We were wondering how best to say Merry Christmas, when a Lily fan sent this perfect celebration of the fun and learning the bears have gifted us with all year http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1506835394993&comments . We thank all of you for the way you made it seem like Christmas all year. We feel the good vibes and caring behind each gesture you give. Merry Christmas!
Another Lily fan sent a link to this interview about Lily and Hope on WOJB radio in Wisconsin http://www.mediafire.com/?xc14u19ua8yjh1p .
We saw your wonderful outpouring of gratitude and respect for the 10 moderators who have given immense amounts of their time as volunteers trying to make Lily the Black Bear’s Facebook page the best it can be. Over 600 of you responded to their holiday greeting http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150108097435499&set=a.309755305498.195614.263755115498&comments . You buoyed their spirits. They are a bit camera-shy, or we would post pictures of the Mod Team like we did the other teams. We can only say we don’t know what we would do without them.
How did moderators come to be? When we installed Lily’s den cam, someone asked if we’d like a Facebook page for Lily the Bear. “No,” we said, “We’d never be able to monitor it.” How naïve we were to reject something so great! All was not lost, though. Emily Wallington in South Africa created and posted Lily the Black Bear’s Facebook page without our knowledge. We saw it. We saw your comments. We saw your desire for honest bear information from Lily and us. We all learned together watching the den cam, and we began answering your questions. As new Lily fans asked old questions, veteran Lily fans answered them or referred them to updates that had discussed those topics. What a joy it was to see this growing, fun-loving group spread knowledge and develop ties. We grew.
A cloud formed. We were targeted by people more interested in disruption than learning. One had done the same on other site, we learned. This was enough to cause rancorous controversy that tarred the NABC and the WRI. Rules and moderators were needed to keep things friendly and focused on research and education. Sue asked for volunteers. Talented Lily fans stepped forward and developed guidelines http://www.facebook.com/lily.the.black.bear?v=app_4949752878. Then the volunteers gave their time as moderators, with Sue, they moved divisive controversies to discussion threads or to Facebook pages not associated with the NABC and WRI. They deleted comments that didn’t fit the guidelines. At first, there weren’t enough moderators for all hours of the day. While moderators slept, some offensive comments were not deleted, leading to accusations of partiality. More moderators joined to remedy the problem. Divisiveness diminished. Lily fans who left because of controversy came back and thanked the moderators for the friendly, educational site.
Still, all is not perfect. With many moderators and over 119,000 Lily fans, people will disagree. Judgment calls will differ. Misunderstandings will happen when neither side meant any harm. Moderators put up links so people could to contact them to iron out problems http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001206288012 and http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001325640151, The letters we get show a sincere desire by all concerned to work out the inevitable problems, and moderators want that as well.
We are extremely thankful for all the Lily fans and for the moderators. Lily fans are becoming an ever more awesome force for bears. Moderators are doing their best to keep Lily’s page friendly and educational.
There is a need for even more moderators as we move to the new den cam and a likely surge in Lily fans. Moderators are preparing for the new season by working with Lily fans to free up picture space and by trying to recruit enough moderators to monitor an even higher level of participation. If anyone is interested in being a moderator, start by going to http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001206288012. It is not an easy job. It means having many tabs open on a computer and scanning many pages plus anything that is brought to their attention. The job is mostly thankless. Their only reward is the knowledge that they are absolutely essential if Lily fans are to grow and learn.
Thank you Lily fans and moderators for all you are doing. The next update will be December 26. For Christmas, Lynn and Donna have agreed to exchange no gifts except their rapt attention to each other without deadlines. They are daring each other to turn off their cell phones. Will that be possible? Merry Christmas.
Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center