Forum moderator

[Chris31]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forum_moderator

[FC3S]

reading is hard

[Bugbyte]

From the link:

[snip] "Whimsical Self-Indulgence. From an important historic point of view, whimsical self-indulgence was once extremely common amongst those who were involved in the administration of internet forums and discussion boards. Narcissistic, undereducated and power-mad individuals, often with poor social and communication skills, would take it upon themselves to interfere with the postings and discussions of other board users, often using intimidating language and various threats including modifying, deleting or otherwise interfering with posts, threads and subjects. In the worst cases, a whimsically self indulgent moderator could threaten to delete another board user's account, regularly spending vast amounts of time trawling through old posts in a desperate attempt to prove to the board owner or community that their actions are somehow justified." [snip]

[yrean]

umm from that snippet. im guessing you feel that a few of the mods are Narcissistic, undereducated and power-mad individuals, often with poor social and communication skills?

being a mod im not sure why you pointed this out. the part about the interfering and changing of posts has to do with making someone look like they said something they didnt. Not moderating and saying hey i removed this cause its against the rules.

[Quattro]

Choosing a moderator

Different boards choose moderators in different ways. As noted, on some boards moderators are just friends of the owner. In others, moderators are elected by the users. On more serious boards, administrators and senior staff generally choose moderators from among long-time, respected, level-headed members. On boards belonging to large corporations, moderators will still usually be selected from among the forum membership, but may be required to go through some form of training, sign non-disclosure agreements, or the like.
There are generally sufficient volunteers for moderator positions that it's unnecessary for even large, professional boards to pay them, but a few grant their staff small stipends. Boards with paid subscriptions may waive them for staff.

I think mods should be elected and not the other way around.
and the underline part should be followed, every time not just on a couple of mods.

[Enforcer]

Just a few (Ok almost all) snippets from the role section.

Among a moderator's enforcement duties is often the duty to stop flaming and keep the board a friendly place, free of personal insults (but different boards have different standards, and what is acceptable on one will invariably be prohibited on another).

On some boards, moderators are expected to stay out of all contentious debates, or at least to use alternate accounts to engage in them unbeknownst to common members.

On most boards, however, moderators may participate just as any normal member, provided they remain civil and generally obey the site rules.

As always, there are many exceptions. Many small boards are operated at the whim of the site operator and perhaps some of his or her friends, and moderators might be able to do whatever they feel like on such boards (provided they avoid crossing their colleagues and superiors).

Of course, a board with overly harsh or capricious moderators will lose members, but this may not be a concern for those who operate boards for fun or as a tangential matter to their website's main content.