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The Moderator Mission
(In a message written to the moderators of this site, I have laid out my expectations for them as we continue forth from our "State of the TFP" discussion. I've decided that this is relevant for sharing and the users of this site will also learn what is expected of them. This holds everyone accountable for their role in making this site what it is and their role in shaping it as we move forward.)
Dear TFP staff,
I've taken it upon myself to talk with as many members and past members as I could over the last few days and I have a good idea of where we are and where we need to be. Honestly, where we are is irrelevant. Where we need to be is what it has always been, but I feel the need to reiterate it to provide a clear example on how to better take care of the board. At the risk of sounding righteous, I want you all to know how serious I am about what this forum is.
The essence of the TFP is free speech without fear of discrimination. This means that we must harbor OPINIONS, no matter how different or counter-establishment they are. We must enforce MATURE conversation and understanding. Polarization, right/wrong, left/right, and disrespect will have no place here. All that matters is expression, sharing, and respect.
Your position is not any easy one any more. I hope you all understand how the site has worked in the past, so that you can contrast it to the policies I am about to lay out. The efforts involved will yield an incredible product, and not only a heap of respect from myself, but from the thousands of users who are and will be browsing this website.
The foremost point in all of this is the issue of free speech. Learning to recognize an opportunity for discussion is key to your task. Shutting down a conversation will now be a last resort when all possible hopes of salvaging mature discourse have failed. I hope not too many threads will end in lockdown, because what we do during the course of a discussion has a great deal of influence on how it ends up.
Members exhibiting polarizing and directed aggressions will be counseled. As we approach an election year, there will be all too many exchanges about political parties and what is wrong with them. It is our job to shape these threads to become more enlightening to all readers. Assaults on blathering personalities will become discussions on their impacts. Mockeries of inane policies will become insights on their meanings and conjectures on the freedoms they affect.
There are other forums on the internet devoted to bare-knuckled opinion brawling. We can be different. While many users simply desire a soapbox and an audience to dispense their rhetoric to, we must have them accept the views of others. No user will be right, correct, justified, or certified with his or her knowledge of any issue. The result is that EVERYTHING is up for debate and discussion. The product is growth. The trend is evolution.
Your responsibility as a moderator is difficult because the most basic human motivation is the need to be right. It involves interaction, listening, and diplomacy. It involves the same correspondence I have had with many users recently; calling them into chat, email exchanges, and instant messaging. It is a full-contact position and it's very important.
I've heard a lot recently about the TFP being "just an internet site." These comments are good to take into heart when people are at eachothers' throats or when you want to distance yourself from the events that are transpiring. However, we have to realize that we have a mission and we have to realize that our cause is very relevant. If we let our guard drop regarding the pride of the TFP, then we might as well let ourselves get assimilated by the other, more active and more populated communities on the net.
It's hard to be of a different mind in today's world. It's hard to be yourself. We have to be champions of our future; to evolve where others resist.
This is the Tilted Forum Project. Welcome.
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