Mini-Modding: Not Always Needed

Mini-modding is something that happens quite frequently around the Internet, and you may actually do it yourself without even noticing. Why is it so bad, though? When should a point be made to stop? Do you even know what true mini-modding is? Today, we'll be discussing something that happens frequently on the forums - while it isn't always actually a bad thing, some people don't know when to stop.

Mini-modding, in short, is pretending to be a Moderator. This isn't necessarily posing as a staff member, but simply acting as if you had authority over another member. Mini-modding can be anything from, "This belongs in _____ section." to "OOC: Your roleplay posts aren't meeting the minimum word count for this section." Basically, you're acting as if you have the authority to tell other forum members what they're doing wrong.

Is mini-modding actually a terrible thing, though? Often, regular members end up relieving the Moderators of more work, which can be beneficial if the mini-mod actually has moderating experience. I mini-mod, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Keeping in mind that I have over two years of moderating experience, I can control my temper and I know how to deal with things appropriately. Does this mean that I should attempt to break a huge fight up? No, it doesn't. Should I alert another user when their posts are starting to become spam posts and simply give them a link to the ToS? Yes.

For example, a bad time to mini-mod is making an attempt to break up a fight. Seriously, you'll just cause even more trouble unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing, which you probably don't. Unless you know anything about mediation, simply PM a Moderator about it. When somebody else gets involved in a fight, one person usually takes it offensively and the person who stepped in becomes angered at their reaction. For example:

Person 1: I hate you.
Person 2: I hate you more!
Person 1: I don't really care!
Person 3: Wow, guys, stop fighting.
Person 2: Stay out of it!
Person 3: I was just trying to help.
Person 1: This isn't your fight! Geez.
Person 4: Hey, leave Person 3 alone. They were only trying to help.
Person 2: Oh, now you're going to get involved? Just stay out of it.

And so on...

An appropriate time to mini-mod would be when somebody is spamming in the Chatbox. One or two people should say, "Please stop spamming." or something kind. For future reference, saying anything such as, "GTFO n00b, don't spam." will simply cause an argument. Anyways, if they say, "Oh, sorry," then you're good. If they attempt to fight back, that is when you call a Moderator. Unless you can stay level-headed and calm, just don't bother. Honestly, you may think you can, but in the heat of a fight (or heated debate, even) you're going to say things that you wouldn't say at another time. If they fight back, call a Moderator and have them handle it. If you mini-mod too much, you'll just get yourself in trouble; you'll fight, say mean things, and get muted.

Keep in mind that the Moderators know what they're doing by now. Cheshire and Aeralie were picked a long time ago. I don't actually consider Aeralie active anymore because she has done nothing Moderator-related that can be seen by the public, so let's take CheshireAlley as an example. This guy is great. Coming from a former moderator's point of view (not on Wolf-Haven, but I have 2+ years of experience on me), he really didn't know what he was doing at first, but he's learned. Though I disagree with how he handles one rule - the advertising rule - I think he does his job well. He's active, friendly, and collected. He's been on the team for a while, and he has some experience now with handling things. So, I suppose he's really the only Moderator who wouldn't know exactly what to do in ____ situation, but he does more than 99% of the time. Kovaro and Corina were both Moderators before I joined, so I have nothing to say in regards to them. Kovaro is my favourite, to be honest. I've never seen him handle anything inappropriately, and he's definitely my role-model on here.

Anyways, I'm totally off-topic. Now, we have three Moderators who are experienced and know what they're doing. Recently, I think I've seen some people actually telling them what to do, and I'm talking regular members. I'm not going to name names, but I saw something like this take place:

Red: How do I kill animals?
Blue: Go the the Mep, enter the Security Code, then click their names and navigate around the Map.
Red: Thank-you!
Blue: No problem.
Green: This can be locked now, staff. :)

...Seriously? The staff must be blind if they can't see that a question has been answered. That's not even mini-modding... that's just plain old spam and an attempt to make the Moderators notice you and possibly hire you (which never works, just so you know). If somebody did that on my website, it would make me want to hire them even less. Actually, I may hire them just to get them to be quiet. After all, they wouldn't have to tell the staff to lock the thread.

There are some extreme cases of mini-modding, and some minor cases as well. Mini-modding isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you need to know when mini-modding is appropriate. If you're doing it to become noticed by the staff, the community sees it as well and you look like an absurd bastard. If you do it when it's needed, you'll acquire enemies.

*NOTE: This entry was not written to inspire you to go out and patrol the forums like a Moderator and mini-mod wherever you can. The purpose of this blog entry was to express my feelings on mini-modding and when I think it's appropriate and when it isn't. Keep in mind that we have an excellent staff team that don't really need your help.