Moderators!
Most mods on 7 Cupsare very well intentioned, and most do their duties very well, and are highly respected.
However, I've noticed it's become a huge issue people are getting mute/ban for no valid reason at all. I feel this is because the requirements to become a mod is too low, and anyone can become a mod within a week of work. This causes a plethora of trouble for some ill-intentioned individuals, and I have had common complaints as a listener about being wrongly muted. I, myself have been affected.
I've heard a story about "lurking mods" from multiple sources. These 'mods' will hide in the background of chat rooms and mute people whenever they find someone they don't like, or just because.
Toresolve this issue from happening in the future, the requirements for becoming a mod should be a little stricter, and the position should be recommended to an ongoing member of the group chats instead of signed-up for. For example, if there is a Listener that is well intentioned, abides by the rules, and helps guests find where they need to go, that is someone worth being recommended to become a mod.
What are your thoughts on this problem/solution?
@xBottlexofxfriend
Hey there, I agree that the requirement for becoming a mod are very less but I also believe that a moderator needs experience as a moderator and not a listener in support rooms. So in order for more people to apply and keep the all chatrooms moderated at all times, in my opinion this requirements are perfect.
lurking mods, I believe that even if the requiements of becoming a mod are higher than also we could be facing this problem. You can't assume that the lurking mod you encoutered was inexperiend or new, it might also be a well experienced mod.
Muting people, muting people is done annoymous and there is no way of knowing that the person who mute the members or listeners is the lurking mod or the participating mod. Laura leads a wonderful open discussion on muting here, you can share your views there too.
@maku @Roadie @Flourish Can one of you move this to listeners side of forum please, I think that would be better? Thank you
@Sarah @apple74 @Heather @Jake Hey, I'm also facing problems with lurking mods, I want to know your suggeation.
Thank you for the input, much appreciated. And you're right. I'm sorry for assuming, but still believe this can definitely help. It will be more work for trolls to tango into the mod position.
@xBottlexofxfriend thank you for your post. There seems to be a myth about lurking mods, there may be one or two that mute without warning, however we have worked hard with the mods to remind them of the correct warning procedure.
I feel what is happening more often is something that maybe people are not aware of. If 3members,guests or listeners press to mute someone it acts as a moderator mute. This was put in place to help with trolls and problem users when there are no mods in a room. Quite often people will be personally muted by 3 people and then assume that a moderator has stepped in without warning.
Sarah, this is good information to have! This functionwill be very helpful when a mod is not available and a troll is causing distress.
@Sarah Thank you for your respond. Yes, I was not aware about this and I don't think many other are too. So would you please write a forum post about it for both listeners & members? I think it's best that everyone knows about it.
I do the lurking thing very often, however I wouldn't mute them without warning. If there is a troublemaker, I'd make my presence known and give the warnings etc. (This is especially fun when you find people hosting "No Mod Parties" in the Support chatrooms.)
I do agree with you totally on the requirements needing to be higher in order to become a group moderator as they are currently far too easy. Let me just write down what they currently are: 10+ group chats, 2000+ cheers, 7+ star ratings (overall 4+stars), 3+ written reviews.
If I tried quite hard, I could get that in 2-3 days. If I didn't try hard, I could get that in 7 days.
I think they need to [x5] all of the current requirements so that new mods at least have an idea of what the site is like first of all, let alone suddenly becoming group chatroom experts.
- Leon
I think it's great that you bring this up. I'm. Not sure that stronger requirements will have an effect. Oversight does though. As a mod, I assume I will be held accountable for my actions so I mute as a last resort. But we all have bad days and one never knows the whole story. I am often Pmed by a member or guest to intervene so often things happen behind the scenes so what looks like a rash mute may actually not be. Having said that, I do think mods shoukd be held accountable and I'm sure that the right to be a mod can and will be removed if it is abused.
Hello, everyone!
As for lurking mods, this issue is very small. I can't say it isn't an issue, but it is not a large one as Sarah pointed out above. If you run into an experience like this, I urge you to email heather@7cups.com with the date and approximate time you were muted and your story. She will then further investigate the issue and take proper action.
For our requirements: They are a bit low. I understand that. I also totally believe that anyone with these requirements could make a great moderator. Just as someone with 11x these requirements could make an awful moderator. I focus on approving mods and I have to tell you that I amvery strict. The answers to our questions in the applications must be perfect or I will not approve them. I ask people who did not receive the badge to then correct their insufficient answer(s). If I feel they would not be able to be a good Mod at that time, I will always work with them to get them there as I believe anyone can be a great moderator. For some, it is natural and others it take a bit of practice.
We are working on a new Moderator behavior system that will provide warnings to moderators and provide a more structured rule system with consequences. This should improve quality issues tremendously.You should be seeing this soon.
We are always open to hearing your suggestions for Group Support as we wouldn't be where we are today without them. Please feel free to reach out to myself, @Heather, @Sarah, or @Apple74 with your suggestions. I can be reached by email also: jake7cupsoftea@gmail.com.
I am so happy that each of you are part of our wonderful community! Sending you a hug. :)
Hey I just wanted to pass on feedback I received from a member who spends a good amount of time in the depression group chat.I'm paraphrasing what wassaid: Onthe weekend I got 2 warnings in the depression chat roomfor sticking up for someone who was really annoyed because the moderator wasn't doing anything about aperson in the chat who was causing trouble. While I was thereI wastold a few timesto leave the chat roomby a guest and I felt as though he was aiming abuseat me personally. This abuse really hurt me and made me cry.Afew others andI got kicked out of the depression room for being too "happy". They feel as though they can't give feedback to moderators because the last time they did that the moderator just argued with them over the feedback.
[Permission to post up this information was given to me by the member]
I know the moderators do great work. Please don't take this badly. I know the chat rooms can get hectic especially so in the depression chat room where things can quickly get negative. I just figured I would pass this on to all of you so you can be more aware of member concerns. Obviously, I know there may have been other reasons to why this occurred, but again, I figured I would pass this on because this member did feel victimized by these actions and we want to cultivate a helpful and safe environment.
BUT on a happier note, you moderators are great. <3 You help a lot in the chatrooms and members and listeners truly feel more comfortable when you are around to keep the peace.