If you've NEVER served as a moderator before, DU needs your help!

[Skinner]

The current two-month term for moderators is coming to an end, and we're looking for new volunteers to help us out for the next two months.

Once again, our goal for the upcoming moderator term is to have 50% new moderators who have never served before.

- Your political ideology is not important... We need centrists and leftists and everyone in between to serve as moderators.
- We prefer people who have been members for a few months, and have made at least a couple hundred posts.
- You must be able to log on to DU regularly, and we'd prefer that you don't take any long vacations between now and mid-November.

Here's how to volunteer:

Send an email to [email protected] with the word "moderator" in the subject line. Include the following information:

- Your real name
- Your forum username
- Your address
- Your telephone number
- How much time you spend on Democratic Underground
- Which forums you'd like to moderate (if you have a preference)
- A brief statement which generally outlines your political views
- Have you read, and do you agree to follow, the Message Board Rules and the Moderator Guidelines?

If you have applied to be a moderator before, but were not chosen, I strongly encourage you to apply again.

We may also need moderators who *have* served before, so everyone interested should apply.

We hope to select a new group of moderators on Wednesday afternoon, September 17.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them in this thread.

Skinner
DU Admin

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. i guess that's my call to arms...if ya want me?

[maha]

2. How much time per day?

I can probably do it, but I want to know time commitment involved ...

[gully]

5. Same question here...

How much time do you like to see spent here, and do you take 'shifts'?

[Skinner]

7. Time commitment...

We expect moderators to log on at least a couple times a day to check their forums, deal with alerts, participate in the moderator forum, and do whatever else is necessary to keep things running relatively smoothly.

If you moderate one of the "busy forums" (General Discussion, The Lounge, and Latest Breaking News) that can take a few hours a day. But if you are on the slower forums, it may only take an hour or less a day.

Our hope is that you will choose to moderate because you are already enjoy spending your time here. If you currently only spend an hour a day on DU, then don't sign up for the General Discussion forum.

[Cheswick2.0]

3. kick

.

[TrogL]

4. I don't think they want me

I've been causing too much trouble lately. :evilgrin:

[Cheswick2.0]

9. I think they would want you trogl

go for it.

[goobergunch]

6. Also; you have to be 18 years old or older. (n/t)

[Skinner]

8. Oh yeah, I forgot.

We expect moderators to be over 18. Thanks.

[travisleit01]

10. Why is that? n/t

[goobergunch]

14. So I don't run rampant in P/C and lock all the candidate threads

;-)

It's probably some legal reason.

[Skinner]

15. Yes, it's for legal reasons.

Unfortunately.

[alexwcovington]

22. And what sort of reasons would they be?

[Skinner]

25. I'm not a lawyer.

I follow the advice of my lawyer on this stuff. He thinks it's a bad idea to have minors making decisions about running a website like this.

[alexwcovington]

27. Doesn't sound like a sound legal basis

Did your lawyer cite any actual laws in that advice?

Maybe I can help you out -- what state is DU chartered in?

[Skinner]

28. Our lawyer hasn't steered us wrong yet. I think we'll stick with him.

I didn't ask him to provide me with the actual case law, because it seemed like solid common sense advice. He certainly did not say that it was illegal or anything like that.

But here's the deal: I've got enough problems to deal with already. The last thing I need is the possibility that an angry parent will accuse me of taking advantage of their poor child, or indoctrinating them into an anti-American world-view, or causing that child to fail out of school because they're too busy helping with DU. It just ain't worth it.

[alexwcovington]

42. And you feel the need to stereotype because?

It is shameful that one of the leaders of a site with progressive views still hold old prejudices.

If someone wants to help out, age should not be a factor. No one would volunteer if they didn't have the time... and recall that this is only for two months. If things don't work out, that's all they're in for -- and that goes for everyone, including the 38-year-old who needs to work more overtime than he thought and wants to get out.

[goobergunch]

43. I'm 16

do you hear me protesting?

[Maeve]

44. Considering that minors are not responsible by law

As in, they can't be held to contracts they sign, etc., this is probably a wise move for the protection of DU and the administrators.

[LawDem]

45. It's probably good advise

It's good advise. It wouldn't be illegal, per se, for a minor to act as a moderator, but I can think of some situations where it could be troublesome. If, for example, the site, or more to the point, its owners, were sued for something that happened on the board, having taken the "precaution" of using only legal adults as moderators might be of some value. I'm sure the administrators are not in any way suggesting that someone younger than 18 wouldn't make a good moderator.

[Patriot_Spear]

11. I'm on file... do I really have to send all that stuff again?

My offer is still open.

[Skinner]

12. It makes our life much easier if you send it again.

Sorry that I have to ask you to do it twice. But it's much easier if we've got all the new emails in one place.

[Patriot_Spear]

13. Okie doke... n/t

n/t

[nostamj]

16. sent!

i SO value DU, if there's a way the TIME requirement will work out, I'd like to contribute more than $$$...

[LightTheMatch]

17. I'll do it!

Just sent you an email, I would love to moderate Politics and Campaigns.

[ComerPerro]

18. I really don't think I could

I enjoy flame wars too much...

[UTUSN]

19. What If I'm Unpopular? n/t

[VolcanoJen]

20. Well, that's never stopped any Moderator before.

;-)

[lazarus]

21. Heh heh heh.......

B-)

[goobergunch]

34. Oh come on...

You honestly think people don't like you guys?

[davidinalameda]

36. look at me!

I wasn't exactly the most popular poster when I became a moderator.

Now, EVERYONE loves me! :-)

:bounce:

[Skinner]

26. To be honest, we aren't looking for the "popular people"

We are looking for people who seem fair, smart, and generally good natured. Popularity does not seem to make one a better moderator.

[diamondsoul]

23. Sent. I spend entirely too much time at DU,

and I try very hard not to let my personal feelings get in the way of treating other posters here with respect. Once in a great while I fall short of that goal, but I keep on trying.

[MGKrebs]

24. I highly recommend signing up.

I can't volunteer this time because of my campaign comittments, but the term I served was very rewarding. You learn a lot about DU.

Just do it!

[MissMillie]

29. sent

but please be kind. As someone who has never done this before, I'd rather not have to moderate a forum as busy as GD, The Lounge, or LBN.

[indigo32]

31. I signed up

I know I've gotten a little caught up in the Dean/anti-Dean wars but I try and be fair, and this time round I have no break scheduled.

[jono]

30. Will you send "No thanks" emails?

Skinner, I'd like to apply, but when I did before, I wasn't contacted at all. The first time I knew I hadn't been selected was when I saw the list of new moderators, and it was a little irritating. Is it possible to send a form letter to the people who are not selected, or would it be too much administrative hassle? I understand not getting selected, but it would be nice to be acknowledged.

[Skinner]

32. In the past we haven't sent out "no thanks" emails.

I must admit that I hadn't even thought of it. Until recently, we didn't even send out "your selected" emails -- we just posted the list and waited for people to check in.

It's usually really busy when we do a mod switch, so I can't promise that we'll do it. But we'll see if we can fit it in.

[jono]

35. I understand it must be busy

and I didn't know that mods hadn't been notified until recently! Thank you for the information.

[BigMcLargehuge]

33. Sent...

Hope I get picked :)

[Melinda]

37. I'm way overdue for volunteering and I feel bad that I haven't

and yet I'm not sure I could sucessfully pull it off when there so much animosity and infighting within our very own ranks. So, I'll do my best to remain hopeful that once the primaries are past it'll be easier to step up. :loveya: and :missya: DU

[Djinn]

38. open for non US citizens?

some pages that are very US specific might be a tad difficult but are the media/general ones open to non US residents?

[indigo32]

39. I'm pretty sure they allow non US residents

but usually people, resident or non, who've been around a little while.

Sue

[TSIAS]

40. Definitely

We've had moderators from many different continents.

[Lithos]

41. Yes they have

We've had mods from both Australia and the UK before.

Sometimes, the viewpoint that is offered from outside the US is very valuable. So don't let that stop you.


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