Forum Moderator positions

[Steve Ashton]

6 of the 8 X Marks Forum Moderators were inducted at about the same time of the year. So each year at about this time I query each of them if they would like to continue on the staff or retire with full honors and with thanks for their service.

This year it appears that one and possibly two of our Moderators will be retiring.

If any member of the Forum would like to put their name into consideration to join the staff it would be appreciated.

The Requisites-

You must have been a member here for least three years.
You must have made at least 100 posts to the forum.

The job requirements and duties -

We look for those who have shown an ability to be moderate in their attitude and to their fellow members.
We look for those who have shown a willingness to help their fellow members. Ones who are willing to lend a hand and a word of advice.

The Forum Moderators of X Marks are not police. They do not search out the forum looking for rule infractions. One of the guiding principals of X Marks is that we rely on a member driven moderation system. We let the members decide what they want X Marks to be, and what direction it will go.

It is the members who flag posts they feel may have violated one of the 12 forum rules.
One poll is set up for each flag. The question asked is simple. "Does the post in question violate the rule?"
Each Moderator is able to cast one vote. Yes or No.

The Moderators discuss each flag among themselves and with all the parties involved. Everyone gets an opportunity to have their say and to have their voice heard.

We always try to have 6 or 8 moderators on the staff at any one time. This does a few things. A moderator may take vacation or be away without disturbing the operation of the forum. But most importantly it insures that no one staff member has sway over how X Marks is run.

If any member would like to be considered for a position as Forum Moderator you may contact me or any other of the staff and your name will be put forward.

[Steve Ashton]

It is now one week before we have one of our Forum Moderators retire. I posted the original notice so our members would have plenty of time to consider if they would like to put their name forward to fill this position. We had heard from a few of you.

X Marks is a unique place on the web today. With a new kilt related page showing up on facebook almost every day there is certainly an interest in kilts.

However, this forum is different from most social media. It is a hold-over if you will, of a day when people engaged in conversation. Each of our threads is read in a linear conversational style. Each thread is its own topic. Threads are read as continuing ideas on that one topic, and the information we discussed last year is still there, easily accessible.

X Marks does have a facebook page and most of our advertisers use social media. I would take a guess that just about every member of this forum are also on other social media sites.

To many of us older guys social media appears less continuous. Threads on sites like facebook scroll off the bottom of the page of the most popular topics and people can easily forget about them until someone else posts on the exact same topic again.

Facebook and other social media are very trend driven. because you get updates on the newest topics every time you log on, the most current trend appears more important or immediate.

On X Marks however there are far fewer times when the same question is asked over and over only to be forgotten after a day or week. New members often tell me that they will spend a day or two lurking and reading our old conversations before registering. They seem to appreciate that all this information is always available.

Today, X Marks is the oldest, largest and perhaps, based on the number of new members, the most active on-line community dedicated to the kilt. Most facebook pages have 50 to a couple hundred members. X Marks has very close to 20,000 members.

Notice that I use the word community in my last sentence. Many of our members feel that they have come to know their fellow members. Some have even become friends in person. We have truly built a community here.

Yes, over the years, X Marks has been called stodgy or overly traditional. But, to be fair, it is you, the members of this forum, who set the tone and the mood. Another way to look at the negative claims about this forum is that we are the way we are because you have chosen to make it so.

I can state for a fact that X Marks is not going away. The idea of a place that can build a community of such calibre, with so many different views and ideas must continue. I have, and will continue to keep X Marks on-line. I feel I owe it to you, the members, to keep our community active, vibrant, and current.

I also feel that it is important in today's world to keep X Marks free of the drive-by advertising posts that seems to plague other sites. It is our staff who keep our community free from the flashing pop-up viagra ads.

If you would like to join our other staff members in keeping X Marks the pre-imminent voice in the kilt world I would encourage you to speak up and take a shot at joining our staff. To make X Marks the voice you would want it to be.