10-16-2015, 03:08 PM
Moderator FAQ’s
From the Bring4th Guidelines, to the Moderator Handdocument, to the Role of the Moderator, to the Bring4th Principles, one may gain a very clear sense of how the Bring4th website is run and moderated.
As an additional measure of clarity, some FAQ’s of moderating:
This person got moderated but this other person who acted similarly did not. Why?
There are good reasons for occasional inconsistencies. For starters, moderators often use a random number generator to determine whether or not a person gets moderated. Other factors that determine whether moderation action is taken include, but are not limited to: the phase of the moon, the positions of the constellations, the local weather, the performance of the NASDAQ, and on what side of the bed the moderator awoke in the morning.
To be sincere: we do strive for consistency. Absolutely. We track our decisions, we are mindful of precedents, we question each other, and we actively desire to moderate as fairly and equally as possible. We demand the best from ourselves in our own spiritual evolution, and we demand even better when representing this incredibly unique and precious thing that is L/L Research.
Each situation is unique, though. We often cannot apply cookie-cutter approaches that are the exact same for Person A as they are for Person B. The actual factors that come into play when choosing whether or not to take action, and subsequently what action to take, include: the member’s history, their past interaction with the moderators and whether or not they’ve been previously warned for similar, the severity of the guideline infringement, the nature of the action, etc. (See “Balances” below.) In our eight years of experience thus far, very seldom are any two cases exactly alike.
Do you moderate with personal bias?
We’d love to say “no,” we don’t. However, we recognize that, as humans, we cannot escape bias, no matter how much we meditate. It comes with the package of being human.
However, we are conscious of our own biases, and attempt always to moderate without significant bias. Let’s clarify that. We are, of course, biased toward the principles and guidelines of the community. We attempt, then, to remove all bias which may be inconsistent with the Bring4th Guidelines and the Bring4th Principles.
That established, there have been many times when we’ve preserved and protected the right of members to share opinions that we don’t particular like or agree with. Conversely, there have been many times when we’ve regretfully had to take moderator action in response to: a member whose opinions we do agree with and enjoy, or a member toward whom we simply feel a personal affinity.
One factor which helps to mitigate against personal bias is our policy of operating as a team. In hashing out our individual viewpoints together, blind spots can be checked, limited viewpoints can be expanded, and whatever personal biases may exist can be harmonized.
Is the moderator role important in the community?
Yes and no. As we’ve said many times in the past, it is primarily the daily contributions of each who lends their energy to this dynamic community that form the bulk of the Bring4th experience.
There are certain instances, however, that can only, or at least most effectively, be met by the moderator function.
For the most part the moderator tweaks and fine tunes around the edges. Their principal contribution to the community happens the same way that each member contributes: through the love and the light they freely share with the community.
Is your work a service, and do you enjoy it?
In the largest sense, Ra says that we cannot not serve the Creator. In the more specific sense, moderating is indeed a service. And we perceive it as such.
Is it enjoyable? It is, shall we say, very catalytic. While some moderator actions have received widespread community support, others have received the opposite. Invariably someone isn’t pleased with a decision the moderators have made. And, at times, moderators can be the recipients of unwarranted criticism. This is not helped by the fact that most members remain unaware of the great quantity of time, energy, and consideration that moderators have put into a given situation.
To be clear, criticism (preferably of the constructive variety) is perfectly valid and even healthy. Moderators don’t ask for unqualified support. However, some members seem to react to moderators simply on the basis that the moderator has become a face of authority, however small that may be. Some members arrive in the community with deep biases against any one in a position of authority.
On the flip side, when we are able to help seekers, the work is highly fulfilling. When we are able to serve the needs of the collective, the work is very meaningful. And when we collaborate with one another, the work is always rewarding. One of life’s great joys is to be a member of a common-purpose team and to work toward a shared goal.
Simply put: we love the spiritual seekers who lend their energies to the forums. We’re fascinated by the different personalities, the depth of thought, the variety of queries, and the mutual support each seeker shows one another. It is a a great honor to serve a community such as this one.
You’ve mentioned “balances” the moderator must achieve. What do you mean?
Each third-density being must, of course, strike a balance every time they make a decision. Mods are no different. Ours are a weird complex of balances. We not only have to balance the individual against the whole, and our own thinking against the guidelines, but we must also balance against an amazing philosophy that—so far as words can carry the responsibility—reaches to the Creator.
Some but not all of the balances that play into each and every one of our decisions include:
- Assessing the member’s action in light of the guidelines, and understanding the full scope of the situation
- Assessing the member’s participation history
- Determining whether or not to take action. e.g.:
—If we take action, we could adversely affect the balance, upset members, interfere with the operation of free will, and hinder processes that, left to themselves, may find their own resolution.
—If we do not take action, guideline-violating behaviors may be perpetuated (including by other members), the forum may become detuned, precedents for negative behavior may be set, new and existing members may be driven away, etc.
- Balancing the individual’s rights, responsibilities, and needs against the collective’s rights, responsibilities and needs
- Balancing the needs and the work of the L/L Research organization and the community’s place within it
- Anticipating how the community will respond to any given action
- Fostering at atmosphere of safety and trust, warmth and love
- Determining how to communicate to a particular member based upon their own needs and situation
- Balancing our own internal dynamics in reaching consensus and determining who will take on the majority of the work in drafting our consensus opinion/decision
- Balancing our efforts against the very real limitations of our own time and energy
- And most importantly, honoring the philosophy of the Law of One in all that we do, including balancing our desire to serve with our understanding of the positive polarity and the preservation/promotion of the free will of all other selves
Can you describe your perspective with regard to the basic balance between where and how boundaries are drawn?
The online community is still an ongoing experiment for L/L Research. We hope that Bring4th is an oasis from the dryness of the world, and a place of rest for the weary traveler, and a place where people feel free and inspired to share themselves as they are.
However, Bring4th is not a place on the moon. It happens here, on Earth, and is filled with other people who also have histories that include enormous levels of suffering, pain, confusion, loneliness, and misunderstanding; other people who have been traumatized by this world, and have become correspondingly distorted.
We cannot keep Bring4th completely free of the muck and grime of this planet. The elements of physical life invade all buildings on this planet, and the more open those buildings, the more susceptible they are to having mud tracked in, or rain, or temperatures not to one’s liking.
Bring4th is one such place. We cannot, nor do we want to, make it a sterilized room that filters out the dirt of human experience. That is not in keeping with our understanding of the positive polarity’s interpretation and application of free will. Further, we have to acknowledge that the dirt and grime are that out of which some of the greatest learning and growth occur. We would not do well for our own path to seek its avoidance at all costs, and we would do worse for others to attempt to rid the environment of all disharmony.
Within reason, of course. Some lines to have to be drawn, and we want to make every effort within our power to encourage and foster a place of harmony, trust, and safety, but, again, Bring4th happens on planet Earth, and we cannot indefinitely avoid the challenges of this place. But those challenges, it must be said, represent another reason why wanderers are drawn to this planet: the opportunity to accelerate their progress is much, much more intensive here than in the easy realms of harmony, peace, and love.
We hope that where Bring4th doesn’t meet ones hopes, that it can be a platform for service, where the member shifts from being focused on what they are receiving, to asking themselves how they can serve others; how they can serve those who irritate, or offend, or hurt. This is not to suggest that one should martyr themselves for the sake of attempting to serve those that don’t want to serve. Wisdom is a helpful ally. Just that this fundamental shift in attitude can transform the entirety of one’s experience.
Do you look forward to the day when moderators become obsolete because all is automatically harmonized due to the outwardly visible love and light of the one infinite Creator?
Yes. Eagerly. : )