[CQ-Contest] Is list moderation really necessary?

[Barry]

Thank you, boss, for your reply and your dedication to this thankless 
task  :-)

May I suggest a short trial (a few days) of no moderation and see how it 
goes?  Just think how much more time you'll have to work on your wire 
antenna farm!

73,
Barry W2UP

On 3/19/2018 6:53 AM, John Dorr wrote:
> 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.
>
> 73, John, K1AR
>
> On Sat, Mar 17, 2018 at 7:30 PM, Barry <w2up at comcast.net 
> <mailto: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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