It’s official: the third generation of Princeton FML moderators has arrived. A quick rundown of recent events …
As any faithful FML reader knows by now, Mod 1.0 Raymond Hsu ’11 recently passed the mantle to a pair of new moderators (their identities remain as yet unknown). Mods 2.0 announced the beginning of their term on January 4 and few readers were happy to hear it, if the +/- differential is any indication.
Last night, however, Mods 2.0 put an untimely end to their reign: both of them resigned within four hours of each other, citing “work and life as being too overwhelming, that they weren’t prepared, that they were thrown in at the harshest time possible, etc.”* Hsu reflected further on their decision: “I’m disappointed to see them go, but I completely understand their reasons and do not resent them in any way.” Their term, albeit brief, saw plenty of grumbling. Many commenters criticized their moderating style and the infrequency of updates. They were also the (perhaps unwitting) subjects of one of the most unpopular posts in the site’s history. As for their legacy, that is for the history books to decide; if nothing else, their six-day term will probably be one of the shortest in the annals of Princeton FML.
And as those moderators stepped down, a new duo rose to the challenge. Hsu handpicked them — one of them had been a finalist in the Mod 2.0 selection process — and Mods 3.0 officially announced their arrival on January 10.
I contacted one of them, who, like his predecessors, wishes to remain anonymous, except to specify that he is a a “he,” and that he is a sophomore. When asked to comment on his appointment, Mod 3.0 said he was “[e]xcited but a little apprehensive, like a first-time bridesmaid.” He said he wasn’t intimidated by the timing (tomorrow is D-Day, after all), but conceded that “any new mod is on pretty shaky ground after the general dissatisfaction of last week.”
There is good news, however: his moderating style has already garnered comparisons to Hsu’s. Mod 3.0 was quick to praise the ur-Mod, and added that his “goal is to moderate well enough that people forget that I’m not Ray.”
“I want to keep the site running smoothly without drawing a lot of attention to myself. People only really pay attention when something’s going wrong,” he said. He also expressed his eagerness to use html tags again, “now that Myspace is functionally dead.”
As we inexorably slide into Dean’s Date, the biannual peak of campus procrastination, we wish him and his fellow Mod 3.0 the best. Many students will be counting on them to supply the precious commodities that we’ve come to love and expect from Princeton FML: a reliable and amusing time-waster, a voice for our collective miseries, and a way to avoid that blindingly white empty page on Microsoft Word for as long as possible.
* UPDATE: One of the Mods 2.0 also cited a commitment to varsity athletics, according to Hsu.
Let’s get real, Ray threw these two into the fray at the most brutal time of the year, PFML wise and school-work wise. Not only did the new mods have to learn the PFML system during the site’s busiest time of the year, they had to do it during the busiest time of the year for their own school work and lives.
Obviously it would take time to catch up, but as everyone knows “Princeton Students + Anonymity of Internet = Total Assholes.” The constant criticism of posts not being approved fast enough or not having their words completely rewritten just showed what total inconsiderate fucks people can be on PrincetonFML.
The resignations of the mods was a symbolic flipping of the proverbial bird to the unforgiving and constantly demanding internet denizens of this school. The trolls won this game, Princeton, and a shit ton of you helped them to that victory.
What we (Using “we” rather than “I” because it sounds better) loved about Mod 1.0 was that as we grew to rely on PFML as a source of frequent study breaks, it became clear that he was similarly addicted. That set 2.0 were slow to update comments (regardless of new-FML rate: I maintain that the life of the site stems from the publishing of responses while they are fresh) indicated to me that they did not share our affliction, and had taken the position for reasons other than a love for wasting time on PFML. The fact that they were dropped into stormy seas, when the rest of us use PFML most, only confirms for me my prior conclusion; if it were a good fit they’d find themselves on PFML more now than any other time.
That said, I expect the latest generation to take some time adjusting; it may not be immediately obvious how to balance the update rate of comments and FMLs, nor how strong of a hand to use when censoring or punching-up new submissions. I wish them both the best of luck.
still, there was two of the new mods, and just one old ray. i’m certain TWO inexperienced princeton students working together can mimic the success of one experienced princeton student
Sorry, we’re not sorry for Partying 🙂 FYLs
thanks for showing class on your way out. glad Ray apparently found two people about 1000x more capable of doing the job than you were.