AoPS Moderators

A moderator on the Art of Problem Solving website is a non-administrator user who has powers for a particular forum which non-moderators don't. That is: they can lock topics in a forum, move them, delete them, comment about certain posts and so on. The short form for moderator is mod.

Moderators vs. Administrators

Administrators are more powerful in Art of Problem Solving than moderators. Moderators are answerable to moderators, and not vice versa.

Moderator Wars

If a person has been picked as moderator, he/she will not be removed. You are discouraged to start a "Demod this person" campaign. An example of such a campaign was the club. Binomial-theorem (a multi account of Dsquared) was an approved multi and was made moderator of the Alcumus forums. Many did not agree with this, and they disregarded the fact that the administrators are backing Dsquared.

Finally, Mr. Paul H. Ryu of the AoPS Staff posted on Dsquared's blog:

Hello, I'm Paul H. Ryu, a developer and instructor at AoPS.

I recently agreed to promote a member of the AoPS community who volunteered to help moderate the Alcumus forums, mainly the problem forums. This is a necessary responsibility that has gone ignored for a long time. Frankly, nobody wants to do it because it's boring, as it involves going through a bunch of similar posts and adding hide tags here and there. When I agreed to the user's request, I was glad to accept the help, and I did not think much of it.

However, it appears that the user has less than a pristine record of conduct in the AoPS community, and that many users have spoken out against this promotion. I wanted to stay out of this as much as possible, but I think it would be best if I raised a few points.

First of all, moderators do not have unlimited powers. They answer to admins, and their powers, whatever they are, can be removed at any point for any reason. Moderators are held to a high standard of conduct, much higher than that of an average user, and if they misbehave, admins will deal with them appropriately. However, were we to remove moderation privileges, it would be for something they did as a moderator, not for something they did long before that some people do not like.

Second, we should remember that Alcumus forums are a very isolated and minor part of the community. Many users will never even see these forums, and many users who use these forums will never venture much outside of them. They are supposed to be on-topic, and keeping it so is a responsibility of a moderator. Think of it this way. I have participated in the Alcumus forums very actively for the past year and a half, and how many of you really see me as an active part of the larger community? (Maybe I should change that.)

To be honest, I hardly see moderating the Alcumus forums as a coveted privilege. It is a task that nobody wants to do, and nobody will thank you for it. It is not like an off-topic forum where you have the chance to be a hero once in a while. It is just a bunch of busy work.

Third, and maybe most importantly, we should remember that we are dealing with a lot of young people on this site. When we were younger, every one of us did many things that we were not proud of, and it is a bit absurd to be held forever accountable for those things we did when we feel that we have changed. Of course, there should be consequences for breaking forum rules, being a spammer, etc., and the moderator in question certainly was not spared from them. But as I see it, if you get a ban or a warning, that is your punishment, and then you get another chance. Sure, you're held on a short leash initially. However, in time, if you prove yourself a worthy user, having other people bringing up your past feels like little more than petty personal attacks. I'm not sure what the half-life on being a bad citizen is, but I think we would all agree that young people can change a lot in a very short amount of time.

So let's hold our emotions and think with our heads for a bit. If the moderator in question turns out to be a good moderator, then we all benefit. If there is concrete evidence that the moderator is not doing the job, the situation will be dealt with then. For me, the past does not figure into this calculation. The mod's actions from the day of promotion will speak for themselves. One thing is for certain, the mod has done a good job of staying out of the controversy, and I think that is a good sign of maturity.

So here's my request for everyone. Please refrain from bringing up the past. There is nothing to be gained from doing so at this point. Let's think of the present and the future.

Thanks!

-Paul

So, please: No mod wars.