[@shylarah]

I was an Administrator, Head Administrator and founder of my own website for three years. I speak from knowing what I expected of my mods at the time I found my website. 

And I'm in the works [this is not advertising btw] of making my second website, as a Head Administrator. I knew that I was frustrated with an old website I came form and frustrated with the way politics were played out, and always being a member and never been promoted on a website I had been part for near 4 years at the time. I wanted to do things differently.

I always believed moderators were held accountable held for their actions. I always believed moderators first job is not to punish, but here the two sides of the story. No bans, no threats. I wish I had old screen shots, but we didn't really need to archive anything because our members were often quite mature. So we felt the need not to archive anything.

We had a three chain system. We had Mediators, they were often the people people went to first when there was a situation. After the mediators if they couldn't get through it go through the Admins and Moderators, and they often would give them one last nudge to comply. Then it went up to me and my co-founder. 

But it rarely worked that way. 

But I always believed Moderators were not just beacons of power. But symbols of behavior. Role models of behavior. They displayed the same behavioral expectations we had of everyone.

I rather make a reasonable compromise between two members who may have misunderstood each other. Then determine who is to blame and who is in the right. Because not every situation is someone go to be wholeheartedly in the right, very few situations call for that. There is saying "it takes two to tango"