Whenever I see that a moderator has replied to my thread, I always feel very very nervous and think that somehow my thread violated the forum rules, and so I'm going to be reprimanded. Is this normal?
Well, I don't know if it's 'normal' or not, but you have nothing to worry about. Moderators on this forum are active with other members and with the forum, in general. If anything, you should feel happy / glad / something mildly positive, because moderators are generally experienced and 'worldly', and they've gotten where they are for a reason. Have a banana. It may make you feel better, too. (!!)
I wouldn't feel that way about the moderators. If they reply in a thread, most of the time it's because they have something to contribute to the discussion or some kind of advice for the OP. The only time you would have to worry about seeing a moderator post is if you see one and then see that your thread is locked. Then that means that the thread was doing something to break the forum rules or regulations so it was shut down. In that situation, the moderator post would mention the closing of the thread and a brief description of why it was closed. Now if you make a post that breaks forum rules, the moderator would just delete it and then send you a PM talking about what you did. So basically, if you see a moderator has posted on your thread, most of the time you have nothing to worry about
I know I have nothing to worry about. I've just had some bad experiences with authority figures, so I instinctively feel that way. This, by the way, does not seem to in anyway contribute to, influence, or effect my politically anarchist views.
I can completely relate to the "Oh shit an authority figure!" reaction. I do that IRL everytime I see a cop. But the Mods here are pretty great.
Hopefully we can help change that then. Most of us contribute to chat threads. As Jonathan said, if you see a mod reply and a thread get locked, something's gone wrong, but generally, when we post it's just to join in the conversation or give some support.
It just means they've taken an interest in the topic and wish to contribute. This exact dilemma was mentioned on another forum, to which one of the moderators basically said to think of them as 'normal' members, until a problem arises, when they'll switch gears and take care of it.
