[MOD] Community input please!

[acidae.livejournal.com]

Hey guys!

This is partly a reminder that I'll be putting up a recruitment post for people interested in taking over arashi_on in a couple of weeks (on June 23rd), but more importantly, I wanted to ask all of you for some input first. :)

It would be much appreciated if you can give me your opinions on what you think a good mod should be like, and what you would consider bad modding. So for example, here are some ways of looking at it:

- What qualities are you looking for in a mod? (eg. personality, skills, etc.)
- What expectations do you have in a good mod?
- What qualities would you not want a mod to have?
- What type of behaviour would you not like to see in a mod?

While I'm ultimately going to have the final say in choosing the new replacements, all of your opinions will be taken into consideration and it will definitely influence how I make my decision. So by all means, please do leave a comment here with your input! If you're uncomfortable with leaving a public comment, or you feel that your opinions might stir up some controversy, you're more than welcome to send me a PM instead. I probably won't reply to most comments unless there are questions that need answering, but rest assured I'll be reading each one. ♥

Thank you in advance, and see you all again in a couple of weeks!

Comments

[eskarina77.livejournal.com]

What I think is essential for a good mod is: to have time to take care of the community and answer any kind of questions quickly, being able to say things when sthg is wrong (not too shy) and being fair to anyone regardless they're friends or not.

Of course, nobody is perfect, but I think, if you find a mod who is quite like you are, everything should be fine: you've been taking care of this community successfully for years, so I have no doubt your choice will be good ^^

[yuminami.livejournal.com]

Once again, I'm sorry to see you go, but I understand that life moves on...
I appreciate you asking for input on a new mod though. It's hard to define what a "good" mod means to me in a few bullet points, but here goes :)

Good Qualities
- Professional: Is polite and accessible, yet able to maintain objectivity. Does not use the comm as their personal soap box. Understands that many people depend on this comm and doesn't take the position lightly.
- Decisive: Does not waffle. Has a clear sense of the rules and guidelines and follows them consistently. Will take the opinions of the comm members into account, but is ultimately guided by the rules.
- Articulate: Able to voice thoughts in a clear manner when matters invariably need to be addressed in a mod post.
- Transparency: When major decisions are being made, will inform or consult members of the community.
- Availability: Is available to respond to comments and questions in a timely manner.

Bad Qualities
- Micromanaging: Doesn't feel the need to post excessively or address every single minor issue publicly.

There's a lot more that should be on a list like this, but I'm sure everyone else will come up with other ideas. :)

[ant-power.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything in this comment, so I won't bother repeating it in a less articulate way. XP

Good luck for the future!

[dyan1219.livejournal.com]

+1

[nightofhope.livejournal.com]

+2

[kotobalai.livejournal.com]

I'm very sad to see you go, but I completely understand your position and wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors!
Also, I apologize for the length of this comment. I tend to get wordy.

First of all, you need to find someone with good critical thinking skills and who has a good grasp of what's going on in the fandom. I would advise you to ask them what's their stance on some issues (like the advent of adf.ly, for example) which concern all of us.

Check for impartiality, and make sure this person wouldn't take sides on the comm. We need someone who replies in a calm, considerate manner to everyone, and who thinks things through before acting. Being accessible and friendly, but also consistent and stern when following and creating rules and guidelines is a must.

Someone who doesn't use the comm as a forum to voice their personal opinions and issues and who doesn't create ruckus easily would be perfect.

This person needs to have time to dedicate to the comm. We need someone who can approve things with a moderate speed, and who can answer questions with the same type of speed. I'm not asking for someone who dedicates their life to this, but who can keep things going and not let the comm stagnate (as in, things 20 days old waiting for approval on their inbox).

Last but not the least, this person needs to understand that her mod status does not give her any rights to be rude or act entitled. It's a position she applied to, not something people forced down her throat.

[rainbowsongi.livejournal.com]

So, I'm sure acidae can do the right choise for the new mod
[hoping u all the best~]
--trying not to repeat all the above, so...--

I think acidae has been very good mod till now,
so mod who has pretty same manners and way of thinking...if u can say that way. someone who takes everyone into account,
there's A LOT of Arashians from many different countries,
there's older fans and new fans, being equitable, equality.
treats everybody the same way, meaning arashi_on is for everyone,
not only friends/people you really know. writes reasonably, sensibly.
Being fair. Has time to do this, knows the rules.
Skills to [use LJ ofc], speak, meaning write good English.
I'm expecting the same activity as we've got till this day.
Answering ANY kind of questions what comes to Arashi,
not afraid of say any kind of things, someone who is 'available'.
still, not to write too much [and somehow not to write each issue/thing separately]..

I'm sure you gonna get more and more answers and help from others~as well
Keep going.

[sesquerdo.livejournal.com]

Again, I am sad to see you going since you do a great job here on the community... But, since it is the best for you, good luck with everything! ^.^
And, good luck finding a new good mod! ^.^
I think the person has to be like you are! Seriously, like I said, I admire your work here – you take care of everything behind the scenes and appear whenever something big happens and we need your guidance… And you guide us the best way, being calm and firm and going straight to the point.
I think the comments above have already listed the important things… To have time to take care of the community (I wouldn’t have, for example), to be accessible to the members when they need help, to be polite, to be firm against things that harm the fandom, to be able to guide the fandom when important issues show up in a mature way, all that is listed above.
Personally, one thing that bothers me on other communities is when their mods let show their personal preferences for a member, a pair and things like that which we all know create endless discussions… For me, if the community is for Arashi, as five, the mod personal preferences should not appear here, the person can share his/her preferences on his/her own LJ, right? Yes, the mod can have preferences to, but it is important that the person knows he/she is playing an important role as mod, that several people look for the mod as an example… Also, of course, here in the community, we have all kind of people posting and commenting, several times just about one member and that’s not a problem, of course… The problem, for me, is when we, the members of the community, can notice the mood taking sides or showing personal preferences and, because of that, not being fair to the other side… This makes the community not comfortable for all fans and that’s not nice in my humble opinion…
I guess that is the only thing I still see and don’t like in other communities… But, here, I never saw that, so I hope it can keep being like this! ^.^

[maytevb.livejournal.com]

Personally, one thing that bothers me on other communities is when their mods let show their personal preferences for a member, a pair and things like that which we all know create endless discussions… For me, if the community is for Arashi, as five, the mod personal preferences should not appear here, the person can share his/her preferences on his/her own LJ, right? Yes, the mod can have preferences to, but it is important that the person knows he/she is playing an important role as mod, that several people look for the mod as an example… Also, of course, here in the community, we have all kind of people posting and commenting, several times just about one member and that’s not a problem, of course… The problem, for me, is when we, the members of the community, can notice the mood taking sides or showing personal preferences and, because of that, not being fair to the other side… This makes the community not comfortable for all fans and that’s not nice in my humble opinion…


Agreeing so much with this, that's exactly what I wanted to say and you've put it very well, it is something that I've seen in a few Arashi communities and it does really bother me, so I think it's very important to have a mod who can be impartial/fair and not let her personal preferences/opinions get in the way when doing her job as a mod.

[asaphira-sachi.livejournal.com]

Seconding the last part that's quoted already. I also get bothered when mods make their preferences obvious because it can affect the nature of the comments on the post (i.e. excluding those who aren't fans of the "preference").

[asaphira-sachi.livejournal.com]

I think everybody has covered most of the points. My two-cents is that in addition to fairness, professionalism, and the ability to see objectively, I also think it would be best if the person is up to date on news and -like you- is fairly knowledgeable in the Japanese language and culture.

You were the first person who informed the whole fandom on the case with the man who illegal distributed Arashi videos (http://arashi-on.livejournal.com/3866427.html). You presented it in a way that was super professional and digestible. You even put footnotes on the matter to help people understand. Also, you even tackled the Twitter w/ producers incident, knowing very well what stakes there are for the fandom.

The latter cases left impressions on me in terms of mod activity - being ahead of everyone and giving proper warnings that are related to the nature of fandom. Ideally if the person can also tackle this job, it would greatly benefit the community.

[ofs1992.livejournal.com]

i don't like expletives/profanities. i know different cultures and all that but it bothers me. arashi deserves fans of all ages and i really don't want kids to learn of arashi, like them and associate them with bad manners

[anomic-tm.livejournal.com]

Well first of all a good mod is a fan. S/he should know the band and I guess should be familiar with the fans too. S/he should be diligent and should have time for managing the community. A good mod shouldn't get carried away when the fans fight amongst each other, or when rumors spread.

[cleotine]

There's so much already been said that I agree of :)

I think a mod should be a dedicated fan because I guess there's a lot more to managing such a huge (and great) comm than we ever get to know. Also I think a newbie might not be able to fulfill this post perfectly, no matter how much she loves Arashi. I think it'd be good to know not only our boys but to be quite knowlegable about the fandom as well to stop unwanted behaviour/encourage/simply know what's going on :)

All in all, a mod just has to be a mature person who won't engage herself in cat-fights. She has to have a good feel of the english language so she can grasp what is written and can stop bitchy/snide remarks and the likes.

Maybe we can just clone acidae-san?

[aznswimgal.livejournal.com]

- What qualities are you looking for in a mod?
Must be a fan! Someone understanding, punctual with responses, leader who can offer positive criticism or advice, good management skills, the obvious nice and kind.. perhaps humorous? personality, organization/OCD skills so tags and search is easy, great communication skills that can understand fans of all ages

- What expectations do you have in a good mod?
Able to manage a fanbase forum as huge as Arashi, have time to spend on internet, ability to moderate, easy to communicate with, ability to think up of cool projects or ideas to keep the forum interesting and up-to-date so people keep coming back, strict with rules but not overbearing, able to abide by rules and not bend for just a few... must be same across the board

- What qualities would you not want a mod to have?
Laziness.. someone who says they have time but end up never taking the time to do things necessary for being a mod, disorganized.. this forum is too large to be disorganized with tags and search keywords, lack of energy or enthusiasm.. Arashi is neither of those and neither should you, poor judgement/two-faced.. one moment you say one thing, another moment you say another thing--get it straight, resistant of new ideas.. not every person has every cool idea, but others do so be open to suggestions

- What type of behaviour would you not like to see in a mod?
Spamming about personal lives.. please use your personal account, micro-managing every detail.. we are fans of a wide range of ages with real lives so mistakes are bound to happen (however after a few warnings, action is acceptable), rude attitude with a sarcastic tone that can be taken the wrong way in typed words, fake.. nobody wants to know about your Porshe that you really don't have or the time you touched and befriended jun-kun when really you didn't (dreams don't count)