What does it take to be a member of the X Marks Staff?

[Steve Ashton]

There is one thing that I think separates how the Moderators of X Marks work and how things are run on some other forums.

The back rooms of forums are, out of necessity, not open to the public. This is supposed to be to protect the privacy of the members. No one wants it splashed all over the open forum if they made a mistake.

But what often happens is, the back rooms turn into a little boys club. Things are said or done in some back rooms that would look terrible if opened to the public.

On X Marks however there is nothing going on in the back rooms that the Moderators would be ashamed of if it came to light. This was my first ruling when I took over. "If you would not say it on the open forum, don't say it back here."

We keep a copy of every discussion, every vote. I am proud of that archive. It is truthful and respectful. I wish it could be made public because I am sure that our members would respect what the Moderators do and how.

In fact when a new Moderator is first invited to join the staff they are given an opportunity to access the back rooms for a few days. This gives them a good feel for what they may be getting into. They are also given the opportunity to say no if anything they read in the back rooms would make them uncomfortable or they feel is wrong.