Discussion thread changes, need for mods/admins.

There are a vast number of message boards often with a lot of active threads. It would be almost impossible to recruit and vet the number of people that would be required to keep an eye (and lid) on everything.

I've modded/admined a number of forums (both professionally and unpaid) and know that paranoia creeps in wherever there are moderators and this is where there are a small number of people keeping an eye on things. If you had tens of thousands of moderators you have a greater potential for a bad apple to sneak in people's usually unwarranted concerns would be justified as you then have to get someone in to moderate the moderators. Who watches the watchmen indeed.

That said, I wonder if you could have a small number of "smokejumpers" - moderators who could be parachuted into forums that are raging troll infernos with a remit to get things back under control. After all, there are only a small number of forums that are out of control (the Evil Dead one and I believe The Walking Dead message board has been a bear pit) and most would quieten town eventually (after the film is released and the home media is out, or the TV series has finished), so they could move on to the next flashpoint (and it might be possible to predict where these might be - controversial remakes and adaptations, for example - so you could even parachute in there before things really blow up and do some preventative work cutting firebreaks).

However, I suspect the message board system would need a revamp to allow such a system to be put in place, so don't hold your breath.