Moderation in chess.com forums in need of drastic improvement

The OP is 100% correct. The amount of trolls here is unbearable. Other chess forums like chesspub, for example, are pure gold in comparison. At least for true chess enthusiasts.

If they stopped new accounts from posting on the forums for some period of time - say 2 weeks - I think a lot of the spamming and trolling would stop.

  If the OP is so concerned about the site then maybe he should start a thread entitled......."If I Was A Mod I'D".....  Don't put it under General Chess Discussion because it has nothing to do with chess. Also, don't use it to name & shame. Be exact. Give links to threads & posts and why you'd find it actionable. Since none of us have a handbook of moderation, maybe we can get a dialog between members and mods so we can learn a thing or 2.....   I'd get rid of THIS thread. We really don't need to read a post about a member tasting his own excrement.                        https://www.chess.com/forum/view/off-topic/i-cant-remember-if-i-pooped-yesterday#last_comment

The OP put this under Site Feedback and he's giving his feedback on a major problem with these Forums; why does he need advice from you?

 He doesn't......and I applaud his efforts but just complaining in and of itself is not gonna do anything. 

  I suggested to the Staff & mods that they should give the OP a try as a mod since he's been here for 12 yrs and has moderated elsewhere. Their reply was that......if he comes off to heavy-handed....he may cause more problems than he resolves.....like a policeman who has "excessive force" cases against him.

I don't see what's wrong with this thread.  first, it isn't in general chess discussion like you say, it is in site feedback where it belongs.  Second, I did give examples, and we are having a dialog.  Finally, you linked to a disgusting post, and I agree we don't really need that.  

That is interesting.  Something weird is going on here.  A heavy handed mod could be stifled in minutes.  And how is that more of a concern than than the daily slime infecting this forum?  Something is not right about the chess.com attitude toward this forum.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all, but I'm starting to wonder how much of this sites income is in the form of Rubles.  

I thought mods were here to ensure the forum guidelines are adhered to, but it seems like you are saying that you are a mod who doesn't really care about that.  I suppose that is fine as you can use your superpowers as you wish. But the site as a whole should care, especially since there is so much emphasis in other parts of the site on making this a family friendly place.  

I have been an active member in the forums on mtbr dot com.  It is a mountain biking web site.  It is huge and international, so I think its a fair comparison.  

There is not even a tiny fraction of the trolling going on over there compared to here.  Trolls pop up, and disappear just as fast.  Threads stay on topic.  It is nice.  The moderators don't need to do that much intervention, because once people know they can't get away with crap, they stop trying.  

And with all the females in mountain biking and the articles about them, I've never seen any discussion devolve into anti-feminist, man vs woman, male superiority bs, as happens here with almost every article involving women on this site.  

Moderators are visible, clearly labeled near their avatar, but mostly just behave as normal members participating in discusion.  But if things get hijacked, they are there to intervene.  

I think the software they use is better as well.  New account trolls seem to be screened better or automatically dumped, and I think they do have a waiting period before new accounts can post.  

I am just making a point for people who think that troll pollution is part of life and something we have to tolerate, it is not!  It is not that hard to have a well run forum.  This forum is not a well run forum.  

I think u just described about place where u live?while making thread u r language is pathetic disguisting misleading political. u want someone other to clear u r mess.

My ability to moderate came about due to a need in a club I was an admin for. While that need has lapsed, I have the ability to moderate things, and I do, when I have spare cycles for it and see something that needs it.

As I mentioned, most mods are volunteers. I have a certain process I use when I log in, outside of group work. If that process turns up content that needs actioned, I'll do it. However, since I am a volunteer, and I have other things that take up my time, I  only see a small fraction of content.

I can't really speak for all mods, but I would guess a lot of them work in a similar manner and a lot of them may only moderate Live chess for the most part. At one point, most mods were primarily Live ones.

A heavy-handed moderator could do a lot of damage before being reined in, so the site seems to be selective of who becomes a moderator and that limits scalability.

   Let me clarify.....I'm not saying that THIS thread was in GCD. I'm saying that if you or anybody started a thread like "If I Was A Mod".....  I wouldn't put that in GCD. There's nothing wrong with this thread. You seem to be stuck on a tangent that it belongs elsewhere.   One more thing...... Moderation comes in waves.....high tide & low tide.  We are approaching the holidays.  Every year, we get a slew of new accounts and yes, some are trolls just wanting to make waves and trouble......i.e complaining about the site,...the forums....V3....Staff etc.  You've heard of "spring cleaning" in life.?  Well every now and then during the yr, Staff & Admins do a spring cleaning periodically as the yr passes.  If I can steal a phrase from batgirl......we are in the business of crowd control.....not mind control.  I once complained about something that I though was stupid. I was quickly put in my place by being reminded that I too can sometimes be stupid. Being stupid is not against the community guidelines.

   Have you seen THIS thread.?  https://www.chess.com/forum/view/community/how-to-make-the-forums-better?  Its been up for 24 hrs and has absolutely nothing to due with the forums. Its gonna turn into another childish argument of....yes you are......no I'm not.....yes you are.....no I'm not. 

Right.  Some people like mindless threads like that.  I don't see a problem with it.  There was no intent to have a serious discussion in the first place, so it can not be hijacked.  

Why aren't they allowed?

The #5 game was started so that the OP had control over the thread . #4 games' OP was not taking care of his thread.

Whatever the rules are, it seems logical to expect some kind of effort to abide by them.  Doesn't it? 

that's a symptom of the same problem. a lack of concern and a lack of interest in having a civil forum. It really boils down 2 disrespect of the good paying members here.

& allowing bad pain members