Should Moderators Remain Impartial Bystanders in Online Discussions?

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I agree MK, I have been a member of many forums and I think the standard of mentors here is unique.

OK let's take a fictional example, say your talking about some hot topic in politics, Palestine vs Israel, now if the moderators were Israeli, Jewish and Zionists, you'd expect them to be biased, but if they then made moderation decisions based on this you'd lose respect for them. You would hope that at the end of the day as long as your comments weren't beyond the pale, they would not get personally involved and start to throw around warnings based on this, and if they did, they would be chastised for their bias.

I think this is one of the few sites I've seen where bias is not a part of a decision. At the end of the day you are well aware that if you break the rules and there isn't sufficient reason to back up your argument, you are the one at fault, I genuinely haven't found many forums where this is the case, and that's why I rate this site very highly.

BTW I have nothing against Israelis, Jews or Zionism it's just a hypothetical example.

 

[Quatl]

I haven't been here long, but so far the despots appear to be benevolent ;) The discussions I've read seem for the most part to be much more useful than those on other forums with similar topics.

It could be a conspiracy I guess, but being paranoid takes way to much energy and I'm a naturally lazy person.

 

[Danger]

I'm a naturally lazy person.

Me too, but I prefer the term 'connisseur of inertia'.

Coined by Bob Barnes in his 'The Better Half' comic panel.

What I find unique here is that the dignity of the site is almost a living presence. I've actually PM'd moderators to review and possibly delete my own posts when I thought that they might be over the line.
In a way, it's similar to the Legion. I can be upstairs throwing back the brews and playing pool or whatever, but if a phone call comes in for the Cadet instructor downstairs, I go into march-step as soon as I'm in sight of the cadets and stand at attention until the instructor notices me, then say 'Excuse me, Captain. You have a call. Would you care to accept it?' The instructor could very well be one of my drinking buddies, and I've never been in the military, but the whole point is to not undermine his/her authority in front of the youngsters. By the same token, if I have a disagreement with a Moderator in PF, that will be dealt with by PM, not in public (and that hasn't happened yet despite some serious political differences of viewpoint).
As far as I'm concerned, PF should be a template for any site that one wants to establish.

 

[Quatl]

Me too, but I prefer the term 'connisseur of inertia'.

Coined by Bob Barnes in his 'The Better Half' comic panel.

Heheh, I like that one, I think I'll keep it!

 

[Danger]

Just remember that if you use it in written form (such as here) you should acknowledge the source. It is, after all, a copyrighted cartoon quote. I think that this falls within 'fair useage', whereby you don't have to pay royalties.
By the bye, my absolute favourite put-down for idiots who harrass me came from the same comic: 'I'll never understand how you managed to cram so much stupidity into such a tiny brain.'