Soph001
You may have noticed a new mod on the discussion boards. Find out about her career aims, her love for TV shows and why she'd like to be stuck in a lift with Louis Theroux.
What's been your most memorable experience as a moderator?
Realizing how bad my search history looked in Firefox after I'd been moderating sex, relationships and health at Christmas on my parents' computer, was a bit...daunting.
Do you ever have any difficulty balancing TheSite.org's editorial line with your own personal beliefs, how do you deal with this?
Luckily, TheSite.org's editorial line works pretty well with my own - that's why I like the whole community section in the first place. Anything that advocates tolerance and kindness is ok by me.
What do you do other than moderating?
I have a part time job here at YouthNet as Executive Assistant, and I'm also doing a full time Masters course at UCL in English literature. It's good fun, and involves studying things like The Wire, Bob Dylan and Maus. All that leaves very little time at the weekend, but I make time to go out and enjoy all the free stuff London has to offer. That's if I'm not on a House or Scrubs binge.
If you had to be locked in a lift with another person who would it be and why?
Louis Theroux, no question! Not only is he incredibly dreamy, but he has had some of the most amazing experiences that this world has to offer. We could keep ourselves entertained for hours...
If you could change peoples' opinions on one subject, what would it be and why?
The death penalty. I think I'd be saving quite a few lives if I chose that, for a start. No more young Somalian women would be stoned to death for getting raped, and no more investigative journalists would be hanged in China. OK, so a few more nasty criminals would be alive, but they'd be in prison with at least a chance, however slim, of rehabilitation. The idea that anyone has the right to take a life, especially in retribution, strikes me as fully sick and wrong. OK, rant over. You did ask!
"If I was a genie I'd be the kind that never finds annoying loopholes in people's wishes because that's a really crappy plot twist."
Do you learn from the posters' experiences?
You learn something new every hour on the boards. People often seem to come up with really practical solutions and tips as well as support and comforting words. For instance, I just read a really detailed set of step-by-step instructions about foreskin-stretching exercises and technique...all very interesting stuff.
If you could set up one new forum what would it be?
A 'good news' forum. You'd either share progress you've made after problems you've posted on other threads, or just for the hell of it, tell people something that's going right with your life. I do see why that's a bit lame though; it would just be full of people responding with 'congratulations' because what are you supposed to say to that?
How does being a moderator fit with your career aims, if at all?
What career aims? When I get some, I'll let you know. For now, it's good experience in problem solving, lateral/creative thinking, judgement, prioritizing and collaboration. So I'd guess it's likely to fit in with whatever I do when I eventually stop flitting from university to university and drag myself into the real world.
What's your favourite thread?
I'm blown away by the self-harm thread, and how it's grown and developed and even ultimately led to a whole new section on TheSite. Obviously, it tapped into a hole in the market and just does its job fantastically well.
If I was... I'd be a... because....
If I was a genie I'd be the kind that never finds annoying loopholes in people's wishes because that's a really crappy plot twist. I'd be less facetious than all the other genies and just go with the spirit of the request, not its letter. How hard can it be?
Soph001
You may have noticed a new mod on the discussion boards. Find out about her career aims, her love for TV shows and why she'd like to be stuck in a lift with Louis Theroux.
What's been your most memorable experience as a moderator?
Realizing how bad my search history looked in Firefox after I'd been moderating sex, relationships and health at Christmas on my parents' computer, was a bit...daunting.
Do you ever have any difficulty balancing TheSite.org's editorial line with your own personal beliefs, how do you deal with this?
Luckily, TheSite.org's editorial line works pretty well with my own - that's why I like the whole community section in the first place. Anything that advocates tolerance and kindness is ok by me.
What do you do other than moderating?
I have a part time job here at YouthNet as Executive Assistant, and I'm also doing a full time Masters course at UCL in English literature. It's good fun, and involves studying things like The Wire, Bob Dylan and Maus. All that leaves very little time at the weekend, but I make time to go out and enjoy all the free stuff London has to offer. That's if I'm not on a House or Scrubs binge.
If you had to be locked in a lift with another person who would it be and why?
Louis Theroux, no question! Not only is he incredibly dreamy, but he has had some of the most amazing experiences that this world has to offer. We could keep ourselves entertained for hours...
If you could change peoples' opinions on one subject, what would it be and why?
The death penalty. I think I'd be saving quite a few lives if I chose that, for a start. No more young Somalian women would be stoned to death for getting raped, and no more investigative journalists would be hanged in China. OK, so a few more nasty criminals would be alive, but they'd be in prison with at least a chance, however slim, of rehabilitation. The idea that anyone has the right to take a life, especially in retribution, strikes me as fully sick and wrong. OK, rant over. You did ask!
Do you learn from the posters' experiences?
You learn something new every hour on the boards. People often seem to come up with really practical solutions and tips as well as support and comforting words. For instance, I just read a really detailed set of step-by-step instructions about foreskin-stretching exercises and technique...all very interesting stuff.
If you could set up one new forum what would it be?
A 'good news' forum. You'd either share progress you've made after problems you've posted on other threads, or just for the hell of it, tell people something that's going right with your life. I do see why that's a bit lame though; it would just be full of people responding with 'congratulations' because what are you supposed to say to that?
How does being a moderator fit with your career aims, if at all?
What career aims? When I get some, I'll let you know. For now, it's good experience in problem solving, lateral/creative thinking, judgement, prioritizing and collaboration. So I'd guess it's likely to fit in with whatever I do when I eventually stop flitting from university to university and drag myself into the real world.
What's your favourite thread?
I'm blown away by the self-harm thread, and how it's grown and developed and even ultimately led to a whole new section on TheSite. Obviously, it tapped into a hole in the market and just does its job fantastically well.
If I was... I'd be a... because....
If I was a genie I'd be the kind that never finds annoying loopholes in people's wishes because that's a really crappy plot twist. I'd be less facetious than all the other genies and just go with the spirit of the request, not its letter. How hard can it be?