PsiPog.net

One thing that bothers me is that every once in a while I will come across someone who visited PsiPog.net a few years ago, and got banned for some reason or another, and to this day still hates PsiPog.

I feel kind of bad about that. I don't regret the way PsiPog.net used to run, but I now realize that we ran things foolishly in the past. The mistakes I made have taught me important lessons on how PsiPog.net should be run... so I don't regret the past "mistakes" - instead, I see them as lessons. And they taught me a lot about people, power, community, group dynamics, politics, team work, and all sorts of strange topics.

What bothers me the most is that some people think that PsiPog.net will continue to run in the same fasion, forever. That's simply not true. Over the past year or two, I have been moving away from the unchecked-power orientated portion of PsiPog. For example, in the past, a moderator could ban anyone they wanted, and I really wouldn't question it. A lot of times I wouldn't even know about it. Other times, I would ignore the blatent injustice, and reason: "screw it, it's my site, and I'll run it however I want".

I've moved away from that mentallity a lot. I mean, I'm 22, and was running PsiPog since I was 16... so it's not like I had everything figured out at 16 . I'm learning.

One thing that I learned is that moderators should be acountable for their actions. One way I've implemented this is keeping track of who is responsible for each chat ban. The current chat system tracks what mod set the ban, when they set it, and gives them a place to leave comments on why they set that ban (that only other mods can read) for future reference. I would like to think that this system is not only easier for the mods to use, but it also makes them put their reasoning into words so that other mods and myself can check on them.

The mods on the forums are instructed to lock threads that disobey the rules, and only I have the power to ban a user. When they lock a thread, they must have a final post saying why they are locking it. This makes them accountable to everyone in the community to make sure they are doing their job correctly.

The important thing to realize is that moding the chat or the forums is not easy. If you've never handled hundreds or thousands of users, then you really can't comprehend how challenging it is. It requires a team effort, and we all have to be accountable to each other to keep everyone in line. The staff at PsiPog are awesome - and I think we've come a LONG way from how we ran things in the past.

The mistakes in the past affect me negatively in two ways. One, there exists a small group of people who were treated injustly in the past, and will probably never give PsiPog.net a second chance. That sucks, but oh well. Two: some people who apply for moderating only do so because they think that PsiPog.net still gives moderators absolute power, and they want that power. Their motivations for applying are completely backwards.

PsiPog.net has changed, and will continue to change. The moderating system does not grant any moderator absolute power; all chat bans have to be explained to me, and all forum topic locks are explained on the last post. I've learned the hard way why checks and balances are important. I wish old members would give PsiPog.net a second chance, but oh well... first impressions tend to stick.

~Sean