DU needs new moderators - Democratic Underground

EarlG ADMIN

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Mon Mar-08-04 12:30 PM
Original message

DU needs new moderators

We are approaching the end of the longest (and undoubtedly the toughest) mod term ever at DU. The current term ends this week, and we're looking for volunteers to help us out for the next two months.

Now that primary season is, for the most part, behind us, we think this would be a good opportunity to bring on as many new moderators as possible. We hope to retain a number of veteran mods to provide experience and help train the new folks, but this term we are looking for plenty of new faces. So if you've never served before, please sign up.

Please check your schedule for the next two months. While we hope that this term will be a little easier than the last one, DU is bigger and busier than ever and we're looking for dedicated people who have a little extra time on their hands. If you expect to be unavailable for an extended period of time during the next two months, please do not sign up this term.

Here are some things to bear in mind before you apply:

- Your political ideology is not important... We need centrists and leftists and everyone in between to serve as moderators.
- We prefer people who have been members for a few months, and have made at least a couple hundred posts. You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must be able to log on to DU regularly, and should not take any long vacations between now and mid-May.
- We prefer people with a generally positive outlook on life, who can be fair and evenhanded, and who don't get easily frustrated. If you sign up to moderate, we expect you to stay as a moderator for the full two-month term. You must understand that it is perfectly normal for the admins to occasionally overturn your decisions, or to make specific requests regarding the manner in which you participate on DU while you are a moderator.
- We prefer that moderators avoid highly controversial topics, or at least moderate their behavior significantly when participating in such discussions. If you have been an outspoken partisan for any particular Democratic presidential candidate, of if you have a history of rhetorically hot postings on controversial issues, we may not choose you to serve.
- If you know that you aren't very good at controlling your behavior or your emotions, or if you know that you can't be fair to a particular group of people, please do not sign up to be a moderator. There is no obligation to serve as a mod, and we won't hold it against you if you choose not to.

Here's how to volunteer:

Send an email to admin@democraticunderground.com with the word "moderator" in the subject line. Include the following information:

- Your real name
- Your forum username
- Your address
- Your telephone number
- How much time you spend on Democratic Underground
- Which forums you'd like to moderate (if you have a preference)
- A brief statement which generally outlines your political views
- Are you taking any extended vacations during the the next two months?
- Have you read, and do you agree to follow, the Message Board Rules and the Moderator Guidelines?

If you have applied to be a moderator before, but were not chosen, we strongly encourage you to apply again. If you apply but are not selected this time, please don't be offended. We typically have a fairly large number of applicants, and we obviously can't pick everyone who applies.

We hope to select a new group of moderators on Wednesday afternoon, March 10. There will be a free conference call for the new moderators on Thursday night, March 11.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them in this thread.

EarlG
DU Admin