Moderated?  -   Moderator Comments Jump to: How to help your moderators help you. What gets posted and what not. Return to the Moderating page. How to help your moderators help you. Over the last few weeks there have been a number of questions about what is and is not posted and 'why,' ... so the Moderation team for the main COPD list has gotten together to assist in understanding how we are set up, how we work, what we approve and what we do not. (There is another team of moderators for the SUPPORT {beginners list} that works separately with that list.) You may wish to save or print these pointers for reference later. How the moderation team works As with all of the 'staff' here at COPD-Support, each of the seven moderators for the COPD List were subscribers of the Support group for some time before volunteering to help with this duty. We are all human, all volunteers and either COPDers or caregivers and, like everyone, subject to our own perspective of things and our "bad days" too. The moderators look at each and every mail that comes into the server individually. We consider the content, tone, whether it fits within the policies and guidelines and whether it is of importance to the 'list at large' or just the individual the post is in response to. We keep tons of spam from landing in subscribers mailboxes (somedays upward of 50-75 spam messages). The COPD Moderation team is set up as follows: Each moderator has a scheduled day. Each day there is also a Lead for the day -- three of us rotate being Lead for the day. We have a Team Leader and work directly with COPD List management as back up. If the daily moderator has a question or thinks that a post may need to be rejected, he/she will ask the whole team and the Lead for their opinions. If the team and Lead are not sure or if they have a split opinion, we refer it to the Team Leader for further consideration. If there is still a question, the post is then referred to management for a decision. This can delay the posting time, but each and every reject or question gets this much attention before a decision is made. The decision to reject a post is not made lightly. We do not change or edit posts in any way, we either approve or reject them. The 1% of the group that are volunteer staff post directly to the list - these posts do not go through the moderators. (and on occasion you will see a post from one of them that we would not approve - on a closed topic or something similar ... often due to a communication glitch on our part) When you reply to a post or write to the list at [email protected] you will get an automated response from the Lsoft server stating they have received your email and have sent it to the moderators. Though there are Moderators on duty seven days a week, it may take up to 2-4 hours after receiving the notice before you will see your message posted. The moderators do not sit at the computer waiting for emails to come in. They have other things that they need to do during the day. Most of them check sooner but it is only required that they check for posts every 3 - 4 hours during their shift. The only time there is a longer lag time is during the overnight hours. If a post comes in after 11 pm ET it will probably not be approved until after 8 or 9 am ET as the moderators will be asleep. Return to top What gets posted and what not. While most posts sent in are approved, not every post fits "within the guidelines" . We hope this will help you understand the reasons we approve (and reject) what we do. We read each and every email. Posts are approved to the list because we feel the information may benefit more than just the individual being responded to. We remember how frightened we were when we (or loved one, for caregivers) got the diagnosis. If a post might help just one other person, then it is worthy of posting. There are many folks who read the List that never post and never ask questions, but are helped by the information, insight, and support that is shared here. Please remember, our needs for information and support are as individual as we are, as individual as how COPD and medications effect each of us, and that what is good and helpful to one may mean nothing to another. Yes, you will see "repeated threads (topics)" fairly often. An example would be the recent information about the difference between helios and compressed oxygen. This may well be known to all the veterans on the list, and be 'old news', but there are anywhere from 10 to 30 'graduates' on the list in a given week and these folks may not know the difference, so we approve the information. Someone who may not have understood or given the particular subject any thought in the past may now be considering making a change and will be helped by reading a discussion of the topic again. The regular COPD list allows off topic posts, as flavor. We try to approve anything that has to do with health in general. Someone asked why we approved so many posts on abscessed teeth. Although it is not strictly a COPD subject, it does have to do with health. In this and similar threads the 'new ideas' are approved. We try to only approve the posts with information that may be helpful. Repetitive replies (stating the same thing that has already been posted) on any particular topic will not be approved to the list, just left to go privately. When off topic posts get long and carried away, we do start letting the comments just go privately instead of to the list. We have also heard questions and comments about 'the week of depression.' Many needed to share and many received a lot of help and support through that thread. There were many posts that only went privately. While reading about depression can be depressing, it is a very common and serious problem for chronically ill people. Even though some messages were very hard to read, the discussion helped many on the list. And the turn around to how to fight depression, how to deal with it day to day, etc., was a good thing for many folks and from notes that came in, it did help at least a few to know they are not alone in their feelings. ---------- Subjects tend to change in a thread, so please remember to change the subject line to reflect what you are posting about. This is a wonderful help for folks that are not interested in a particular subject, but may want or need the information (or have an answer to a question) on a parallel subject that has emerged. "Tag along posts" -- Including enough of the prior post to let the group know what you are referring to is important but please keep in mind that including all of the previous message or multiple messages is bad. The extraneous text does not add to your message content, takes up archival space and makes the daily digest excessively longer as all the text of every message is included in the digest. If you don't know how to eliminate the extraneous text in your reply it's better to not include any of it and to manually type in (or copy and paste) only the pertinent part of the replied-to message. Please remember that using ALL CAPS is considered 'yelling.' Courtesy and civility Though generally not a problem here, this is often the biggest problem on mailing lists and other programs where individuals must exchange views. Remember that this is first, and foremost, a support and information resource. We will reject ANY post that is derogatory, inflammatory or putting down another member. We cannot stop the messages from going privately, but we WILL keep them from going publicly. This includes off-color remarks or jokes; jokes or comments with a political, religious or ethnic tone; harassing, derogatory or defaming remarks or innuendoes; and any potentially offensive subject. This restriction includes the signature tag at the end of message. If comments or a thread becomes controversial or if posts become argumentative, we will start rejecting them and let the messages just go privately without allowing it to become a public fight. As per the policies and guidelines, anything Political, controversial and advocacy posts are not approved, that is not what we are about. Our purpose is to provide information and support. ---------- We do not approve personal or private messages such as: Atta boy/atta gal and other 'pats on the back' - thank you to an individual comment that adds nothing new for the majority of the list - one liners - any plain (or not so plain) comment {g} However, we DO post one line questions or direct answers with 'good' or new information, such as: Q: What is combivent?? A: A rescue inhaler - here is a web site about them: https://www.drugs.com/combivent.html (Generally we approve only the first 'plain' answer unless another site or other info is offered and messages with similar answers will go privately.) The easiest way to determine if a post is personal or private is by asking this question. "Does my post/reply offer anything of interest to anyone other than the author of the post I am responding too?" If it does, then by all means send it to the list; but if not, then please email it to the individual only. If you feel others on the list would benefit from information you have to share, please address it to the author AND the list -- re: in regard to Jane Doe's post ... or Dear Jane and Group.... Other Chain letters - As per the policies and guidelines we will not approve chain type letters. If it says 'send this to 20 people', or 'send this to all your friends' or something similar it will not be approved. Likewise, a forward with multiple addresses or addressed to multiple addresses or groups, will be rejected. You will see that religion and religious posts are not acceptable as the guidelines state. COPD knows no religion and our primary purpose is to share our common knowledge concerning our common ailment. While we recognize that your religion is of great benefit to you, you must realize that our List is an International gathering of individuals and we have many individuals of different faiths and some do not profess a religion at all. A post with comments about your religious faith might be beautiful to some, but it could be offensive to others. In order to maintain harmony and keep the focus on our common need for medical information and friendship, it is necessary that we exclude the subject of religion. We do approve a simple 'you are in my prayers' and 'God Bless' at the end of the post or as part of the signature line is OK. Commercial Posts are not permitted. Subscribers are certainly free to express opinions about commercial products, medicines and the like. However, strictly commercial messages are a no-no. A commercial message is defined as a recommendation or information of any sort that could result in self-gain by the individual making the recommendation or providing the information. Copyrighted Material will also be rejected. It is illegal for anyone to post copyrighted material without the express consent of the owner of the material. If you find a page you feel will be of interest to the group, please write a short synopsis and include the web page address. Make sure the URL is correct as we cannot post links that do not work. To create a working link in a plain text message, enclose the URL between carat symbols, like this: < https://www.copd-support.com / > It has been a long standing practice of Management that we not allow any surveys to be conducted on the lists and over time Management has also enforced stricter guidelines regarding some subjects due to the politics and controversy that seems to come up again and again with those subjects. Two of the reasons for the above policies are server space and the resulting daily limits on the number of messages allowed. As you know this is a non-profit, volunteer organization, all the 'staff' is strictly volunteer, but we do have to pay for the server and mail service. Contributions are all used to defray direct costs of running the various programs. (For more on money, see Programs/Expenses.)    Individuals serving as Management and staff are not paid for their time, labor, or the use of their computer equipment. Return to top Page modified . Copyright © 2005-2008   All Rights Reserved Contact:    Management