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A couple of us social group owner/moderators have finally figured out how to make ourselves completely invisible again.  You can PM me for directions.  (This is only for those with actual access to moderator control panels - otherwise our directions will be useless to you.)  These directions were not figured out by me, but I don't feel comfortable volunteering someone else's PM box.  


 

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They don't?  I guess I assumed that they did?  I'm fairly sure that some of the moderators anyway are employees of PHP and are probably way too busy with their own workload to do that, now that I think about it.  

 

I honestly don't know, Jean. I guess when I've seen some posts deleted it didn't appear as if a moderator had done that because the deleted post(s) really didn't break board rules or seem that offensive to me. But I fully admit that I don't know for sure. And just to clarify I don't think a moderator would need to read all 7 pages or so of a thread if the reported post is on, say, page 5 or 6. But maybe read the quoted post (if one is quoted) and around the reported post. I don't know, just throwing out ideas.

 

I also don't know if the moderators have other duties or are dedicated to the boards. With a board this large it would make sense to me that a team of moderators would be dedicated to moderating, even if they did so in shifts and worked on their other projects when not on moderating duty. 

 

It's a good question.

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I don't really understand the assumption on this board that the moderators can't possibly read everything.  This board is big and active, but it's certainly not unique in that regard.  I belong or have belonged to several just as large and busy.  And on those boards the moderators certainly seem to read everything.  If the problem here is not enough mods, then I would assume that's something that could be addressed relatively easily.

 

:huh:

 

I can't even imagine mods reading everything! So either paid mods should be reading everything...in which case I think SWB should make this a paid board, like yesterday. Or volunteer mods should be reading everything...in which case...just, wow, it would take some chutzpah to ask that of volunteers.

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I don't disagree with this; I just think that when a post or thread is reported that it becomes attendant on the moderators to then read not only the reported posts, but the conversation in situ. They then should apply clearly understood rules/guidelines in deciding whether or not to delete.

 

Hm, I don't know whether I agree. This isn't reddit. They aren't raking in the dough through random advertising of just everything. This board serves a mere bonus/secondary function to their actual business model. We don't pay to join like Sonlight (which is VERY heavily moderated).

 

 

I wonder what percentage of Reporters are lurkers who aren't even active participants in the discussion that they find offensive.

I would imagine quite a few, based on some PMs I've received in the past.

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:huh:

 

I can't even imagine mods reading everything! So either paid mods should be reading everything...in which case I think SWB should make this a paid board, like yesterday. Or volunteer mods should be reading everything...in which case...just, wow, it would take some chutzpah to ask that of volunteers.

 

All the boards I belong to have volunteer moderators.

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So then is each moderator assigned a time and particular forum? And they sit there for that period of time and read/threadsit that forum?

 

Typically there are multiple moderators assigned to each forum.  If there are enough mods then although someone might not be there 100 percent of the time, there's usually enough coverage that whatever gaps occur aren't long enough to be a problem.

 

Another point in this regard is that it's really not necessary to read every thread here.  I've only been here a couple of years, so in the scheme of things that makes me a relative newbie.  But I don't ever recall a "What's for Dinner" or "Who's Going to Tackle such-and-such day" thread developing a problem.  It's usually easy to fairly quickly spot potentially contentious threads.

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Typically there are multiple moderators assigned to each forum. If there are enough mods then although someone might not be there 100 percent of the time, there's usually enough coverage that whatever gaps occur aren't long enough to be a problem.

 

Another point in this regard is that it's really not necessary to read every thread here. I've only been here a couple of years, so in the scheme of things that makes me a relative newbie. But I don't ever recall a "What's for Dinner" or "Who's Going to Tackle such-and-such day" thread developing a problem. It's usually easy to fairly quickly spot potentially contentious threads.

Yes, exactly. Some threads going train-wreck are obvious within thirty seconds of the OP.

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Another point in this regard is that it's really not necessary to read every thread here.  I've only been here a couple of years, so in the scheme of things that makes me a relative newbie.  But I don't ever recall a "What's for Dinner" or "Who's Going to Tackle such-and-such day" thread developing a problem.

 

Hmm, I guess we could work to "fix" that...

 

"WHY would you eat THAT!"

 

"HOW can you allow yourself to do THAT?"

 

Or, from my perspective, "WHY aren't you fixing that and bringing it to my house?" and "You should practice that task by doing it at my place first!"

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All the boards I belong to have volunteer moderators.

Do you think SWB should ask for volunteers and then choose some forum members to help with moderation? And would those volunteer moderators have the title next to their usernames or something? It might be kind of creepy to have "stealth moderators" who are participating in discussions and also secretly watching for offenses.

 

I don't think she should have to go to the expense of hiring a team of paid moderators, because this is a free forum and it's already costing her plenty to keep it going for us.

 

It's hard to figure out what should be done.

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Typically there are multiple moderators assigned to each forum.  If there are enough mods then although someone might not be there 100 percent of the time, there's usually enough coverage that whatever gaps occur aren't long enough to be a problem.

 

Another point in this regard is that it's really not necessary to read every thread here.  I've only been here a couple of years, so in the scheme of things that makes me a relative newbie.  But I don't ever recall a "What's for Dinner" or "Who's Going to Tackle such-and-such day" thread developing a problem.  It's usually easy to fairly quickly spot potentially contentious threads.

 

I don't know, if someone starts talking about serving cupcakes for dinner...

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Do you think SWB should ask for volunteers and then choose some forum members to help with moderation? And would those volunteer moderators have the title next to their usernames or something? It might be kind of creepy to have "stealth moderators" who are participating in discussions and also secretly watching for offenses.

 

I don't think she should have to go to the expense of hiring a team of paid moderators, because this is a free forum and it's already costing her plenty to keep it going for us.

 

It's hard to figure out what should be done.

 

Some boards I've been on have asked for volunteers and then the powers that be have chosen from those volunteers.  On other boards it's been handled behind the scenes, with the admins asking people to moderate w/o the entire board knowing who had been asked.

 

I've never been on a board where the moderators were not known.  On the board I acted as volunteer moderator for we had the title under our user name.  That's how it's done on all the other boards I'm on.

 

I don't think stealth/anonymous moderators are good whether they're volunteer or paid.  That's just weird and invites all sorts of endless speculation.

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Hmm, I guess we could work to "fix" that...

 

"WHY would you eat THAT!"

 

"HOW can you allow yourself to do THAT?"

 

Or, from my perspective, "WHY aren't you fixing that and bringing it to my house?" and "You should practice that task by doing it at my place first!"

Ha! True! We could bring religious bickering into it on "...tackle Sunday," or even "...tackle Saturday," by arguing that that is the *True* Sabbath, anyway. ;)

 

Recently, I've been thinking the best way to burn a new controversy may be by suggesting rudeness. Everybody is tweeked about rudeness at the moment; I don't know why it is especially fashionable right now, but it is.

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It was a tight knit group where we were all rather familiar with each other.  Two of our members (Moira and Tom) passed this past year and they had some medical and family info in there about dealing with their illness that they desired to keep in a more private setting where Google couldn't get it.  We've dealt with loss, anger, regret, and sensitive issues together and were made to feel secure that we could pretty well trust each other and that it was not supposed to be searchable.  The reasons we were asked not to discuss are mentioned in that thread.  "Vitriol" is subjective.  Everyone needs somewhere to rant.  Like many forums, we had a rant thread and a thread where we shared happy thoughts of the day and positive things to share.  I'll leave it at that. 

 

I think you are doing a very good job of expressing yourself. :grouphug:

 

Nor do I feel the posts are dramatic.  I have been here long enough to understand the rules about discussing "the board." I get why they are there, but I would agree with previous posters who suggested that sometimes the speculation and insinuations can be more damaging than a brief run-down on the situation.

 

Not that I think that I am entitled to a brief run-down 95% of the time, but if you tell me that private information was made public, even if accidentally, I am fairly irritated at not getting the specifics as to what happened, how it happened, and what steps are being taken to prevent it from happening again. I don't need to know the specifics of what was shared.

The scenario above puts my stomach in knots.

 

ETA: When somebody like Sparkly goes, I listen and I ask questions.

 

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Some boards I've been on have asked for volunteers and then the powers that be have chosen from those volunteers.  On other boards it's been handled behind the scenes, with the admins asking people to moderate w/o the entire board knowing who had been asked.

 

I've never been on a board where the moderators were not known.  On the board I acted as volunteer moderator for we had the title under our user name.  That's how it's done on all the other boards I'm on.

 

I don't think stealth/anonymous moderators are good whether they're volunteer or paid.  That's just weird and invites all sorts of endless speculation.

 

Me either, and I've found that to be an oddity here.

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Well . . . I'd say that in the recent "Likes" thread that got locked the Moderator certainly didn't appear to have read any of it.  She (he?)  accused us of not contacting a mod, when I believe there were quite a few references in the thread to PMs having been sent.

 

<snip>

 

:iagree:   I saw no reason to lock that thread.  We were just having fun. 

 

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LOLOL, that would be difficult, considering how pineapples grow. Or is that a short joke?

 

grow-pineapple.jpg

 

My now college freshman has left me with four pineapple plants - all happily growing here in PA.  They were started from tops of those we ate and he's kept them going so nicely.  It takes longer in non-tropical areas to get fruit from them, so we haven't been able to eat any yet.

 

I looked at them the other day and wondered just how long it will take me to kill them (sigh).  I'd really like them to look like those in your pic before they die.  One is that large, but no fruit yet.  The others are smaller yet.

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LOLOL, that would be difficult, considering how pineapples grow. Or is that a short joke?

 

grow-pineapple.jpg

I'm thinking you would be walking along the street (carefully avoiding creepy clowns) and the much neglected pineapple plant would be growing on the ledge of a balcony.

 

Are you short? 'Cause we could make that work, too. :D

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I'm thinking you would be walking along the street (carefully avoiding creepy clowns) and the much neglected pineapple plant would be growing on the ledge of a balcony.

LOL

 

 

Are you short? 'Cause we could make that work, too. :D

I'm just over 5' tall. :D

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My now college freshman has left me with four pineapple plants - all happily growing here in PA.  They were started from tops of those we ate and he's kept them going so nicely.  It takes longer in non-tropical areas to get fruit from them, so we haven't been able to eat any yet.

 

I looked at them the other day and wondered just how long it will take me to kill them (sigh).  I'd really like them to look like those in your pic before they die.  One is that large, but no fruit yet.  The others are smaller yet.

 

FWIW, I did that to my poor mom. At 80, she can tell you heartbreaking stories about taking care of my abandoned houseplants and how my asparagus fern used to remind her of my hair when she accidentally brushed against it.

 

I didn't even remember or notice which of my "babies" went to houseplant heaven and the ones that didn't are HUMONGOUS now and the credit is all due to Mom's love and care. They wouldn't have lasted a week if I'd tried to take them with me into that new chapter of my own life.

 

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Creekland)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

Nobody warns us how hard this chapter of parenting is.

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My now college freshman has left me with four pineapple plants - all happily growing here in PA.  They were started from tops of those we ate and he's kept them going so nicely.  It takes longer in non-tropical areas to get fruit from them, so we haven't been able to eat any yet.

 

I looked at them the other day and wondered just how long it will take me to kill them (sigh).  I'd really like them to look like those in your pic before they die.  One is that large, but no fruit yet.  The others are smaller yet.

 

Oh boy, we're going to have to try that once we get our big greenhouse made. Whenever that is.

 

I actually had no idea pineapples didn't grow on trees until this post. I feel stupid now. But both pines and apples are trees, so you'd think a pineapple would be, right?

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My now college freshman has left me with four pineapple plants - all happily growing here in PA.  They were started from tops of those we ate and he's kept them going so nicely.  It takes longer in non-tropical areas to get fruit from them, so we haven't been able to eat any yet.

How long has it been? It takes between 18 months and 3 years to get a pineapple from a plant, even in the tropics (depends upon the variety).

 

 

I looked at them the other day and wondered just how long it will take me to kill them (sigh).  I'd really like them to look like those in your pic before they die.  One is that large, but no fruit yet.  The others are smaller yet.

My dh is the one that buys/tends plants, and I generally kill them (well, allow them to die) while he is gone.

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How long has it been? It takes between 18 months and 3 years to get a pineapple from a plant, even in the tropics (depends upon the variety).

 

 

My dh is the one that buys/tends plants, and I generally kill them (well, allow them to die) while he is gone.

My mom plants pineapple tops in her yard in south Florida. She gets a pineapple once a year from the plants. Luckily, her harvest seems to be when we all visit at Christmas.

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FWIW, I did that to my poor mom. At 80, she can tell you heartbreaking stories about taking care of my abandoned houseplants and how my asparagus fern used to remind her of my hair when she accidentally brushed against it.

 

I didn't even remember or notice which of my "babies" went to houseplant heaven and the ones that didn't are HUMONGOUS now and the credit is all due to Mom's love and care. They wouldn't have lasted a week if I'd tried to take them with me into that new chapter of my own life.

 

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Creekland)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

Nobody warns us how hard this chapter of parenting is.

 

My guy hasn't been pleased when he's come home from 1 - 2 week trips and some of his babies had either crossed that line or were desperately gasping for water or drowning pending which I did wrong.  He has a green thumb and he didn't get it from me.  It might have skipped two generations.  His great grandmother could grow practically anything indoors or out.

 

Oh boy, we're going to have to try that once we get our big greenhouse made. Whenever that is.

 

I actually had no idea pineapples didn't grow on trees until this post. I feel stupid now. But both pines and apples are trees, so you'd think a pineapple would be, right?

 

My guy got intrigued with pineapples when he saw an article in the local newspaper from someone else growing them locally.  He wanted to try.  We're about 50/50 on whether they take from the start or not.  You cut the top off just as you do to eat the rest and cut much of the actual pineapple away from even that core at the top.  Then we just stick it in really rich soil (directly from a compost section of our horse pasture).  They grow slowly in temperate climates - and must be brought in during the winter, of course (or at least my guy brought them in) - but eventually they are supposed to flower (gorgeous flower - use google images) and fruit.

 

IF I recall correctly, in tropical climates it takes them 2 years.  Here the guy was saying it was closer to 5 - 6 years.  Our oldest is probably 3 years old now and the others are within that 2 year period.  I just started another one today - just because - but I think it was already too far gone (plant-wise) when I bought it from the store.  The pineapple itself was delicious.

 

AND... I might be incorrect with all my advice - I can just tell you what youngest did.  :tongue_smilie:  Google could confirm (or not) his actions I suspect.  He does have 4 live plants that appear to still be doing ok 4 weeks after he left home.  But... I haven't had to mess with them yet.  They're outdoors and quite happy.

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I actually had no idea pineapples didn't grow on trees until this post. I feel stupid now. But both pines and apples are trees, so you'd think a pineapple would be, right?

 

I grew up in Hawaii. When I went to college a number of people asked me about the pineapple trees.

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I haven't been on much and all this is quite a surprise to me.

 

I have seen threads where comments by athiests were deleted. This has included posts that were definitely not rude or containing any kind of personal attack, but they were strongly expressing the posters beliefs, which were not aligned with any kind of faith.

 

So while yes, people come and go from various message boards , I had already been wondering if there has been a slow moderator "creep" against non-religious views being expressed and that does concern me. I know political posts are forbidden, but will it also end up that posts, no matter how nicely put, that contradict a religious viewpoint are also forbidden?

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No, we're just going to be doomed to talk about polite issues. Weather in your part of the world ? Um...I'm having trouble thinking of tea party topics as my tea parties always have a healthy dose of politics alongside the eclairs.

 

Trivia. In order to be seen as civil and polite we will discuss trivia. Yay.

 

 

 

Well I really hope that isn't true.  Trivia can be fun.  I have had some really funny conversations about Trivia.  But if that is all that is ever discussed my brain turns to pudding.

 

As a friend once complained to me at a tea party, "Why are we talking about doilies?  Who cares about doilies?  Can we talk about SOMETHING, ANYTHING that might be more interesting than doilies?"  :)

 

I really hope we are not reduced to only talking about doilies (no offense to those who love conversations about doilies is intended as I share a past conversation I felt might be relevant to Sadie's post :laugh: .)

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My mom plants pineapple tops in her yard in south Florida. She gets a pineapple once a year from the plants. Luckily, her harvest seems to be when we all visit at Christmas.

Wow, that's amazing. I've never heard of one producing fruit that regularly! I know the ones they grow here mostly take 18 months to produce their first fruit. I don't recall how often they produce fruit after the first one. But, I think they generally can harvest them like 3 times? Then, they clear the field and start over with baby plants.

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Wow, that's amazing. I've never heard of one producing fruit that regularly! I know the ones they grow here mostly take 18 months to produce their first fruit. I don't recall how often they produce fruit after the first one. But, I think they generally can harvest them like 3 times? Then, they clear the field and start over with baby plants.

Well, it's only been twice, so maybe we're done with the fresh pineapple at Christmas. Darn!

 

Or perhaps my dad is pulling a fast one on all of us and pretending to get pineapple out of the yard. I wouldn't put it past him...

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And apparently pineapple plants. So there's that. Tastier than cupcakes.

 

Far, far tastier than cupcakes... not even on the same scale for some of us!

 

And actually, I seldom cared for any of the threads that fell apart anyway.  They were way too predictable.  Read one and you've read them all - kind of akin to how I feel about TV soap operas. 

 

Learning about something new - say - pineapple plants - is far more interesting to me.

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So while yes, people come and go from various message boards , I had already been wondering if there has been a slow moderator "creep" against non-religious views being expressed and that does concern me. I know political posts are forbidden, but will it also end up that posts, no matter how nicely put, that contradict a religious viewpoint are also forbidden?

 

 

OTOH, a few months ago (or maybe a couple of years ago) several of the more conservative Christian members were commenting that the board is becoming more secular.  I believe several decided to pack up and leave since the slant against their religion was becoming intolerable, they felt persecuted, etc.  I keep thinking I should keep a tally of how often people do the hand wringing about the board changing tone/people leaving, but I'm too lazy.  I wouldn't be surprised if someone did an actual study of the psychology of message boards; it would be fascinating.  

 

I'm sure even as we speak someone else is feeling quite persecuted.  By the way,  I am friends with several professional clowns who work closely with the homeschool community.  I'm taking screen shots of everything y'all are saying just in case this thread is deleted.  

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