What Are Mentors, Moderators and Super Moderators? (And How Can I Get to Be One?)

mjtaylor · Share | #1 01-04-2011, 08:04 PM

If you’re reading this thread, you’ve probably noticed that we have several levels of membership and titles within our community. There are our valued Members, of course, plus Mentors, Moderators and Super Moderators. All of those roles, starting with our newest member to our fearless leader and Admin, Cricket, are important.

From time to time, newer members wonder about the mentors and moderators, so here’s a bit about the titles and what they mean.

Mentors are members who have demonstrated the best qualities of a forum member - they share information and their expertise to be helpful, and only post they feel they can add to the thread or further the conversation. Mentors start useful threads and seek out reference materials to help answer questions in more depth. The Mentor badge is awarded to recognize when a member contributes at this level. We always have our eye out for mentor material.

What If I Want To Be One? It’s pretty simply, really: if you want to be one, act like one. Start “forum following” several mentors you admire and pay attention to how and what they share. Try to figure out what it was that made them singled out to be a mentor. We can’t all share at the same level, but we can share what we know. And we can look for other ways to help V7N. For example, Cricket has a thread asking for help (link). If you start Following V7N on Twitter, you could make a habit of ReTweeting a thread you like everyday. That helps the forum, and it also makes you part of the Twitter/V&N neighborhood in Bing and Google’s eyes. (See: Confirmation that Twitter/Facebook Influence SEO.)

If you think you are not quite mentor material, but would like to be, or would just like to get more out of being a V7N Member, these threads can help you improve the quality your post profile on V7N:

Quality Posting Guidelines
What Makes A Good Forum Post
Want to be a Mentor? Don't Ask Us, We'll Ask You, But Be Sure To Read This Thread.

You might want to consider creating a relationship with a V7N mentor who can help guide you into a better understanding of how to make a positive impact in this forum. Look around for mentors whom you find helpful. Send them a PM and say you'd like to learn more from them about being a good member. Not all will have time to help so don't take it personally if you don't get the answer you want; just keep looking for someone to connect with.

Here are suggestions for aspiring mentors and to help members to make the most of their time here:

How To Enhance The Value of Thread Discussion:

Provide accurate answers to the OP's question – if you’re not sure or you’re repeating someone else's post – find another thread or look it up.

Offer links to credible sources of information that support pertinent facts; this is a great thing to do when you don’t know all that much. Look it up, but remember to provide the source accurately.

Ask related questions that help threads become more useful and make others think

More Ways to Help V7N Be A Better Forum and Community

Open useful threads. For example, if you read expert SEO bloggers or see a newspaper article of interest, share it. Start with a short summary, quote a small part of it, link to it properly, and then ask a thoughtful question about the topic. That’s just one idea of a useful thread. For others, check the threads started by the mentors you’re observing.

Help keep the forum spam free: report any posts you see that don’t meet guidelines and rules. That means you need to know the rules, of course.

Invite others to join V7N and make sure they let us know you referred them.

Moderators - Our respected moderators dedicate time to oversee the threads to keep the forum clear of spam and low quality posts. In addition to offering help in threads, they remove spam, thank you notes, repetitious or agreement posts and read the threads to ensure our rule and guidelines are being followed. They send PMs and formal warnings or infractions when the rules are broken. Or as the FAQ puts it:

Quote:

Moderators oversee specific forums. They generally have the ability to edit and delete posts, move threads, and perform other manipulations. Becoming a moderator for a specific forum is usually rewarded to users who are particularly helpful and knowledgeable in the subject of the forum they are moderating.

Super Moderators carry a large rubber bat wherever they go. You know that carnival midway game where you try to hit as many popping mole heads as you can in a minute? We have one of those in the back for Super Moderators to practice on.

Okay, I just kidding about the mole heads. No animals were even scared to train our Super Moderators. They do have editing power in all categories. In addition, they have the ability to ban members who do not follow the rules and guidelines or who spam the forum.

Forum Admin - From the FAQ:

Quote:

Administrators are the people who have overall control of everything that happens on the board. They oversee how the board is styled, what forums to create and how to organize them, what information to require from members and who to appoint as moderators.

In our case, we are led by Cricket, whose style is marked by a warmth and embrace of all our members that has created a true community.

Whatever role you play here, we're glad you're part of the V7N Community.

Important Reminder For Aspiring Mentors: Don't Ask Us, We'll Ask You, But Be Sure To Read This Thread.

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robjones · #2 02-14-2011, 10:02 AM

Short Comparisons (for ease of use)

Moderator - Crossing Guard: Protects pedestrians, keeps traffic flowing smoothly.
Super-Moderator - Traffic Cop: Same as Crossing Guard, but carries a gun.
Mentor - Smartest kid in the class: Shows up, sits on front row, helps others with their homework, always has correct answer.
Admin - God: Has magical powers, answers prayers of the faithful and punishes the wicked. Has been known to raise the dead.

juliensimon · #3 02-14-2011, 04:14 PM

I did hear that some super mod have special powers like ability to see multiple accounts, puppet scheme, hidden links and affiliate links.

pretty cool huh?

robjones · #4 02-14-2011, 04:32 PM

That's a vicious rumor started by a banned member who used multiple accounts to stage puppet shows pushing masked affiliate links.

deepsand · #5 02-14-2011, 04:52 PM

I understand that some rumors are true.

__________________

robjones · #6 04-07-2011, 10:09 AM

We see that question occasionally. Here's how it happens
A mod is just an unpaid volunteer selected by the admin to help keep the place tidy and productive. Mods are recruited as needed from the ranks of our V7n Mentors. Not all V7n mentors would make good moderators (not an insult, they may be too smart to accept if asked), but all moderators should possess the qualities that make a good V7n Mentor.

V7n mentors are selected from among the general membership. Here's a thread on how one becomes a Mentor.

What are the attributes you look for in a mod or super-mod?
Super-mods are just mods with a few extra buttons and a wider range. Mods are selected from the ranks of Mentors that've been around for a while, are present consistently, have earned trust that they won't abuse the role, and regularly display a habit of assisting others in the forum.

Translation: They pick people that show good judgment but might be just dumb enough to accept an unpaid role playing janitor in a forum.

How do Admins respond if someone WANTS to be a Mod?
As a general rule, forum admins are careful about members that clearly *want* to be a moderator. Tells 'em they either ...

(a) Don't have a realistic idea of what the role involves or the amount of time it requires, or
(b) Want it for reasons that would be inconsistent with doing the job properly.

Getting tagged to do moderation is handled the same way people become a Mentor. If you display the attributes the admin is looking for, they'll probably ask you eventually (whether you want 'em to or not). The ideal candidate probably only accepts the role as a favor, not because they really want to.

The least likely way to become one is to request it. That'd make the admin doubt your sanity.

Dan Williamson · #7 04-07-2011, 10:57 AM

So how did Muddy become a Mod? Thats the question that has no logical answer

Cricket must have been on the funny stuff.

Cricket · #8 04-07-2011, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Williamson

So how did Muddy become a Mod? Thats the question that has no logical answer

Cricket must have been on the funny stuff.

As I recall, I drug him kicking and screaming the whole way.

DigitalAlien · #9 04-07-2011, 05:14 PM

How do you respond to requests like this?

Quote:

sir, but please, i require that moderator i be certainly, many rupees must be given too

robjones · #10 04-07-2011, 06:02 PM

Typically it just depends on how many rupees theyre talking about if they're intending them as a bribe.

If on the other hand they're wanting to get paid... I'm afraid they gotta get in line.