Mike in DC

Most of it was pure junk, but MikeL's post on why he is not moderating any more was one of the most eloquent posts I've seen on RCU (or any other forum)! It was worth the price of admission to the thread alone!

Here's what I think is happening: RCU has gotten too big, although the founders probably don't believe that's possible. But it may be. In any community, the members themselves exert pressure on each other to maintain a certain civility. As the community grows, that becomes harder and harder, so we invented moderators, who now and then poke their head's in to keep things under control. But what happens when the community is so large the moderators become overwhelmed? The answer, unfortunately, is more and more threads like the subject.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

You really didn't expect that one to last. Some of it was funny though.

Sorry I missed Mikes post. I had to fly the boss to eastern MT. Gorgous day.

What did he say?

Maybe he will print it here and I will get to it before it dissapears this time, hopefully.

mvigod

Losing MikeL as a mod was a big hit. If anybody is willing to try to fill his shoes and thinks they have the "right stuff" email or PM me. It ain't easy standing in the line of fire and having the right judgement. He did it well.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Of course there is only one name on everyones lips...........


BasinBum

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

It's like Marc just said, Mike was one of the best moderators and now he's gone, why? Well he had to put up with a lot B.S. from members who felt they could post anything they wanted to in the clubhouse, didn't matter if it was against the rules or not. When Mike jumped in and corrected the situation he was called names like jack booted Nazi!!!! He put up with a lot of guff and nonsense and his presence as a moderator will be missed a lot and I can't thank him enough for the job that he did!!!!!

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks guys. My posts in the other thread were nothing special, just me complaining about how some people choose to behave.

I should probably say that putting up with--let's call them needy--people wasn't the main reason I resigned. They're a fairly small part of the job. Most of it is just that my priorities are changing a bit. I don't have the time or the motivation to do the job well right now, so it's time to step away.

For what it's worth, 95% of the people you interact with when doing moderation are very, very cool to deal with. It's not as thankless as it's cracked up to be.

hiramboesky

The "moron" thread was one of the most unfortunate things I've seen yet on the internet.

The motive of the author was apparent, but I think it backfired on him.

The subject of the thread bounced back to around 70% in favor (not a moron, of course), and I'm sure that he would have recovered to a number much higher if it had gone on longer.

The subject of the thread took the poll as good natured as he could, showing constaint that I'm not sure I could endure given the circumstances.

It is very unfortunate that it went on as long as it did.

It's a shame and I hope this will not prevent him from posting to this forum.

scottrc

When I first saw the thread, I thought they had to be kidding by degrading a persons intregrity. That was why I popped in with the popcorn jokes, because that thread could not have been meant to be serious.

Sorry to see Mike leave, he was great to work with.

Scott

taxman232ex

Sniff Sniff.......

I feel all teary eyed now


Taxman

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

I wouldn't.

The kid was baiting people by asking questions, putting up polls, and then ripping on people who didn't agree with what he wanted to get across. Unfortunate. People were offering serious advice and getting ripped. It happens a lot on here unfortunately.

Mike in DC

Hmmm... That would leave 5% of the less cool types. Lessee, 5% of 60,000 is only 3,000 jerks to deal with every day!

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry to see you go Mike, if i had to name a mod your name would come first, loved the way you delt with things, even so i gave you your own thread before just so we all knew it.
Marc, now is the time to transfer Mikes personality into the new RCU server and get Auto Mike online now we lost the real ( best ) thing.

I don't think Basinbum needs mod powers to keep us all inline

branded

My Feedback: (9)

I hope you're not referring to me FLYBOY. First off, I'm no kid but I'll take that as a compliment.
Second off, you guys are the ones that were ripping into me for debating a topic, that you clearly were on the short end of.

I was refferred to by you as "a whiner". Others labeled me "lazy", "irresponsible", moron, arrogant and a number of other comments that have since been editied out.

I used polls to proove your notions wrong. That's what it's there for. I was succesful in doing so.

Polls are a forum tool. You and buddies, just a handful of you, turned three threads into a slugfest because you coudn't deal with the results. They run contrary to what you're telling the rest of us is normal.

Now as for my experience, I've been flying since the escapement days. My first plane was a Mighty Mambo with a Babcock radio and a Bonner escapement. The only immature contributors I can see in these threads are you, and a couple of others that wanted to engage in a war of attrition, flaming every other thread through the use of innuendo.

Get over it, please!

mvigod

Time to close this baby up...