I think I was nominated for much the same reason. Other mods noticed that I was easy going, focused on teaching others at their level of understanding, helpful, giving, never mean spirited, and good at mediating discussions while respecting all people. 
Most mods have a bright light that shines through so others can find their way; more of a guiding them on THEIR path, rather than just following our own. 
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Good question, @Zion!
There is staff user group with highest privileges:
https://overgrow.com/groups/staff (accessible also through āhamburger menuā then > About)
and then there is wider Team Overgrow (which includes also Leaders):
https://overgrow.com/groups/TeamOG
In general you can turn to TeamOG / Leaders for advise or help with topic management (see privileges). They can manage all posts and topics and have tools for that (edit & hide posts / move posts / merge topics / close topics / etc.).
Main difference is that staff (moderators) can also approve or disapprove (ban) member profiles.
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I think maybe a decision should be made between 2 mods minimum to ban someone. Iām not trying to mess with authority but peoples opinions differ massively on certain subjects. Iāve felt annoyed in the past when a member is banned for voicing opinions that I agree with. Judge and jury type of thing instead of judge dread what I say goes.
I mean no disrespect to any mods but I can say a few bans in the past have annoyed me and had me rethinking my membership here on OG
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I think that is a good option. As I have also seen persons banned for being of a different opinion. Iām not sure how something like this would be implemented because there are conversations that we are not privy to. But I do think it should be more of a matter of fact checking and making sure that if a person is banned it is within the proper context. Blessings
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Yesā¦ If situation doesnāt call for quick action, we always ask inside staff group for second opinion.
Also first choice should be short time ban (1 - 7 days), not permanent one.
Iām sorry if you were offended/annoyed by some of our actions, we always try to find peaceful ways to resolve conflicts. There were only few permanent bans during last 3 years. Not more than 5 I think (not counting spammers with few posts)ā¦
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A quick question @LemonadeJoe. What if someone is banned but a group of us thought the ban way wrong? Could we fight for the ban to be lifted??
Iāve said it a few times now over the past year or so that OG is changing. Itās not the same site I joined when I very first registered. Arguments NEVER happened. Maybe itās just certain people that create the disruption in our community. Do mods approach long time members before they ban to see what the problem is. Sorry in just really passionate about freedom of speech etc. Iām just trying to understand the boundaries
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Banning an individual, whether permanently or temporarily, is not taken lightly. Several attempts to deescalate a situation are taken well before hand. Some these attempts occur in PM, suggestions, warning, there may be some moving of topics or the outright deletion of egregious/inflammatory posts, or otherwise.
A ban is not and has not been instantaneous for contributing community members. The moderators are generally patient and they do their best to keep things on track. When someone is banned, there has been in nearly all cases, events that had occurred prior to a ban that the community as a whole may or may not be aware of at the time a ban is instituted. So while individuals may agree with a userās opinion there are most certainly on-going circumstances with some users that continue to push an issue many times too far. History play a large role.
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Yes, generally. History matters. Community contribution matters.
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Ah so basically bans happen after a warning private to see what the problem is? Iām an opinionated person. A lot of what I say people likely wonāt like. Itās hard sometimes to not get involved in disputes that I have opinions on but if warnings are issued then itās no ones fault other the person that starts it. Keep up the good work guys
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I donāt think we do too bad when it comes to general disputes. We all know that we, as a community, have difficulty agreeing on, well, lots of topics. Disputes that become heated are often sent to the tank with no further action.
The folks that get banned are usually the folk that break cardinal rules (posting private emails, personally identifying information, threats, manipulation/deceit). Continuous provocative posts to start battles can also get someone banned. Whether a ban is temporary or permanent is balanced with the seriousness of the activity, the history of individual, and whether that individual was baited or manipulated before hand (which occurs surprisingly often).
Few want to give up a on a principled argument. Understandably. The moderators will try several steps to try to deescalate a situation between individuals as best we can. One mechanism may be a PM (which I prefer). But, a āwarningā or other action, may also occur in a specific thread, too. Itās situational, really.
Iāve received PMs from users demanding that someone gets banned because of āxā. They would claim RIU, for example, would in a similar circumstance instantly ban someone because itās their āpolicyā.
But, when we look back, we find deleted and baiting posts. If moderators had to blindly follow a specific process or policy, youāll get something similar to how other forums moderate. And, an uptick on ābanningā.
The moderators try their best to head off brewing trouble early on. They take a situational look at what is and what had occurred. While some things repeat, many situations tend to be unique and it deserves personal attention. If a person is having a difficult period or a bad day, we understand that. We are people, too. We are not perfect. We engage in adult behavior. We have bad days, too. We also love the OG community and culture.
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Just gonna throw my 2 cents in here. In my time here I have witnessed a number of bans occur, mostly less than a week but at least one permanent. In each case the person was given advanced notice that they were being overly inflammatory, outright disrespectful to other members (or mods), or that doxing was not allowed (IE: picture/comment deleted and a public warning about it). In all cases I have seen moderators attempt to defuse the situation before it became a banable offence, even while defending against personal attacks. These are also the only actions I can see as a regular member. Even then, the permanent ban I witnessed was reduced to I believe 30 days (didnt track the exact time, but they popped back up about a month later) and that person is a contributing member again. I personally feel that the moderation team we have are competent, not power hungry, and have my full trust and support. The fact that they are hand selected from the community based on their contributions and personality is a plus for me. Each have been around long enough to see that they are competent with the plant, as well as their interactions with other members. They were asked to take on the responsibility of ensuring the forums stay uncluttered, and to help ensure the safety of its members, and accepted, instead of vying to be the next one with power.
This isnt the same world we lived in 15-20 years ago. Back then almost everyone was operating under the radar and most had the same concerns as far as the plant goes. These days the industry is much more volatile. Theres legal money in the game now, and that changes EVERYTHING. Differing opinions are going to happen much more often than they used to. From what Iāve seen, as long as its civil, not personally attacking, or baseless accusations, all discussions are welcome here. (As you can see by the fact that this thread is both still alive, and being discussed by members, and staff, of differing opinions)
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Thank you @Northern_Loki for the detailed response. Sometimes biting your tongue can be painful. Here in the UK we have freedom of speech (yep we also have stupid cannabis and gun laws) the internet is a way to say what you want without people knowing who you are. I suppose because we live in a country that is strict on a lot of stuff our words become our weapons and frustration is what pushes us to vent and kick. Iāll shut up now as my question has been answered. Thanks 
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I donāt knock our mods. They do a great job Keeping us stoners inline can be a full time job. All Im saying is before a ban run it past another mod. If you agree between yous then ban them. Obviously racist or homophobia should be insta ban. Right Iāll shut up 
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I agree, and Iām sure they do discuss bans, but I do see a need for autonomy as well. A ban can always be reduced or removed all together if the situation shows it was overly harsh, but considering that even the most serious offence of posting personal info only results in a deletion/edit of the offending post and a warning the first time I dont feel that most bans should require a commity type system for before the ban goes into place. Add in that our community is relatively small and that there are not a ton of mods all together and I can see that type of system being very bad. I wouldnāt want someone posting my personal info all over for 6 hours while toasty waits for Loki to wake up, and I wouldnāt want toasty having to be glued to his computer for those 6 hours deleting every post and pm
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Oh well, @Esrgood4u, with the BREXIT we will miss here in the EU many UK deep thinkers , agree on what you said, sometimes bannig gets too personal ā¦ 
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I were a Mod this would be my avatar
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Just donāt ever give me a mod position as Iād be ruthless
Weād end up with a single forum member named EsRgood4u 
Maybe I should be a police man instead of a roofer or even a parking warden
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Iām ready for that duty ā¦ 
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Thank you to all of you! The mods and members. This was what I was looking for a open conversation about our mods and who they are. I appreciate how kind and open you moderators have been. I can now see why you all were selected. Thank you @LemonadeJoe for being so transparent and understand of my questions. May you all continue to do great work and thank you all for your contributions!! @toastyjakes I have no quarrels with you at all and I hope that we can get to better understand each other in our own rights. Blessings to you. Humbly submitted Zion!!!
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No quarrells with you eitherā¦ just seemed weird and internet context and emphasis is hard to pick up most times
Weāre all good here @Zion
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