Moderating in a Mental Health Forum

[Retired]

He has a great deal of experience on older style Bulletin Boards (BBS's,

Limited experience with real BBS's, however my baptism into forum usage began with DOS based Compuserve forums. At first I began accessing the forums using real time access, then came along an Off line reader {OLR} that allowed access to pre-programmed areas of selected forums to be read offline.

In fact all work was done offline, then a pass online was done to upload and download messages.

The forum software on Compuserve was then changed to Windows interface and so was the OLR software. We managed our forums using OLR's for years and when the forum software was altered to allow only real time access, many forum participants left the system.

Compuserve has now been re-branded to Netscape Forums, and access remains open to the public but only in real time access. The real time access ensures visibility of the accompanying advertisements :frown:

To date I am not aware of OLR compatible forum software platforms.

 

[just mary]

Hey, sorry about this, but I just have to clarify.

TSOW, on May 30, 2006, 07:01 pm, you wrote:

Has your experience led you to a different conclusion? <--- Hint ---this is what a moderator does

I read this and I don't know how to respond. I see the bold and I wonder if you are upset at me. I didn't mean to upset you. And I don't understand the "Hint" reference - do you think I'm stupid?? I know this may "sound" harsh but it's not, I'm truly curious as I am very new to Internet forums.

Please, please, don't take this the wrong way. I'm just a little confused.

Thanks and take care,

 

[Retired]

Hey Mary!

I can see where my footnote has led to an unintended misinterpretation. It's not the content of the question I was referring to , but rather the act of placing a leading question at the end of a posting which sometimes helps in keeping a discussion going.

In this case it did just that, but for the wrong reason {sigh}. :red:

The point was to indicate how a moderator, or anyone else for that matter, by answering a question with a question, or adding an additional question at the end of a comment can add life to an ongoing discussion.

Thanks for noticing and for bringing my unintended faux pas to my attention

 

[just mary]

Hey TSOW!

Thanks for the reply and I can see your point. As I said in my other post, I am a bit of a newbie. :roll:

bringing my unintended faux pas to my attention

And I wouldn't call it a faux pas.

So thanks again and take care,

 

[ThatLady]

Heh. One of the big problems with internet communication...there ain't no body language to help interpret what's being said. We always run the risk of someone misunderstanding our intent because they can't see us to read the visual clues we're giving out.

 

[Retired]

...there ain't no body language to help interpret what's being said

A very good point. and I know...as I sometimes put my keyboard in my mouth :frown: