DU Needs New Moderators!

[Skinner]

Please read this entire message. Failure to properly follow instructions will disqualify you to serve as a moderator.

The current moderator term ends soon, and we're looking for volunteers to help us out for the next two months.

Please check your schedule for the next two months. DU is bigger and busier than ever and we're looking for dedicated people who have a little extra time on their hands. Also, please keep in mind that this is the holiday season. If you expect to be unavailable for an extended period of time during the next two months, please do not sign up this term.

Here are some things to bear in mind before you apply:

- Your political ideology is not important... We need centrists and leftists and everyone in between to serve as moderators.

- We prefer people who have been members for a few months, and have made at least a couple hundred posts. You must be at least 18 years old.

- You must be able to log on to DU regularly, and should not take any long vacations between now and mid-February.

- We prefer people with a generally positive outlook on life, who can be fair and evenhanded, and who don't get easily frustrated. If you sign up to moderate, we expect you to stay as a moderator for the full two-month term. You must understand that it is perfectly normal for the admins to occasionally overturn your decisions, or to make specific requests regarding the manner in which you participate on DU while you are a moderator.

- We prefer that moderators avoid highly controversial topics, or at least moderate their behavior significantly when participating in such discussions. If you have a history of rhetorically hot postings on controversial issues, we may not choose you to serve.

- If you know that you aren't very good at controlling your behavior or your emotions, or if you know that you can't be fair to a particular group of people, please do not sign up to be a moderator. There is no obligation to serve as a mod, and we won't hold it against you if you choose not to.

Here's how to volunteer:

Send an email to [e-mail] with the word "moderator" in the subject line. Include the following information:

- Your real name

- Your forum username

- Your address

- Your telephone number (by giving us your phone number, you are giving us permission to call you to verify your identity)

- How much time you spend on Democratic Underground

- Which forums you'd like to moderate (if you have a preference)

- A brief statement which generally outlines your political views

- Are you taking any extended vacations during the the next two months?

- Have you read, and do you agree to follow, the Message Board Rules and the Moderator Guidelines?

- Moderators have access to certain privileged information about our members, and about how we run this message board. Moderators are forbidden from discussing or sharing any of this privileged information outside the private moderator forum, unless they have permission to do so from the administrators of Democratic Underground. Moderators or former moderators who share privileged moderator information with anyone outside the private moderator forum risk being banned from DU, and (in extreme cases) may be subject to legal action. Do you promise not to discuss or otherwise share privileged moderator business with anyone outside the private moderator forum?

If you apply but are not selected this time, please don't be offended. We typically have a fairly large number of applicants, and we obviously can't pick everyone who applies.

We hope to select a new group of moderators on Tuesday or Wednesday. There will be a free conference call for the new moderators on the following night (Wednesday or Thursday).

Skinner
DU Admin