I'm happy with the way things are. This forum seems to organize itself for the most part along reasonably civil lines. We forge alliances and often step in to do a bit of informal moderation among ourselves. Sometimes things get a little out of hand and that's when Graham steps in.
We are a collection of disembodied egos, intellects and emotions, all clamouring to make our point. I like the fact that we haven't got a panel of moderators breathing down our necks - it makes me more inclined to look at my posts with a critical eye in case I've over-stepped the mark.

GY

Where is the articulate, capable and courteous Susan Prior? Surely one of your staff would be a more objective moderator, than a regular contributor?

Well said Severin. Regular contributors are the last group of people who could be objective. The only OLO personality who seemed to have the respect of everyone was The Pied Piper.

Perhaps we need to go back to the idea of having a continuing
open thread, where forum rules can be clarified and sorted out.

I've been posting on OLO for a fair while now, but some things
are still not clear to me.

For instance, I have no problem or issue with using modern
anatomical and biological words to describe human sexual
parts. IMHO they are simply part of our everyday discussion
these days, be it on radio, TV or the internet.

It was pointed out to me that schoolkids read some of the OLO
posts, so that kind of language might not be suitable.

That really left me confused. I had assumed that we had
left the Victorian era behind us and that modern day parents
are not so inhibited, as to not call human sexual organs by
their appropriate name. What do they tell these kids?

It is a twinky? Is it an unmentionable? Surely we have
moved on to more modern times?

I'd really like to know the answers to these questions and
a thread to post these questions would be great

I rather like things the way they are, with Graham as the moderator.

Unless Graham could find someone who is not a regular contributer to OLO, I don't think many of the more 'out there' posters would deal with their fellow posters judging their posts.

On the other hand, if Graham feels he needs more support or help with decisions, then I guess it is up to him how he wants to run this forum.

I see the way forward as being quite simple:

Firstly, the rules have to be clear, and upheld as they are expressed.

Secondly, contributors to OLO should be encouraged to report anything that they feel infringes the rules.

Thirdly, the moderator alone (or any staff or volunteers that have his approval) makes the decision as to whether a reported post stays, gets edited or deleted, and whether a poster gets warned or suspended.

That’s basically it!

OLO doesn’t need a panel. It needs community policing!!

Users need to feel encouraged and empowered to make complaints or notes of concern.

Afterall, Graham cannot possibly peruse all posts each day. Neither could a panel of five or so people. Good policing of the site real does rely on readers being strongly urged to report infringements.

Yes he has encouraged people to do this, but I think that it needs to be boosted. A notice on the forum rules page and probably in various other prominent places that says something like this would help:

< The high quality of this forum is dependent on the assistance of users. Please read the forum rules and report all infringements to the moderator. >

Those who report infringements should be thanked with a personal email. Graham has done this each time that I have reported an infringement.

It is simply a matter of making people feel as though they belong to the OLO family and have a duty of care to uphold its high standard, not only way of what they write but by way of helping keep control over what others write, and will be thanked and supported for their efforts.

I am sure that many forumees would be willing to do their bit. Anyway, it would only take a small number of regulars. It wouldn’t take long for regular users to get the message that they can’t get away with infringements and new users would be smartly brought into line.

Once this is working well, the number of posts that Graham would have to check and pass judgement on would presumably be very small.