Are there rules for moderators?

On the thread "Ban Semiautomatic Guns" Mod 184 posted this message:

"I am curious as to why the opinion on gun control by someone running for school board is that important! Please, enthrall me with your insight."


This appears to me to be a sarcastic, negative post. "Enthrall me...." is clearly sarcasm.

This amounts to an attack on the previous poster and seems to me to be an inappropriate activity for a Moderator!

In your role as Moderator you should "police" the board for violations of the Rules of Use - not express opinions or attack the messages of posters.

You are an "official" of the board - not a participant.

You are the "referee" - not a player.

If you want to take a position on an issue, or in some other manner comment on a post you should do it as most other people do - under a screen name. Not under your identity as Moderator.

:!:

[Sysop]

Funny you should make this post, as I actually read the original string and had the same questions that Mod 184 did on the HCSO Message Board. I wasn't sure what purpose that particular posting had on our Message Board and, frankly, I still don't know. But, to answer the question I believe you were trying to ask me...No, I have no problem with the way Mod 184 handled the situation. In fact, one could argue that instead of deleting the post (which I almost did), at least Mod 184 afforded the poster the opportunity to explain the relevance of the string.

Look, our Moderators are unpaid volunteers who donate their time to enforce our Terms of Use as well as cultivate the Boards. I agree with most of what your interpretation of a Moderator is, however, I believe that you misinterpreted Mod 184's post as sarcastic and negative. A lot of what Moderators do is subjective and Mod 184's approach to the situation, at least to me, seemed to be light hearted.

[Sysop]

Hope you don't mind, but I noticed that you posted what appears to be the exact same complaint on Mod 184 in the HCSO Message Board. You've received a lot of responses there. Since you're not a registered user of the Message Boards and I have no other way to contact you, I think it only fair that I post Mod 184's response below. You might want to consider emailing me in the future. Thanks

---The following post is from Mod 184 in the HCSO Forum---

Took the advice, you are right, I am not Not Mod 184, and thanks for the compliment. I have other "alter egos" I use to post things I don't fell I should post as the Moderator. Bare in mind I highly scrutinize my postings, probably more than I should, and have deleted long diatribes I realized had gotten out of hand. It does make for great therapy, though, to sit and right something scathing and then just click back on the HCSO Forum link and it goes away. As to the original poster of this string, I was quite shocked by how you misinterpretted (sp?) my reply to Read This!. First, if you should feel I am belittling someone, or otherwise acting inappropriately, please feel free to email MOD 1 or 2, and me for that matter, and let us know. Second, my use of the word "enthrall", while apparently offensive to some, was in no way my intention of attacking Read This!. I saw it as dry humor, and a spin from "Silence of the Lambs."
Finally, let me say I appreciate everyone who posts here and abides by the User Agreement. I have enjoyed some great debates. And as I have said in the past, I find humorous postings to be just that...humor. My skin is rather thick and leathery, so I am not offended by satire, irony, or sarcasm...I rather enjoy it. So as always, I wish you ALL to stay safe and look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas.

_________________
Fight your fight,
Find the grace in all the things that you can't change,
And help somebody if you can....
mod184@leoaffairs.com