happening.
It just takes 1 person. Just 1 voluntary mod who can even try to keep these people out. Plenty of people have offered!

[IamtheZombie]

Zombie would be willing to help as well.

She thinks it would take more than one person. She's been in the position of being the only mod on line when trouble kicks off (on a much smaller forum) and trying to keep on top of something like this by yourself is difficult to say the least.

[TanteRose]

agree with Zombie

I am the mod of a small forum, which is vair civilised for the most part, but interventions sometimes need to be made swiftly, and it is tough for one person.

still would like to volunteer my services though

and I do think MNHQ do a great job

[MurderOfGoths]

Another insomniac volunteering here.

[soapnuts]

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"!

[MmeLindor]

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?

[TanteRose]

definitely more common

never used to be like this

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

[WorraLiberty]

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!

[DeepRedBetty]

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.

[Posterofapombear]

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

[Darlingclementine]

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

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

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.

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

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.

[Pan]

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

[Greenshootsandleeves]

cos there's never any fucker there Pan!

[Pan]

s'true.

[Pan]

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."

[HotCrossCatPuss]

Yeah, Pan, until one day...

[LadyBeagleEyes]

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.