Confidentiality & mods. [input from members appreciated]
I was just wondering...
If you (as a member of RYL) sent a PM to a moderator, do you expect the issue to be kept confidential or do you expect it to be shared?
Or would it depend on what the content of the PM is? (So... questions about the forum or post-reports is different from raising concerns about a moderator's ability to perform their given function, or something.)
If it WAS being discussed with other mods, should they tell you or not? I mean, it's only fair to know that you/what you've said is being discussed without you even knowing about it, right?
I usually discuss things with other mods, but if I am going to discuss them with other mods, I tell the person that I am taking their concerns to the rest of the mod team.
I dont think (because Im a fairly new mod) that its fair for me to deal with an issue on my own unless I know that I can sort it out completely to the best of my ability, so if Im not 100% sure what to do then Ill make a thread about it. Also its good to have other peoples opinions on things as your own judgement can be clouded sometimes.
If they didnt want their concerns shared with the whole of the mod team, I would ask if I could share their concerns with Typsee and if not then I guess I would deal with it myself,but I like having more than one opinion on things :) xx
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
I'd expect it to be shared but only with other mods. Unless it was something fairly simple to answer. Or if it was about another mod obviously i wouldn't want the mod i PM'd to tell them untill we'd discussed the issues and what i/they think should be done about it.
I do think it should be said though, or at the end of every PM a note just saying it may be discussed on the mod forums.
Ali xox
With demons dancing off mirror images reflecting all that you wanted.
So far from perfect, onward we will strive.
Take it for what it's worth, this truth that you've realized.
You're not who you thought you were, it's time to see the other side of what you have become.
i would assume that the Mod would deal with it on their own but would not be surprised or have any objection to the Mod sharing it with other Mods because i consider it to be a "team" - therefore Mods need to support each other and get advice from one another and that can be helpful to the member who PM'd.
however, unless i'd broken a rule, i would hope that the Mod wouldn't go to the other Mods "hey, whirlpools said this. whirlpools said it". lol.
p.s. there is a Mod forum? is this just for Mods? (probably a stupid question!) i'd just be worried if a thread got posted about a post i made and everyone could see it.
Yes, there is a mod forum (or several) just for mods and no-one else. Each team on here has there own board and only the people in that team can see it
Like others have said something simple I'd expect the mod to do it by themselves. If it needed to be discussed with other mods I wouldn't mind but would hope the mod I originally PMed would tell me. Mainly out of respect more than anything else.
A big problem then I'd expect it to be shared but again would like to be told.
The only time I'd expect it not to be posted in the Mod forums was if I had a problem with another mod. Then I think more confidentiality would be needed.
Ok,if someone PMd me and had a problem with another mod, I would PM them and ask if I could talk to another mod about it too. I think its usually safe to assume that if its something involving other members, or something big itll be taken to all the mods, unless you specifically say that you dont want that to happen. But if a thread is made about an issue you are having,its never going to be put on the public boards or anything,so please dont get paranoid that we sit and gossip about everyone.x
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
It depends on the situation, as to how I approach it.
More often that not it's best to discuss it with other mods, as to make a more rounded and informed judgement and decision. However, if I'm going to do this, I'll tell the user and give them any time to object and whatnot - usually, though, it's fairly easy to distinguish between things that may want to be kept confidential and things that don't. For example, a issue between members would be something I'd ask about sharing, whereas I'd still ask if someone asked about approving a link, but I would expect the answer to be "yes, of course you can ask other mods" more than the other situation.
At the end of the day, most things that can be shared with myself can be shared with other mods. All information stays within the team, and if things were ever leaked then the "leaker" would probably come under question. But still, you have to take into account the wishes of the person who's PMed you, which is why I always make it clear/ask when I plan on sharing the PM with other mods. I understand if the answer's "no", but it's rarely the case and I think most people understand and like the idea of other mods have input, because then the decision's - like I said - more rounded.
I never really thought about it chels! Buuuuut I guess on sleepy pondering, it would depend. If I was asking something small, like should i post report <insert post here> then no. But if it was something important (complaint about another member <ongoing>, a different mod or something about one of the forums) then I would expect them to talk to other mods. I'm not really fussed though! :P
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
So if you PM'd a mod with concerns about a moderator & other issues that were personal, the general consensus is that you'd at least like to be notified/asked before all the info was passed around?
I think with concerns about a member or mod then there might be cases when the person PMing wouldn't want certain mod to know for whatever reason e.g a member with concerns about member x and mod P being friendly with member x, might make the person with the concerns feel awkward. So you'd not want it to be shared with that mod.
(Really hope that makes some sense to someone as I'm starting to confuzzle myself!!)
i guess if you pm a moderator about something personal, its more likely to be bacause its THAT moderator that you want to talk to.
If its something simple, you just tend to pm whichever moderator is online.
So, if i had pm'd a moderator about a personal thing, i would at least expect to be told/asked, cos otherwise, i wouldnt have specifically have asked that person.
I would automatically assume that any query or complaint would be discussed amongst the team because I wouldn't expect one person to deal with an issue completely alone (unless it was an obvious, simple question)
If I specifically asked for the issue not to be discussed then I would hope that the mod would respect my wishes. If they couldn't deal with it themselves then at least inform me of their difficulties with the issue and ask permission/recommned me to contact someone else.
A complaint or issue with a particular mod, I feel, should be kept as private as possible. The mod contacted should inform or ask the member if they are thinking of discussing it with another mod and try and get the consent of that member. It certainly shouldn't be discussed with the actual mod in question - although that depends on whether the member is willing to resolve their issues between themselves and the mod in question.
I have never made a complaint or rasied an issue with a mod so I don't know how the process works...these are things I just assume would happen (or should happen)
Discussing it with another member (not on the mod teamy thing) isn't acceptable...although I can't imagine this happens often, if at all.
I expect anything I type on the web can potentially become public - or at least more widely read than I intended - so when I send something "out there" I am prepared to live or die by it.
Writing mods is an awkward case. Some mods a person will know more personally than others and I think a person could expect more confidentiality if its requested from a mod who is a friend (but - I never assume a PM is confidential since people have access to it - so I still dont expect full confidentiality).
I think if a person PM's a mod about a site issue there should be an expectation that info might be shared since a mod by nature and obligation represents the site more than membership.
Of course if a member asks for some sort of promise of confidentiality before any disclosure and the mod agrees then I think that should be adhered to (unless its about suicide or something) - but I still don't expect PM's are private so - there you are
RYL mods operate as a team, and therefore unless a member has clearly expressed the desire to keep their communication strictly confidential, then I think its important to say that members should have the EXPECTATION that their PMs about serious issues that effect RYL, are definitely going to be shared with other mods.
And while mods will make every effort possible to comply with an individual member's wish for confidentiality, if the PM or issue discussed is of such significance / importance that it needs the input of, or to be shared by, the whole moderating team, then an individual member's wish for confidentiality could be overruled at the sake of what's best for RYL members ....
Although as I said, we do everything we possibly can to comply with the requests of individual members, because alot of the information we receive in order to do our jobs properly, comes from you guys ... so if mods were in the habit of not respecting your wishes in this regard, then pretty soon no one would be contacting the mods at all!
Perhaps this could be made more clear then? As you can see from this thread a lot of members thought that it was confidential until asked otherwise, rather than shared unless asked otherwise. I mean, it's only common sense, really.
