Lol aaron77! I have to agree though.
RTT entertainment wrote:I believe I have a level head. I am not one to normally choose one side over another until I have heard the full story. I feel that I am also extremely mature.
I think a lot of us say that. Even I do sometimes. I like to think I have a level head. I like to think I won't take sides until I have heard the whole story. I like to think that I am mature enough to handle moderation duties. But that doesn't alone make anyone suitable to be a moderator. I, for instance, would refuse to take the position if someone approached me. I am too emotionally fragile and have too much anxiety to make fair decisions in times of crisis. I get too wound up over whether I should put something off to tomorrow or do it today. I like to think I have a level head and can work it out. I like to think I can reasonably assume what will happen in both cases, and that I have the maturity to weigh them and consider all reasonable implications. but I still have so much trouble with even simple decisions that it isn't even funny. Therefore I have no business running a forum.
When applying for any job, you are encouraged to specify things that will convince your future employer that you are fit for the job. But what you have said doesn't do this in the least. All you have explained thus far is that your heart is pretty much in the same place all of our hearts are. You aren't mentioning how you hope to make this community a better place. And no matter how you spin it, some drastic things need to be done at the moment, whether it be officially on the forums or privately in our minds and hearts. I think it's a combination of the two at this point.
Every moderator, past, present and future will have said what you are saying now. But look at how many times a mod says or does something with good intentions, or at least they tell a story that suggests good intentions, but it ends up backfiring spectacularly. Part of this is because we all have our own visions and agendas as to what this community should be. We all have our own perception of information we receive and affective sollutions to problems. Given how imperfect we are as human beings and the wide variability with which individuals perceive things, it's amazing to me that our societies and communities run as well as they do.
Furthermore, anyone can say words, words that are well-meant and from the heart. The trouble is that words have a nasty way of meaning what each individual who reads them wants them to mean. Those meanings are often derived from many things, the most significant of which probably being writing style, past actions and perceived agendas. All three are dangerous to assume anything about, but we all do it as part of our mental make-up. It's unavoidable and it ultimately leads to our sense of trust, or lack thereof.
At the risk of being labeled a hypocrite, I will go against my advice not to assume, and I'll assume that you are just frustrated and want to take an active role on setting things right, and that you would be way in over your head if you were taken seriously and allowed to be a moderator. I could well be wrong of course. But if I am right and your moderator application is coming from frustration and a desire to save the day, that will never end well. Your intentions are good, but trust me, it's going to take more than encouraging words and making promises to get us out of this mess. It's going to take us as a community to rebuild trust and remember our vision and work together. That is what we need to do, not consider vague moderation applications.
And before anyone argues that I am not giving him a chance, I will point out that being vague is what led to distrust and got us in a lot of this mess in the first place. Clearly, it has its downsides, so let's try not to do it needlessly. Unfortunately, none of us really know the best course of action to take at this point. It's too complicated now to have any hope of a truly happy ending for everyone. There's no simple goldilocks sollution to be found here, the chances of that dried up long ago.
All I really want is for us, as a community of individuals, to work with each other. Regardless of our positions on all of these matters, most of us want to see this place through. So let's try to refrain from saying things or making decisions out of haste. Let's think ahead into the future and assess what we honestly feel we are capable of practically getting accomplished in 6 months or a year's time.
Make more of less, that way you won't make less of more!
If you like what you're reading, please give a thumbs-up.