Scratch

antimonyarsenide wrote:

Like the title says, I'm wondering, how much time are mods generally supposed to spend modding?

Because, you see, the main reason I'm currently not running for mod (besides my lack of experience and occasional sheer stupidity) is that I'm afraid I won't have enough time to do the job, with all my schoolwork and whatnot.

But, say, if I only had one or two hours of spare time per weekday, would I still be able to fulfill a mod's basic duties?

If so, I might just decide to run 

Mods can spend as much time as they'd like modding. 

Generally if they're on and spot some trouble or a report then they have to moderate.

antimonyarsenide wrote:

Ace-Of-Diamonds wrote:

Generally if they're on and spot some trouble or a report then they have to moderate.

So it doesn't matter if I don't have time to get on, and I just have to handle stuff when I can? 

Yep. Us moderators are volunteers, we all go when we can moderate. As gettysburg11 said before, there are obviously some cases where a moderator has to leave because of personal reasons or other commitments. 

antimonyarsenide wrote:

... you see, the main reason I'm currently not running for mod (besides my lack of experience and occasional sheer stupidity) is that I'm afraid I won't have enough time to do the job, with all my schoolwork and whatnot.

If you honestly feel that you may not have enough time to moderate, then you do not have to run for moderator; after all stretching yourself too thin would wear you out and that is a bad thing. Besides, anybody can help out the Scratch community, even if they're not a moderator. 

"Minimodding"?

Sunrise-Moon wrote:

Ace-Of-Diamonds wrote:

"Minimodding"?

http://www.forumwarz.com/help/me/77-what-is-.

Oh yeah, I'm all about that. Totally.

helltank wrote:

Arcas wrote:

Dont mix that up with minimodding though.
Modding sounds like hard work.

If you can find either:
a)A commandment
or
b)A rule in the Scratch Terms of Use

That says you can't minimod, inform me. It's okay as long as you post something on-topic beside the minimod.

I believe the subject of mini-modding, as well as backseat modding, is a bit of an issue. Mini-modding and backseat-modding can sometimes come of as being disrespectful, not being friendly, and/or spammish (thus potentially breaking the Terms of Use).

I'd write more about this, but I think a mini-modding topic from another forum pretty much sums up why mini-modding is such an issue:

What exactly is mini-modding?
Mini-modding is enforcing the rules without having the authority to do so, in simple worlds, you are doing what moderators should be doing, but you're not a moderator.

Here are some examples:
"Don't Double post"
"Don't spam"
"Don't insult/bash/flame..."
"This thread is against the rules"
"Please, don't do that"
"Don't go off-topic" (When you say it, you are doing this yourself, actually)
"I'll report you" (Just report the member, don't threaten with it or say that you did)

These kind of posts don't add to the topic, and are therefor spam, even when they are part of a bigger post.

But, why is this such a big problem? The more people enforcing the rules the better, right?
WRONG, mini-modders don't always know the rules, or might be too hard on the member. There is also nothing they can really do, except for pointing out what the member did wrong, so just let the mods do their job.

But, what can we do then? I really want to help!
Just click "Report" to report a post, a mod will do something about it as fast as possible. Obviously, you should only report a post if there's something wrong with it, or if rules have been broken.

Can't we really say anything to a rule-breaker?
Of course you can say something like "I'm sorry, but I think you're going off-topic" when someone breaks a small rule and it's not worth reporting, but don't be too rude and don't do this too often. And we would prefer it if you'd just report it, even if it's not too necessary. These kind of sentences should of course be part of a bigger post, just so you don't go off-topic.

I like the part about where they say why mini-modding is such a problem, as well as the correct approach when you feel to need to point of something that otherwise breaks forum etiquette. There are some cases where we can point out something if it helps (ie. to keep the topic back on track or if it helps a new member around the forums), but, for the most part, I think it's best if we report most things to moderators without making a big public fuss about it. 

Whoever came up with the phrase minimod is evil

Yeah, but antimony's question was already answered, and then we drifted into that discussion instead of a mod closing this off.

Ah, Scratch that, I've just decided to run (though I'm still not sure). Details will be in my speech.