A thread is a conversation...

[Rex]

I have seem some admins in my time that really like to watch each and every thread and worry about off topic posts and short posts and what not.

I really don't see the point in all of this "moderation" since a thread is merely a conversation.

Let the people talk, if it goes to far then flex your mod powers.

Just my .02

[cpvr]

Thanks for the advice Rex!

[Arnoud]

Heh, I browse threads not to mod but to help and participate

[bairy]

I once had a moderator that did that, though to be fair so did I to an extent.

You're right though it's just a conversation and you have to let it take it's path. It can always be split apart if necessary.

[_Fatal]

well said rex, Watchin every post and such is just tiresome and annoying. No need for it.

[Reeve of Shinra]

I agree completely. As moderators, you sometimes need to help steer the conversation back on track but I generally try to take a very lack and casual approach to moderation.

[Lottis]

Thats the way i run my place.
I never close thread and never delete anyone.
I dont feel like telling other grown ups how to behave.
And my moderators dont do this eather. If things get out of hand, they users can report the thread.

[sublimeVB]

I'm totally with Lottis on this - I'm not for much moderation at all. The site I run is 18 and over, not because it's an adult porn site or anything, but pretty much for this very reason. I've probably only deleted 2 posts in 5 months or so because of content.

Well - I have to disagree completely. However, it varies according to the TYPE of site, and where within the site.

Note, I don't disagree that a thread is a conversation. That was the core of my anti-intelliTXT campaign on Daniweb (which was succesful there, where I'm a moderator. On Tek-Tips, the response was just to ban me immediately. )

However, on a site like this, which is about vbulletin coding, the coding discussions should be very on-target, and extremely well-moderated. That is because the "conversations" are not only between the thread participants, but for search engines, future members, and by extension advertisers and so on.

Thus, I think they need to be heavy on content, light on fluff.

I used the analogy in regard to vbulletin.org that you could sure get the "vitamins" you need from a thread, but you had to eat 50lbs of marshmellow to get them, by which time you're ready to puke. I'd hate for that to happen here.

On my own site I moderate ruthlessly, and it's very much appreciated by the membership. I'm not after a riotous jungle of a forum... I want a bonsai.

[sublimeVB]

Yeah, I suppose you're right when it comes to the type of content your site offers and basing moderation rules on that is a good idea. You also mentioned advertising which I have none yet, but I'd assume certain advertisers look at the type of content which is posted and make some decisions accordingly. But as long as posts are correctly posted that fit somewhat within the general topic, I think it's not of huge concern. I've seen plenty of threads closed or moved for poor reasons at vb.org which has become very bothersome... it seems that some mods get far too carried away with such things.