Posted by jammerlich on April 21, 2007, at 9:41:50
I think recent events make it pretty clear that it might be a good idea to do a little brainstorming about how this can be more workable for everyone involved. Because right now, it seems everyone is upset....."regular" posters and deputies alike.
I know not everyone will agree with the following statements, but I think most will And isn't it often a good idea to start with things about which we're in agreement? To keep this site as safe as possible, we need our deputies. But, it's a REALLY HARD job to have. By accepting the duty, deputies lose a lot of the safety they had as regular members and they risk upsetting their friends - people they really LIKE - when they have to make administrative calls. Our deputies are also people we loved, respected, and valued before they took on the administrative role.....it's largely WHY they got the administrative role......and we ALL would be losing something if they feel they can't be active outside of that role.
So, with the understanding that it's just discussion and really only Bob can do anything, why not talk about ideas to make it more workable?? Here are a couple of things I thought about last night.
What if deputies were allowed 2 posting names? The one they have now and then the same name with "Deputy" before it. It seems confusion sometimes comes when we aren't sure in what capacity a post is written. Is this from a deputy or is it not? And it also seems that sometimes our deputies get confused themselves about that (I know I probably would). Sometimes they might start a post just as an fyi and then sign it as a deputy. So, if they signed in as their "Deputy" name only for administrative posts, maybe that would help us all with the distinction.
Idea #2, which I'm sure will be more controversial, is that administrative posts from the deputies be made from a name that is JUST "Deputy," with no distinction about which person wrote it. It seems sometimes posters feel like a particular deputy might be picking on them over and over again and this might prevent some of that. And I think it might help any one deputy from being singled out. But, it could also cause problems within the group of deputies themselves because, essentially, they'd all sort of take responsibility for the post of one. That might not be an entirely bad thing, though. If there is doubt, a deputy might be more inclined to seek the opinion of another before making a post and if the deputies don't agree with a post that's been made, they might be more inclined to speak up about it. You know, a checks and balances sort of thing.
Anyway, those are just some things that came to me last night. Feel free to talk about why they may or may not work or to tweak them or whatever. And better yet, come up with other ideas! As long as you don't attack me personally, I promise I won't feel hurt or offended if you don't like what I've said. It was all meant to generate discussion. I hope our deputies will chime in, too. Their take is very important.
Jammer
poster:jammerlich
thread:751905
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20070304/msgs/751905.html