For the first time, the 11W Moderators hit the internet and asked for your questions about moderating on the best Ohio State website during these sometimes polarizing times. There were a lot of questions…and answers, so let’s dive into it.

Do you enjoy being a moderator? If so, why?

 

GrandTheftHarley:
Yes. To borrow from Woody Hayes, I'm Paying It Forward. I also want to help be of service to the 11W community.

Buckeye3M:
Yes - being part of a site that you love to spend time on is rewarding.  Having said that, it can be offset at times, particularly after a football loss or major social issue that causes divisiveness.

BuckeyeChief:
Yes; even though we come from different backgrounds, we do have a bunch of similarities and have bonded pretty well over the years. I haven’t met everyone in person, but I have leaned on the group for a lot of personal issues and support over the years.

BeatTTUN:
Yes. It's an honor to be one of the moderators on the best Ohio State Buckeyes related site on the internet.

NavyBuckeye91:
I enjoy the opportunity to help keep the site running smoothly and helping out fellow users with questions. I’m not fond of having to break up internet disputes, wading through whining and bitching during open game threads, or deleting/tasing comments that violate the site’s commenting policy. But, that’s part of the job, and it helps make for a better environment and user experience for everyone else.
I’ve considered hanging up the Mod badge a couple of times, but I like it enough to keep coming back.

KBonay:
I like Chief's answer and concur.

Calpoppy:
Overall, I enjoy. I mean, it is the peak of life to be invited to moderate a university specific sports website with thousands of daily site visitors. 
It can get frustrating at times if there are specific commenters that regularly stir the pot. Trolls make it more difficult, but they can always be put in timeout for a day, or have a commented revised.
I did seriously consider stepping away last year when my health was down.

Earle: 
I wouldn’t say that I actually enjoy the duties of being a moderator. For me it’s about giving back to the site that has given me so much enjoyment over the years. I do enjoy the camaraderie among the Mods, though.

Hovenaut: 
I want to be a participant first and foremost, but moderating  is my giveback to 11W - the community is the best I've been a part of. That said, it ain't all sunshine and rainbows - the asshats wear on you.

Seattle Linga:
I really enjoy being a mod because I am in sales and really love meeting new people. I love being stretched personally to think there are other ways of looking at life. The time I've spent as a mod has been very fulfilling and even though it can be time consuming, I wouldn't it for anything.

After an entire thread is locked up why not just trash it instead of letting it sit on the main page for days and days?

FatPants:
Sometimes they get locked because the comments were going south, we’ve seen a lot of that lately, but that doesn’t diminish the value of the original post. Dupes sometimes are locked and left up for a while to avoid the author thinking he didn’t post it correctly and he’ll throw the same thing up again.

Buckeye3M:
When they are locked for cause, the are maintained for your voting pleasure.  If the entire forum post is deleted, the hard earned up/down votes go away, as well.

NavyBuckeye91:
Concur with Buckeye3M & Fat Pants.
If it was a good, legitimate thread, the OP deserves the helmet stickers they earned. If there were idiots running their mouths and behaving badly in the thread, they deserve to lose the helmet stickers that were taken away.
I think the “stay on the main page for days and days” is a misnomer. The only time articles stay up there are when they’re active. Usually after 2-3 days, they’ve move to the bottom or onto the next page.

GrandTheftHarley:
Sometimes a bad thread of comments can be illuminating, even if they just present the negative examples of participation.

BuckeyeChief:
Well, because if we did, helmet stickers would go away! Also, because if we deleted it, a poster’s history of comments would also go away, and we couldn’t track repeat violators of the commenting policy.

KBonay:
Again, Buckeye Chief is crushing it with that answer.

Calpoppy:
Sometimes threads are closed as an example for how to not repeat the same mistake. I personally made a name for myself for axing threads, especially those with no content and low effort. Other, more forgiving, moderators have made a point to close the topic with a polite suggestive comment for improvement. That takes more work.

Hovenaut:
Apologies for not reading everyone's response, so probably already stated. I'll give a well-meaning poster the benefit of the doubt (ex. link and run posts that need some detail). I've closed and left a comment (for transparency) as reference. The worst threads, without any constructiveness whatsoever are insta-nuked.

Seattle Linga:
the only thing I'd add here is that sometimes we go back to review member's history and comments that were made awhile ago. If the thread is nuked there are no ways to do that. 

Is there a common theme for "comment removed for violating the site's commenting policy" besides the obvious? Please put your answer in the express mailbox.

Buckeye Chief:
Politics, personal attacks, straight up trolling. The only dude from another fan base that ever came on here and I couldn’t even be mad afterwards was some WVU fan who came on, posted that the Mountaineers were going to roll the Buckeyes by 50 and then they damn near did. (2008)

BeatTTUN:
Political commentary, getting confrontational with another commenter, Trashing J.T. Barrett and weird recommendations for how to wear a mask during these trying times.

Buckeye3M:
The most common themes for removed comments are ad hominem attacks and political opinions. Showing the comment removed reinforces to the site members that people are paying attention and serve as subtle reminders to stay mindful of the commenting policy.

NavyBuckeye91:
Yes. 

GrandTheftHarley:
Gameday comments that attack Ohio State players in an insulting and hateful way is another category of violation that can land an 11W member in jail and comment deleted. In keeping with this part of the Commenting Policy: "Keep Perspective & Have Fun.
Things will get heated, especially after losses. Whenever you feel yourself overheating, take a couple of deep breaths and step away from the keyboard. This is only the internet."

KBonay:
Yes, don't be an asshole.

Hovenaut:
Echo what's already offered. I'll engage a poster who's heated/strays afoul of the commenting policy, no mercy to blatant asshats/repeat offenders.

Calpoppy:
I don’t have much to add to the comments above.

Seattle Linga:
Covid - 19 is an obvious hot topic nowadays and can trigger a ton of negative responses - if a comment is heading down that spiral where covid-19 is brought up for no apparent reason than that's usually a loud bat signal for us to keep an eye on it. 

Is it hard to keep your personal bias out of moderating certain issues?

Calpoppy:
I am extremely sarcastic. As a moderator I have had to tone it WAY down, as it will otherwise look like I’m beating people up. But I am a completely different person as moderator than I was as a commentator. That is not always easy, as I would rather make sarcastic comments to people, but try to reframe my arguments to not be so polarizing. It is also difficult to make sure we are fair to everyone. We get complaints about being unfair, but we get called biased for being both too left and too right on issues. Truth is that we attempt to reduce jerks, and moderate to keep discussion flowing, rather than letting one person domineer with rude, hot takes.

GrandTheftHarley:
We all come from different backgrounds, levels of education and communication and personal and worldly experiences. With all that naturally comes different biases. Learning how to suppress that and stick to the Commenting Policy is the biggest challenge. And FWIW to the 11W commentariat, I've even been occasionally moderated by my fellow mods whenever I've crossed the line. It's nothing personal; just business.

Buckeye3M:
I've deleted 10x more comments I agreed with than disagreed with, because commenting policy.

FatPants:
No. I dislike bickering about politics more than I like politics itself.

BeatTTUN:
Nope.

KBonay:
I would say it's more difficult to keep your bias about an individual poster who may rub you the wrong way.  I don't think we'd want to say this, but I believe it to be true.  We have a lot less tolerance on the dudes that annoy the shit out of us, personally.

BuckeyeChief:
This one always makes me chuckle. We come from diverse backgrounds and, as a whole, we get labeled as biased and placed into a group based on who the commenter is, and what their bias is. In reality, I try to be as black and white with the rules as possible and not let my feelings get in the way.

Hovenaut:
I don't really engage mod tools more often than not. I do take it personal when someone is a deliberate jackass, repeatedly. The mod tools come in handy there.

Seattle Linga:
For me this wasn't easy at first - but now I've learned to really think and re-read comments and intention before I decide what to do.

Earle:
I’m more likely to ignore or tase a comment that I would previously make a snarky response to.  That pretty much sums up the difference for me.
 

Biggest issue I see is some staff dabble with hot button social issues as of late ,and it leads to a lot of line crossing by the community. It kind of seems like a free pass once it's brought up by the staff. What's going on in the world can't be ignored I get that, but at minimum some articles should be closed to comment.

Buckeye3M:
The commenting policy applies to just that - comments. The owners and managing editors of 11W reserve the right to report on news in the world of sports, even if the news is a hot button issue. They have an editorial process and publish news they deem worthy of their target audience's attention. The commenting section doesn't have an editorial process, which is why we have the commenting policy, which serves as a means to filter out inflammatory content in the best interest of the readers.

FatPants:
Agreed wholeheartedly.

GrandTheftHarley:
Nail, meet hammer. You said it. Outstanding, Buckeye3M.

BuckeyeChief:
Great response Buckeye3M!

Seattle Linga:
Not much to add here other than the staff will leave pages on the homepage for awhile because they realize members need a place to vent and express their views.  

What did you do with Spooner?
Does anyone know what happened to Buck68?

NavyBuckeye91:
Who's Spooner? 
Buck68 is dead, Sir!

GrandTheftHarley:
Only Spooner knows what he did with himself. Buck68 still pontificates, just not on 11W any more.

Seattle Linga:
Spooner had more than a few dust ups with some members in the Recruiting threads which tuned political very quickly and decided to walk away at least for awhile and I've never met Buck68 but he approached his point of view from a very different angle and many members either didn't like his approach or didn't understand it so they piled on instead of trying to understand where he's coming from.

Calpoppy:
The commenter known as Buck68 honored us by the manner in which he lived his life. We will never forget him, nor the last time he commented before leaving 11W, that day, as he prepared for his journey and waved good-bye and ‘slipped surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’

This ends Part 1 of the Mod Mailbag. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of the Mod Mailbag. Same Mod channel. Same Mod time.