[Debate] Why do you want to be an admin?

[lauralolly]

I decided to make a forum about my fav actress ever Louisa Lytton!!
I done it, even though there was one out there with over 1000 members when i started!!

After making it.. it became v-popular, the other site is now dead.. and i have over 500 members!!! Oh, and i got to meet Louisa, and chat to her from it!! Shes Amazing!

xx

[Michelangelo "Spike" Scarlatti]

I decided to become admin cause I needed something to do.
Besides there are some roleplay groups that were a bit too
strict. Such as spelling , and they had a storyline.
I wanted something completely different where everyone can
contribute to the story . Kinda like a go with the flow sorta group.
I sure hope that made sense.

[Lord of Fire]

On most boards I go to, I've had clashes with the staff at least once over a rule I didn't like. I even got banned from one for criticizing the main admin too much. Also, on the one where I am currently co-admin at, the main admin and I don't always fully agree with how a rule should be interpreted and what action has to be taken if a members misbehaves. Has to do with him favoring a certain group of members and my discontent for him doing that. However, I'm the most active member there, so I can immediately act when needed. That's what kept me from quitting.

Still, because I want to enforce the rules the way I had envisioned, I decided to become a stand-alone admin myself and avoid having to talk to other staff members about how rules should be enforced.

[ungoliant]

my gamingclan needed a place to get together, and I supplied them. earlier another member had made a forum, on some different host, but I didnt like it much, as I didnt make it, and I didnt fully trust that member. that's why I didnt stimulate people to register, and after the member that created that original forum quit my clan, I made a proboard. on my forum, there are no rules, just the regular rules of communicating with other people. I'd never have serious arguments with my staff, as they know they can basicly do what they like, but when they do something I dont like, it wont happen again. I pick my staff rather on character and personality than actual skills. I've found out a long time ago that creating a social structure, and following your own rules in that, will make new members follow the same social structure, without being told to do so. by having a set number of rules, specific rules for specific situations, you'll get people that try to bend those rules, reading them in a different way, avoiding to have them apply to their tresspass. without having set rules, this doesnt happen. I've had forums with over 50 people for the best part of two years, and never had real clashes with either staff or forum members. though I suppose this wouldnt work for every admin or every member.

[facemyfire]

I wanted to create my own forum because I have yet to see any real General Hospital Roleplay sites around (Soap Opera). I felt that in creating this site, thus being my own admin, I would be able to bring together other fans of the show. Unlike the roleplay's that I have seen, they are not truly loyal to the histroy of the show. My intent was to begin at a certain point from a recent s/l involving everyone. That way, all characters can choose the fate of their own character and storyline. I have also expanded and allowed room for members to join and play characters that they can create on their own.

I made all of my rules and guidelines not to make people mad, to to bring a real persona to the site from the show while still staying true to the fan base. I have had no complaints on any of these rules, so I am assuming they are working fine.

I am extremely devoted to my site, and often find myself "having no life," as we put it to be a GH Junkie (nickname). Here, we have members from all over the world, so someone is always on at every minute of the day.

I really am glad to have found proboards to implement this craze I have started between friends. We have all become so close, we are like family. In five months, I know more about my 80+ members, and vice-wersa, than I do about any of my hometown friends.

Thanks,
Cheryl

[Krm]

conqueringwolf said:

This is something similar to my thread on being an admin or a regular member. What I want to know is what has made you want to be the admin of your forum instead of just joining an already established forum and helping them to be successful? I still see new Harry Potter forums being opened daily along with LOTR and many others where there are already hundreds of forums that exist with the same topic. Do you feel you can create a better forum than the other people who already have one? If so then why do I see so many people in GOAYB coming in asking for rates with default or single color forums and no other customizations and saying they have the best looking forum ever and everyone needs to come check it out. What makes these people want to create a forum if they are not going to put the effort into it to customize it and provide content for their members. They want their members to do all the work for them while they just sit back and say they have made an awesome forum.

So really, what made you want to become the admin of your own forum and has it worked out for you?

Myself I have always had forums that were on topics that there were not many other boards about and those boards that were around I did not much like the design, activity, and overall feel of the forum myself so I created my own in efforts to have a large thriving community that would be of help to others. I take pride in being an admin and providing someone with a community they can be proud of and they want to return to to chat with others.

I have filled admin roles on various forums (not all proboards) in the past, but I usually do not apply for them up front. If I do become an admin (or even a global mod/mod), it is because the position is offered to me after I become well-established and respected within the community. In fact, I almost intentionally avoid admin positions. Time is probably the biggest factor. I'm very busy during the school year, so I do not always have time to be as active and involved as I think an admin should be. Forum administrator is almost like a part-time job, in my opinion, and it requires a major investment of time and effort, which I do not always have in spades. If I do accept an admin position, usually it is temporary, such as when the true admin must take a few days off for vacation, exams, or other reasons.

I personally prefer to serve in global mod/mod positions -- as an assistant, if you will. I prefer to work behind the scenes, attend to the small things that an admin would be too busy to handle, and act as support/first response when something goes awry -- ie a disagreement between members when an admin is not online to handle it.

At the moment, I am not an admin or mod in any community. Well, actually, I am a temporary admin in a Warriors RPG community, but that is only while the current admin is on vacation this week.

But usually, I'm just a very active, very helpful senior member. I like to call myself "the official unofficial community relations officer" -- which entails that I do heavy-duty advertising and am one of the cooler more level heads that keep the peace when some of the hotter heads forget to check their tempers.

[WilburyMania!]

My friend... she noticed there were no decent Traveling Wilburys forums. She really liked the re-release.... so she made a new board. She asked "hey, want to be the co-admin" and there you go

[Keewee_Girl]

Well, I wanted to be admin because I thought it would be fun. Many times, I have seen games that say, "you can do this, just not to me." I think that is totally unfair. I wanted to make a game where we're all considered equal, and everyone can listen to someone's suggestions.

[kelendria]

KRM, I agree with you, I've never volunteered to be Staff on the many forums that I've helped.
I'd like to think it's because I run my forum well & am also respected.
Now I won't be staff on anyone else's forum, one; because of time restrictions & two; because most of the time I get left running their forum, or the admin only wanted to know the codes that I have then abandoned ship.
I don't mind helping anyone but I'm picky about being made into staff when I have my own forum to manage.

[Timothy]

I enjoy being able to fix problems when they arise, or being able to come up with a creative idea, and then implement it onto the site. I also enjoy uniting fans of similar (or different, for that matter) interests and discussing why we enjoy what we enjoy

[LadyOricon]

I became admin because I love creating my own little community. It's a like my own little experimental government and I love to see it flourish. It also keeps me busy as I have a lot of time on my hands.
I also love helping people out and learning new things. Just recently I've learned how to make my own layouts and I'm getting better at coding. It's a great hobby to have because you learn something new every day.
I really like stimulating conversations all over the board and really getting to see other people's talents, like fanfiction and graphics. It's really amazing what some people can do with photoshop and I really like my members to feel free to express themselves. After all, my forum is a venue where I can express myself.

[Chidori Rox]

conqueringwolf said:

This is something similar to my thread on being an admin or a regular member. What I want to know is what has made you want to be the admin of your forum instead of just joining an already established forum and helping them to be successful? I still see new Harry Potter forums being opened daily along with LOTR and many others where there are already hundreds of forums that exist with the same topic. Do you feel you can create a better forum than the other people who already have one? If so then why do I see so many people in GOAYB coming in asking for rates with default or single color forums and no other customizations and saying they have the best looking forum ever and everyone needs to come check it out. What makes these people want to create a forum if they are not going to put the effort into it to customize it and provide content for their members. They want their members to do all the work for them while they just sit back and say they have made an awesome forum.

So really, what made you want to become the admin of your own forum and has it worked out for you?

Myself I have always had forums that were on topics that there were not many other boards about and those boards that were around I did not much like the design, activity, and overall feel of the forum myself so I created my own in efforts to have a large thriving community that would be of help to others. I take pride in being an admin and providing someone with a community they can be proud of and they want to return to to chat with others.

I wanted to become admin of a forum because I do awnt my site to be very suscessful, but I want it to be a bit different. Half of my site is a common topic I see, Naruto RPG, the other, not so much. I feel that if you gave a familier part, and maybe an unfamilier part to your memners, you may give them a chance to try something different, in my case, they would most likly be familier with Naruto, and not so with Shakugan no Shana, giving them a chance to watch a great new Anime show.

So overall, the reason I guess I became an admin of my forum, is because I like to give others a chance to try something new.

[Ariel]

I guess.. because it's fun. I also like helping people and being able to build my own site. It's just because I like building a society..

[Matthew]

I have yet to find a good forum for discussion on Yu Yu Hakusho that's why I decided to make my own.

[~»tobi«~]

I started as a regular member and worked my way up to the ranks . Now I am second in command over a large general forum .

I also started my own forum and am admin on there with a small staff

I was asked to be a global and a mod on 2 other forums but I feel that I would spread myself too thin and would not want my forums to suffer , I declined the offers . For now .