Admin Or Member?

[Shentino]

There is unfortunately a double standard for admins and members

Members are generally required to bow down and kiss some major butt. Some admins have big egos and are liable to ban anyone who challenges them, and members who fail to respect the authority of the administration usually get sent on a one-way trip to ban land. It's not so much that arrogance is an inherent part of being an admin, but that members who err in this way usually don't get a second chance.

It's not fair, but so what? THe admins have the power to do whatever they want, and it is foolish to confront them. If something comes up to where a member's interests are being squashed, he/she should probably have never joined to begin with. Most admins are nice, but members who wind up on the wrong side of fiat may get blown away by the ban hammer, and when things cool down, the pieces left behind may just get swept up and thrown in the garbage, leaving the member who failed to baa like a sheep out in the cold storage warehouse as cold cuts, while the yielding sheep that pandered to the abusive administration will likely still be alive if and when things turn around.

Admins, however, are just the opposite, and work best when they are fair and diplomatic. They need to bust their butts to keep a happy atmosphere, especially in the face of spammers. They have to keep the welfare of the entire forum in mind, while a regular member could get by only looking out for himself and seeking to have a good time.

People don't like tyrants, and any admin who persists on winning battles by throwing his weight around will definitely get a few trophies of people whose egos or emotions he bruised by acting cruel. However, the price is losing the war and winding up with a deserted forum. Even if the admin manages to do permanent harm to his "victim" by being a jerk, soon there won't be any prey left to abuse.

The real trouble here is that both sides MUST be able to put up with forbidden behavior by the other.

I think there's a concept in computer science that states the moral quite clearly:

Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others.

[` v i R u s R a V e n]

i love being a admin its fun to make skins.

[myke]

yamiyugi1 said:

i love being a admin its fun to make skins.

myke said:

Please read the D:YP rules before posting.

[rosebud]

It's not fair, but so what? THe admins have the power to do whatever they want, and it is foolish to confront them. If something comes up to where a member's interests are being squashed, he/she should probably have never joined to begin with.

I have to disagree. I believe one of the reasons why ProBoards is so popular is because the staff takes time to listen to us. Whether the member think the reason is valid or not, I think that it's good for the staff to hear their side of it. Sometimes staff can be wrong in their decisions and they should also check themselves, but if the member is just pulling the staff member's chain...then that's another story, but you get the gist. Members shouldn't be intimidated by staff in the sense of not being able to confront them.

Your last sentence doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. I think it'd be obvious that a member wouldn't join a board if it doesn't suit their interest. And if it's suddenly being squashed, then how was that member to know that'd happen? This kind of goes along with the thread 'how to maintain a happy community.'

[HoudiniDerek]

I could have sworn that I posted in this ages ago, but could not find it, so I will try again.

I have always preferred to be a member and to help the site flourish. Most sites that I am on treat me as CW's opening post mentions: After a while, I am seen as a solid member so I will get asked to do things or I will volunteer to help with an idea they mention and it goes from there.

I am an admin of two forums, but both were given to me because I was active and because I tended to work on being active when there was none I believe. I think that I have the right qualities to be an effective MEMBER admin, but not all of the characteristics that make an all-around successful admin.

What does that mean? To me, an admin has qualities that overlap all areas of the site. I have no artistic talent or any computer nature, so I tend to be bad at things such as forum revamping and the like. That means the picture of the forum may get stale even if the content and the community feeling is high. Plus, I do not tend to actively recruit overall because I do not like to seem to be forcing people to join.

In that regard, I am not the best of admins. I think there needs to be that dichotomy and I tend to only have one side of it. I am not saying that people that lack one or the other are NOT good admins, but I feel that I am not as good for this personal deficit.

[†Mason Fett†]

I hate when admins do that. It hasn't happened to me at all, but i've seen it. When I opened up my forums, I made 3 or 4 skins; I made most all the original boards, plus I posted alot of ice breaking topics for the members to start out on. I also had alot of help from Grievous with the boards and coding. Yeah, I agree though. Some people i'd swear are just not fit for administration. I'll admit, I'm fit enough for the job; however, I hate it. At this point, i'd rather be a member.

[Crash_X]

Well, if I were staff I wouldn't be an admin. I'd be a mod XD.

[Enchant]

Dec 10, 2007 12:16:34 GMT -8 Crash_X said:

Well, if I were staff I wouldn't be an admin. I'd be a mod XD.

Please explain to us why...making a comment doesn't contribute to the discussion, unless you can back it up with reason;)

[Crash_X]

Well, the way I see it is this. If I can be a g-mod or normal mod with nearly the same powers as an admin. Then I still get to have fun, only without so much responsibility compared to what the admin has.

[Kyle]

There is times when I want to be a member and not have to deal with admin stress. Even with my own site right now I get stressed because it has more members then any of mine before and if I didn't have other staff I would crash and burn and snap under stress. Of advertising keeping everyone happy on the site(that hard). You gotta try to keep people interested in the site and everything but, it is so stressful. I would say most of the time I would love to be a member who is helpful instead of a admin and trying to do everything.

[Goldenheart]

I could be an admin or a member. There are parts of me that are suited to both. On one hand, I'm not a people person at all, so being a plain old member might be nice, but on the other hand, I love the process of making websites, and I like being able to say stuff like "No swearing is allowed." Shaping things is one of my storyteller strengths.

I've figured out how to get the best of both worlds. I'm administrator of When Thunder was Lightning, but I'm also multiple ordinary members on there, too. I'm very good at being several people- I get into arguments with myself, and when I'm a new member on my own site, I timidly ask myself for help.

So, that's my viewpoint. Being both is the most fun way to do it.

[The Goatstick]

I haven't been a board member for a very LONG time. When I was our admin talked with a few people and that was it. She ran everything and it burnt her out. Of course this was seven years ago and on ezboards.

My reintroduction to role playing could have been better and if it had been, I probably wouldn't be running my own site. But I am and it's big and frankly I love it. I like creating our storyline. I like programming and the feeling of accomplishment when something actually works. I suck at skinning and thankfully I have folks who now are making my skins. (I'm graphics impaired as I like to say) I don't mind advertising since I coded premade ones that just require a simple copy and paste. I honestly thought I'd get maybe a hundred members eventually. I think I've deleted a hundred inactive accounts and still have three times that number. Now to just get them posting more...

It hasn't been all roses though. I've had a LOT of headaches. I've been stalked by a banned member already. I've had magnificent fights with some members but I've made some very good friends from around the world. I've seriously considered deleting the board on two occasions, but since I've been passing duties to folks I trust, my job's gotten easier.

Like Goldenheart said though and I agree. I have accounts that people don't know are me and I plan on keeping it that way. Sometimes it's nice not being the boss and just being a regular member.

[Michelangelo "Spike" Scarlatti]

I prefer being an admin over member anytime
I was on other groups before I got my first board and I felt left out on the things that was going on there. As if everyone was friends or something off the board and I was like the new person that stood in the corner. And some other boards were much to strict with things.
Such as how much you had to have for a post or the character forms you have to fill out for roleplaying would end up what seems like a small book ,etc

So I became admin to my own boards and I added stuff I really wanted to see and made character forms not to long and post lengths a bit shorter
Sometimes though I find if hard to be admin when I have to deal with members that wont take no for an answer
but thats why I have co admin ,etc so they can help me out anytime I need help
mostly for the advice on what should be done
cause if it was all up to me Im not one for second chances when someone lies to you
so I would end up banning a person for good

Now being a member which I am on another site its great cause you dont have any worries but the showing up and posting
you dont have the hassle of dealing with members that dont listen and you dont have to worry about the board and how it looks and how its run you just can sit back and have your fun
But Id still prefer being admin over member anyday

[Former Member]

being admin or mod is very rewarding... if i had a choice id rather be a moderator and work alongside a team. But the downside is some members can be wary of the admin or mod... as ive seen for myself.

[Enchant]

Feb 25, 2008 6:07:17 GMT -8 @jessie07 said:

being admin or mod is very rewarding... if i had a choice id rather be a moderator and work alongside a team. But the downside is some members can be wary of the admin or mod... as ive seen for myself.

When you say you would rather be a moderator then an admin...why? Would you rather be a member then an admin? Or you prefer to have some status as a staff member?

Members keep a keen eye on who gets modded and who doesn't. Many feel that they can do better then those selected. There is always some tension in these cases.