I'm a moderator on a couple of forums, and a participant on several others. In my role as moderator, I am seeing an "uptick" in the number and frequency of posts in which someone opens up a new topic in a pretty clearly inappropriate sub-area of a forum site, and opens the post with something like "I hope this is the right place. If not, mods feel free to move." Or, even better, "I know this probably belongs under ___, but I decided to post it here anyway because I figured more people would see it."
So a moderator does what a moderator is supposed to do, and moderates the post -- moving it to where it should have been placed from the outset. A PM may or may not be sent to the person asking that, in the future, they be more careful where they post. And, with or without the PM, the result is usually a vituperative complaint about heavy-handed, egotistical moderators who "need to get a life."
What is it about the Internet that has created an entire class of users who seem to believe that rules don't apply to them, and that moderators who are only doing what they're supposed to do are "Nazis" who are unfairly targeting those who post inappropriately just to satisfy their egos? If someone is genuinely unsure where on a site something should be posted, wouldn't it be logical to ask before posting, rather than just throw it up there and expect the moderators to clean up after you?
Am I just singularly "blessed" with the forums I currently moderate, or is this a growing problem all across the web?
