Mods. How are they chosen?

[Thar]

This is in no way, shape, or form a rip on the mods. It is only a curious question and if it is taken personally, I will leave it be.

How is a mod chosen? I would understand that a mod has to be mature as far as behavior towards abusive members and frank when it comes to how a situation must be handled. But what prompts one to notice the behavior of others and take them into account exactly?

The reason why I am asking this is because I wish to learn more about leadership and what it takes to be a good leader, and as many times as I have come across a thread or post that just asks for trouble, I was tempted to lock it myself. But with power out of the question, leadership is probably the one thing I need to acquire to become full as a person.

Anyway, if I could get as many perspectives as possible, that would be great. Thanks.

[Cin]

When a vacancy arises mods nominate members who they think have shown alot of promise in terms on contributions and behaviour in the section involved, the mods will then discuss it eliminating anyone they feel isn't right for the job. Through those discussions the team will agree on who they feel is best. In the past YCMaker will be pmed so he can promote them. (This is the general process, but not the definitive one)

[Synchronized]

[quote name='evilfusion' timestamp='1320685014' post='5623856']
Activity probably has a lot to do with it, as well as competency and knowledge of the section(s) and a willingness to follow and enforce rules, and not let bias towards a member make you treat them any differently. Because if you tend to let such things get to you, you're likely to post nasty remarks to people who annoy you, and if you get mod powers, suddenly you have the power to ban and warn people. It can just get very messy, so temperament and attitude are probably taken into consideration.

This is mostly guesswork, but it worked for me. Then again, I was also an active member for over 2 years, so it's not an instant thing.
[/quote]

I'm not sure how accurate that is, in terms of how they do it. I've been here for four years, and I was a mod after about (five months), then a Super for a month or two after, before I left and was demoted (like you said, lack of activity, etc.) I don't think the time you've been here has anything do with it, really; the priority should (ideally) be whether or not you can actually keep your section clean and well-run so people aren't spamming and trolling all over the place. (Like TCG.)

I remember they used to do it (when I had access to the Mod Forum, anyway), by a 'Community Mod Vote' of sorts, as Pika mentioned, but I think the democratic method which Pika used for Your Deck (evilfusion's obviously an intelligent guy who was a good choice for the position because he doesn't troll [i]and[/i] is actually a good player, which only adds to the qualification of the positions.

Having members vote on mods (if they're needed) could be an interesting (and effective) approach, but you run the risk of popularity and then we get a bunch of awful mods running around.

[evilfusion]

I'm not sure how most are chosen, but I was selected due to nominations from other members and the other mods discussed who was the best candidate of the nominees, or whether another member would be a better fit. I just happen to be well-known, extremely active, competent, and liked, while lacking the negative qualities that'd make me an ill fit for a mod position, such as rudeness, spam, and trolling. I doubt most promoted mods were chosen this way, due to the problem of nominations usually being biased.

Activity probably has a lot to do with it, as well as competency and knowledge of the section(s) and a willingness to follow and enforce rules, and not let bias towards a member make you treat them any differently. Because if you tend to let such things get to you, you're likely to post nasty remarks to people who annoy you, and if you get mod powers, suddenly you have the power to ban and warn people. It can just get very messy, so temperament and attitude are probably taken into consideration.

This is mostly guesswork, but it worked for me. Then again, I was also an active member for over 2 years, so it's not an instant thing.

[Flame Dragon]

The way mods are chosen has changed. When I was made a mod it was because we had just got the multi media section and were in need of mods. YCMaker made a thread for apps and he made the choices from their (still don't get why I was chosen ).

Recently it is as Rose said. As a team (more or less) the mods will feel that a certain section is in need of more mods and will nominate people. We reach consensus and it happens. This also happens if a mod is leaving or will be cutting back activity a great deal. If we can't really think of people we will most likely do what Pika did in Your Deck since it seems to have worked out.

Also, like how a bunch of mods all posted in this thread .

[Ieyasu Tokugawa]

Mods are chosen based on attitudes and bias really. Like how some of the DN mods are chosen according to The Detinator. If they qualify (good at making decent rulings and mature etc.), they are considered. Then if somebody recommends a mod being considered due to some personal relation, that could easily tip the scale in that person's favor. (do note they still have to at least be already considered without the recommendation).

Idk what YCMaker looks for in a mod, but I'm sure there's some combination of their qualifications and bias. Usually, if it turns out to be a bad decision, he should demote them and keep looking. That's my idea at least.

I also remember Pika used a democratic vote to decide the knew Your Deck mod. Problem with this is more personal bias a lot of the times, but luckily the people voting actually voted for somebody who could get the job done as well. (It helped that Evilfusion is a bit popular). What I don't like of voting is that everyone could have voted for me just because they all thought I was awesome (don't laugh ):<).

These are just my views though.