clapper011 wrote:
I know how you feel about twill and a few others hunny..but please be careful with your words and keep flaming to flame wars
See, this is a great example of good moderating. Clapper understands the other person's position, but she must enforce the rules.
How often do people flagrantly try to disobey Clapper, or slip something past her? I don't know, but I'd guess not many. Or, how many people actively try to harass Clapper?
Ask the same question, but with Twill in her place.
It's completely different management techniques, but I get the feeling Clapper knows the entire Machiavelli quote, "It is best to be both loved and feared, but if one must choose, it is better to be feared than loved."
Clapper has managed to keep order in this forum, at least, with that kind of dedication to being both loved and feared. We know she has power over us, but she doesn't want to have to use it unless absolutely necessary.
On the flip side, managing only with fear leads to abuses of power, animosity, and an environment of "us vs. them". Sure, Twill can be very personable and professional in private, but seems to either relish his image of being feared/hated in the forums or brushes it off as being the fault of everyone else.
I think the best solution would be to promote Clapper to Twill's position, and keep Twill on (a clearly conscientious and loyal member of Team CC) in a role more similar to Clapper's current one, assuming he'd accept it. That would help set the tone for the forums as a whole, and the influence of a leader like Clapper would permeate through the ranks of the other mods.
Of course, these are all just my musings in an idealized hypothetical situation. And I'm not writing this to suggest only Clapper would be a suitable replacement for Twill, but rather someone with her M.O. Who even knows? Maybe she's too busy with her own life to step up. But I honestly do think the community would be more cohesive, less abrasive, and easier to moderate for the moderators if such a philosophy of command was followed.
EDIT: Maybe I shouldn't have made this post, as some people might get upset by it, but please understand I write these words with the best of intentions. There are a lot of things to like about Twill, but I do honestly disagree with his philosophy of command. Hopefully, he'll come to learn a new way of doing things and will find himself both respected (as we can all tell he wants to be) and liked. So, please take all of this as constructive criticism, not whining or brown nosing.