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From: cfbd@southern.co.nz (Colin Douthwaite)
Subject: Re: Calling all cars, Where's the Scarecrow?
Date: 1997/11/14
Message-ID: <64h3l1$lse$1@mnementh.southern.co.nz>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 289465037
References: <346A0B2A.32BFF78C@inspace.net>
 <19971113034500.WAA27903@ladder01.news.aol.com>
Organization: Southern InterNet Services
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art


Spunk1111 (spunk1111@aol.com) wrote:
>> What all is involved in bieng a moderator,could it still be done and
>>is it needed?

>A moderator gets ALL of a newsgroup posts-- sorts them--
>deems them to on-topic and reposts...  It is not a paid
>position... and you need lots of time.  This is an unmoderated
>newsgroup-- pretty much anything can be posted here--
>so, no we don't need one.  As for rec.arts.ascii being
>resurrected, I think it is a dead issue-- just about everyone
>who is involved is here at alt.ascii-art.  Why should we
>post to 2 newsgroups?... it is a bit redundant.


Not much to be said really.

At the outset in 1993/4 I contended that it was a big mistake to make 
rec.arts.ascii a moderated newsgroup where every posting and picture 
has to be approved by a moderator.  

Apart from putting a lot of work on to the person acting as 
moderator contributors feel the need for freedom to have their 
ascii-art efforts appear in the newsgroup without hindrance and most 
posters get upset with the moderator if their postings do not 
appear although all that dissatisfaction is largely hidden in a 
moderated newsgroup. The moderator gets all the brickbats. 

The disadvantages of moderating people's ascii-art postings far 
outweigh the benefits of being selective and culling out "unwanted" 
material including seemingly endless repetitive requests for Birthday 
Cakes, Roses and Beavis & Butthead.  

When the new moderators of rec.arts.ascii replaced Scarecrow ( Bob 
Allison ) I suggested that rec.arts.ascii should be changed to 
unmoderated status to encourage its use and survival in the Big 8. 
That did not happen so the group just went dead again.  

Being a newsgroup moderator is a thankless task and not many people
survive in the purely voluntary position for too long.

Perhaps the most significant thing is that only 2 or 3 people who
voted YES _or_ NO in the rec.arts.ascii vote still post to the
ascii-art newsgroups:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: dave@dogwood.com (Dave Cornejo)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,alt.3d,alt.ascii-art,
alt.bbs,alt.binaries.pictures.ascii,alt.sys.amiga.demos,
comp.graphics,rec.arts.comics,rec.arts.startrek.misc,rec.humor
Subject: RESULT: rec.arts.ascii moderated passes 453:74
Date: 31 May 1994 15:54:46 -0400

                                RESULTS
                 moderated group rec.arts.ascii passes 453:74

There were 453 YES votes and 74 NO votes, for a total of 527 valid votes. 
There were 2 abstains and 12 invalid ballots.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Bye,