How Active Should an Admin Be?

[queenfoxy]

I agree with you completely Dataninja.  Of course, admin appears under my name in my profile and everyone respects that role.  I need never remind anyone.  I am a friend to every member, but I know how to wear the admin hat and wear it equally as well as I wear the hat of friend.   In my group, I know I need to be there.  I have seen large, active and well established groups just wither and die when abandoned by their admin/owner.   I stand by my opinion that an admin needs to be active.

[Kami]

Oct 6, 2017 20:29:45 GMT -8 queenfoxy said:

I stand by my opinion that an admin needs to be active.

Literally no one disputed that, so I'm not sure why it is you are standing by this opinion. It seems everyone in this thread agrees with that.

My personal point of dispute was this:

The admin should, of course, be signed in as a member. No need to flaunt the admin status. You should be interacting at every level as a friend.

This does not work for every forum. I "flaunt the admin status" because it is necessary for my RP to work. I am, in fact, NOT my members' friend "at every level". I am their admin first and foremost. Yes, it is true that I have developed friendships with most of my members -- some VERY close (my fiancé was once a member on my forum, years before we started dating) -- but there is a huge difference between me acting as a member and acting as an administrator. I am not a friend 'at every level' because this is absolutely not how my forum functions -- it literally cannot function were I to do this. Maybe YOU don't need that, but I -- and anyone else who runs an RP, or even any forum that is in need of stringent moderation -- do.

No one is disagreeing that admins need to be active, least of all me. My point of disagreement is your broad claim of the admin "SHOULD" be "at every level" a friend and shouldn't "flaunt" their admin status; this works for some people, but not for others, and has zero bearing on the admin's activity levels.

[Mandoli]

Oct 6, 2017 20:29:45 GMT -8 queenfoxy said:

I stand by my opinion that an admin needs to be active.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this.

I haven't been following along on what you've been saying, so here's what I think your concept is: Be on every day, and make another account for non-Administrator purposes so you can play "buddy" with everyone else.

While I agree that an Admin needs to be on frequently, is it a big problem to let them have a vacation every once in a while? Everybody's going to want to leave for a few days to just ignore all of the drama. Personally, I like the idea of letting the head (or co-head, or another staff member in general) run the board on their time. Running a forum is not a job. It's done for fun. I've got three other staff members on my forum. Everyone's on and off when they want to. I only call them when there's a problem. Other than that, feel free to come and go. I'm not in charge of a preschool, where you have to be there all the time. If I'm not on for a few days, at least I give people notice.

As for a separate account... This is where things are a little crazy. I'm a firm believer of one account per person on a non-RP site. So I'm posting under my Admin account all the time, and nobody seems to have a problem with it. However, there has been the occasional "habitual problem child" who comes along every once in a while. Always different people. I'm not running a board so that everyone can hold hands around a campfire and sing songs. I'm running a board so that people can talk about whatever the topic's about. I've banned a few people for trying to get around the system (obviously different, based on the person(s) involved). I don't think that I have to be everyone's friend. I never intend to do that.

[Former Member]

I don't post much on mine anymore but I am there every day and I have other staff. I ask questions on our ongoing quiz every day, often several questions are posted every day as they get answered regularly.

I post on other forums more than I do my own. I'm on forums where admins post a lot and on forums where admins don't post a huge amount but you know who the admin is if you need to talk to them. I'm cool with either way, as long as the admin/s is/are around.

[Kami]

Oct 10, 2017 10:45:20 GMT -8 Mandoli said:

Oct 6, 2017 20:29:45 GMT -8 queenfoxy said:

I stand by my opinion that an admin needs to be active.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this.

I haven't been following along on what you've been saying, so here's what I think your concept is: Be on every day, and make another account for non-Administrator purposes so you can play "buddy" with everyone else.

While I agree that an Admin needs to be on frequently, is it a big problem to let them have a vacation every once in a while? Everybody's going to want to leave for a few days to just ignore all of the drama. Personally, I like the idea of letting the head (or co-head, or another staff member in general) run the board on their time. Running a forum is not a job. It's done for fun. I've got three other staff members on my forum. Everyone's on and off when they want to. I only call them when there's a problem. Other than that, feel free to come and go. I'm not in charge of a preschool, where you have to be there all the time. If I'm not on for a few days, at least I give people notice.

I don't think anyone is saying that 'active' = 'no vacation or relaxation or accounting for personal life'? I'm not really sure how you would have gotten that from 'active'? Sorry if this comes across as antagonistic, I don't mean it to be, I'm just not certain how this was the implication that came across.

(I do agree with the latter part of your bolded sentence however)

[Mandoli]

Oct 12, 2017 8:01:36 GMT -8 Kami said:

I don't think anyone is saying that 'active' = 'no vacation or relaxation or accounting for personal life'? I'm not really sure how you would have gotten that from 'active'? Sorry if this comes across as antagonistic, I don't mean it to be, I'm just not certain how this was the implication that came across.

Nah, it's okay. My view of the term is different than others.

[Kami]

Oct 12, 2017 11:12:48 GMT -8 Mandoli said:

Oct 12, 2017 8:01:36 GMT -8 Kami said:

I don't think anyone is saying that 'active' = 'no vacation or relaxation or accounting for personal life'? I'm not really sure how you would have gotten that from 'active'? Sorry if this comes across as antagonistic, I don't mean it to be, I'm just not certain how this was the implication that came across.

Nah, it's okay. My view of the term is different than others.

Could you clarify what 'active' means to you, perhaps? That way we can all be on the same page.

EDIT: Oh, whoops, I think you already did. Neeevermind, brain fart ;x

[lordroel]

My forum is small so for me not taking part would not be good for the forum, yes it is true that almost 50% of all post and threads are made by me on my forum, but that just means i like it there, i think even with me being the admin of the forum i cannot see me taking a backseat to it as i like posting there to much.