[CQ-Contest] Is list moderation really necessary?

[John Dorr]

Hi Barry (and everyone)!

I'm happy to answer your questions about moderation of this list. It's
probably time to do that anyway.

For the moment, I am the single moderator of CQ-Contest. In the past, K1KI
has also assisted but he is taking a well-deserved break from the action.

This is not a real-time system. The moderator reviews a queue of posts and
approves them when time is available to do so. Sometimes that happens in
minutes; other times it can even take a day or so.

The reality is that very few posts are deleted as part of the moderating
process. If they are, it's usually for the following reasons:

1) SPAM. We get dozens of SPAM messages each week that make it through the
aggressive filtering system in place and moderation deletes those before
they ever see the light of day.

2) Duplicate posts. Sometimes a person will ask a good question (e.g., Is
the robot working?) and 10 people legitimately choose to answer the same
question with the same answer. Often many of those posts will be deleted in
deference to the "first guy."

3) Inappropriate posts. Personal attacks and foul language is not
acceptable on CQ-Contest. Admittedly, this is a gray area but we try to do
the right thing.

4) Repetitive thread responses. This may be shocking to some but we have a
tendency on CQ-Contest to go "on and on and on and on." Sometimes we just
have to close a thread down after it's run its course. This usually happens
when someone jumps into the conversation and makes a point that was already
made 47 posts earlier in the conversation.

5) For Sale. FS messages are not accepted on CQ-Contest. There are many
other venues for that need and this has been the policy of this list since
the beginning.

6) Unsigned messages. Usually a post that is unsigned without a callsign is
rejected with a request to resend. If you're going to make a post, be sure
to let us know who you are by callsign and your name.

7) I don't like you. Just kidding with this one. :-)

The combination of the above results in a much cleaner list with a little
more focus. Could we run it open-ended? Probably. But, I don't think many
of our users would like the result.

I hope this clears up some of the urban legend around moderation. Believe
me when I say it's not an easy job. But hopefully it serves the community
well. Keep in mind that when you post something, it's going to over 1000
other users around the world. That may be your best guideline in defining
valuable content for others to read.

Now I have to go approve my own message. I hope it makes the cut. :-)

73, John, K1AR

On Sat, Mar 17, 2018 at 7:30 PM, Barry <w2up at comcast.net> wrote:

> Sure, once or twice a year, things may get a little testy, but does that
> make approval of every post necessary, so we see 10-20 similar replies to
> the same question or comment because replies are approved in batches once
> or twice per day?
>
> I'm not even sure who the moderators are - K1AR, K1KI, anyone else?
>
> Any stats on how often posts are nixed?  Is moderation of this list really
> necessary?
>
> Barry W2UP
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