PG Survey: What will you do if you become a Moderator/Administrator on PaGaLGuY.com?

[ohmygoditsgulu]

Booked now...
Gyaan later...

[coolcataspirant]

Hmm .. Never seen this b4 in PG.com .. SO here goes -

#1 - Be less meddlesome and resist the temptation to intervene in each and every discussion !! Some mods here tend to moderate everything and cannot resist the urge to jump into discussions (in a 'moderating' capacity).. remember the adage - "With great power comes great Responsibilities"

#2 - Be a bit more kind towards newbies !! After all we have all been a newbie at some point .. So dont be overly harsh on them !!

#3 - Maybe create two seperate Id's - like XYZ -Mod and XYZ - USer .. Sometimes even if they participate in debates in the capacity of an user, it tends to get in a jarring feeling !!

#4 - Deal with sensitive threads more carefully !!

#5 - Keep up the great job .. I have seen lots of people coming and going (moi included) over the past 3 years, but the spirit of this place remains the same !! And credit must be given to the mods for that !!

[Psychodementia]

Hmm........ let me think:

(1) Like in physics, there is a source and a sink - figuratively speaking energy flowing from a higher level to a lower level. I would get more "source" of knowledge to help the "sink" of newbies around. And for this to happen - we don't need to attract new talent - we already have a truckload of incredible people just look around - for example on the Bschools forum we have Bacardisprite who is fantastic - I would recognize him. Credit him for doing a great job. Ensure he has all the help to do a great job. And allow him to continue helping the members for time to come. Get people like Anupam, and help them foster the CAT community. There are a lot of people who start off great but dissipate over time. The only reason we are not able to build a great list of "alums" is because when there is nothing in for them, they tend to loose their focus and enthusiasm. Get good people and get them to stay there.

(2) Build communities - around common interests and possibly around cities - have more regular PG meets. For me, it is not a forum. It is being bonded by people with similar tastes and interests. Its like smoking. In a crowded train when you want to sneak into the toilet and have a smoke - you invariably bond to the other guy in the bogey who is doing that. You bond with people because of common language - imagine standing in a crowded market place in Chennai and hear someone talking in Hindi. For me to know someone belongs to PG has the same effect. Its something that transcends asking and answering questions. Some of my best friends have been formed through these forums. But I can see that is dwindling. Its more about a place to get questions answered, argue on inane topics and spam about all things sundry. Build sustainable communities around PG.

(3) When a guy new to the forum joins in, the most difficult thing is to navigate through millions of posts across thousands of pages spread across tens of sub-forums. Get it simple. Send a mail along with the membership which explains clearly and briefly how to post. Get "mentors" who are a level below "moderators" who can help guide newbies. With limited power perhaps, but a lot more utility. Make life simple for newbies joining in.

I will add things as I remember them.

Arun

[harshadk]

Hello !

Some crazy ideas..... dunno whether its practical to implement them.

I would do the following :

1 ) One of the biggest problems PG faces is that of newbies coming in and posting anything, anywhere, without bothering to know if thats the right place. starting threads with searching, posting personal contact info, etc are the most common violations of code.

Solution :

Make every new user read the codes of conduct. This can be ensured by having a compulsory entrance 'test', which will have 10-15 questions about basic forum posting etiquette. Keep it simple. I know this sounds crazy, but I think it will make a big difference.

2 ) Rating Mods

I think all users who have posted a certain minimum number of posts ( 100 ? ) could be allowed to rate mods. Ratings could be on various parameters like whether the mod has correctly closed down threads, his behaviour, etc. This will introduce democracy into the forums, which, IMHO, will stop or lessen accusations of biased / arbit behaviour.

3 ) Creating Semi-mods or more mods

Currently, people are clearly getting away with a lot of violations ( personal info, spamming, etc ) Increasing the number of mods could help. These mods SHOULD be chosen in a democratic way. All interested members ( again a minimum posts criteria applies ) could put in their names, and other puys can vote ( minimum post criteria, again, to prevent bogus voting )

4 ) A bit more leniency towards new threads ( as long as they are in the appropriate forums ) could help. I know resources are valuable, but restricting people can be quite annoying to that person.

5 ) Posting something which has already been said before / answered before should fetch a warning / 2-3 day ban. This might sound rather harsh, but a look at the various insti help threads will prove my point. A lot of newbies keep posting stuff which has been answered before, and this becomes quite annoying to puys from that B-school, who are spending their valuable time helping people out. It results in wasting time which could be better utilised. Newbies gotta take some effort......

6 ) Allowing a change of user-ids.

Maybe we could have a permanent id and a temp id. The permanent id appears in small font below the temp id. Its fun changing ids..... for groans and thanks, the permanent id comes up.

Maybe I'll think of something more later............

Cheers,
Harshad

[shekhar]

Psycho you rock as usual !!

PG runs in the blood and thats why i'm here and will be here.

1. Introduce the functionality of scientific calculator in a newly created section.

Originally Posted by Psychodementia

Hmm........ let me think:
(1) There are a lot of people who start off great but dissipate over time. The only reason we are not able to build a great list of "alums" is because when there is nothing in for them, they tend to loose their focus and enthusiasm. Get good people and get them to stay there.

Introduce something post-MBA &/or during MBA which will keep b-school/passout junta involved.

1. one arbit thing in mind : Probably a dedicated section to MBA studies. Sub-sections on various functions viz. OPs.,Fin.,Mktg.,Sys.,HR . Threads in those sub-sections which have famous Solved Case-studies. B-school junta will flock to read them and infact a lot many b-schoolers will be newbies .

2. post-MBA : tough but i guess possible. Get companies to put up their live case-studies (could be anything- module, an intrapreneurship problem; live case studies/problems is self-explanatory) in a special section. In this section, the interested b-school passouts (can crosscheck in many ways) create their own account. They now solve the case(in that case's thread(or nay better word...) and post it where each solution is not visible to the other but only to the company(who has been given a special log-in). If the company accepts someone's solution, then reward that solution provider moneytarily (yes, the company will pay up). Once this thing takes off well, then companies can be charged for putting up their cases and when e-mails get paid then charge the solution providers also for creating an account in this section. Call it Consultancy section .

3. Let the bootcamp funda be PG sponsored or bootcamp by PG....?? what say Psycho?

Originally Posted by Psychodementia

(2) Build communities - around common interests and possibly around cities - have more regular PG meets. For me, it is not a forum. It is being bonded by people with similar tastes and interests. You bond with people because of common language - imagine standing in a crowded market place in Chennai and hear someone talking in Hindi. For me to know someone belongs to PG has the same effect. Its something that transcends asking and answering questions. Some of my best friends have been formed through these forums. But I can see that is dwindling. Its more about a place to get questions answered, argue on inane topics and spam about all things sundry. Build sustainable communities around PG.

Couldn't agree with you more Psycho. I see the PG spirit diluting and remaining only with the oldies (sorry, this feeling could be coz mebbe i'm in the b-school now & not among the aspirants ).

-> again some glue is required to hold people together.
1. , 2. , ...not getting any solution here right now, will come back !!

Originally Posted by Psychodementia

(3) When a guy new to the forum joins in, the most difficult thing is to navigate through millions of posts across thousands of pages spread across tens of sub-forums. Get it simple. Send a mail along with the membership which explains clearly and briefly how to post. Get "mentors" who are a level below "moderators" who can help guide newbies. With limited power perhaps, but a lot more utility. Make life simple for newbies joining in.

Great point.
Should i be writing this...? : introduce a minimum age formembers. I see 16-17 yr. olds logged in and in my personal view don't do any value-add. expecting some/many groans on this .


Let me get some more GROANS(higher probability)/THANKS


1. We got to have an objective measure of contribution of the users on PG. This to me is one of biggest need of the hour.
2. We got to have more discipline in terms of posts/threads/rules etc.

For 2 :
-> Mail the Hitchiker's Guide to the user as soon as he/she registers (automated mail). He/she got to get familiar with the rules so that PG remains a well moderated place.

NOW - Lets make use of this Indian education system. chaahe mugging karrlein parr kuch toh dimaag mein ghussta hi hai
The condition before one can post is that he/she has to score a minimum no. of marks in a GUIDE QUIZ. Fail- appear again, pass this criterion of minimum marks and then post. This will kinda ensure that new posters are well versed with the rules etc.


cheers!!
SHEKHAR

[Mahip]

*Bump* Long time no post ...

All the *Booking Karne Wali Junta* .. do edit your posts and provide some inputs!

Others are also welcome!

[aspire]

Hi ,

A lot of wonderful suggestions have come in , high time I give mine too.. albeit not wonderful

I propose that some administrative powers like IP check be made available to the resident group leaders of various institutes . There are a lot many people who join the forum that day and start targetting other institutes the very same day , now what exactly this is , is pretty obvious .. and it should be curbed .. coz one of the ethos of pagalguy is no comparisons .. are we living upto it

regards

shailesh

[Psychodementia]

Originally Posted by shekhar

<snip>

3. Let the bootcamp funda be PG sponsored or bootcamp by PG....?? what say Psycho?

<snip>

Ha ha ha!! Checked this post today. Awesome. Yep ! Get the bootcamp sponsored by PG - let them foot the bill

Arun

[Mahip]

Let the discussions on the suggestions begin on the same thread from today!

Others can also post their thoughts now, no more posting rules!

[aim-wsc]

all right

so discussion is on then!
good.

i have already posted my suggestions here. http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/625138-post3.html

so for discussion:

I see long ago Captain & other senior MOds requested members
( http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/113791-post1.html ) to do self moderation.

Nice.
and look at here we have bunch of (or should i say a lot of) demi Mods (: read certified /addicted /harcore pagals) people helping around.

GOOD.
Really Nice.

but then whats Moderation?
what is moderating?

I dont think discouraging a member starting a thread is modding....
Is it?

Please tell me.

As par as i think
Moderators come in the picture when:
"there are double threads of similar topics"

"there is SPAMMING" (by the way spammers are the ones who advertise or promote on forums by means free posting on threads.... & not members who ^express themselves^ )

"posts go out of track & miss the title and intention of the thread"

"things go dirty like members attack on each others personal opinions...& religon et al"

& let me tell you the moderators of this site are doing excellent job...
so
wheres the problem?

Problems starts when the demi mods (members who suggest others good ) suggest something others

and I am sorry to say manier times they jump in on other occasions also, other than the fours i have mentioned above.
suggesting to ^ search first & then start a thread ^

well i can understand that
the site has almost 100 000 members and you have to be pretty strict when it comes to thread starting:

but then what the heck?

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/613874-post976.html

Whats the use of the forums, if people do not start a thread?

i see, many demi mods constantly ask Captain & other senior mods to have "only Mods can open the threads" control
but fortunately this hasn't been implemented as yet. that means
theres some point in what i am suggesting...

demi mods mis-understood the meaning of moderation.

THANK YOU.