Comments on: Moderation is the Key to Longevity

By: Bryan Person, LiveWorld

Bryan Person, LiveWorld — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:40:38 +0000

Nice post here, Mike. Moderators’ work in communities is critical. More than anyone else on the client or vendor side, really are on the ground inside the communities and have the pulse of what’s going on.

Without good moderators — and a set of good moderation guidelines — communities can become chaotic in a hurry.

At LiveWorld, we have our customers post a clear set of community standards, or “rules of the road” on the site in a place where members can easily find and follow them. Internally, our moderators have their own set of moderation guidelines, which guide them on the actions they should take if/when violations occur. Taken together, those two sets of standards guide both community members and moderators alike and form the foundation of a well-managed community.

Bryan Person
LiveWorld social media evangelist

By: Janet

Janet — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:47:55 +0000

Every company should have their own guidelines based on corporate policies and culture. There are some basics of course, like these from Sybase http://tinyurl.com/4l6wkm , but you can go a lot deeper into how you want to create/direct/moderate the conversation.

As for labor intensive, yes, running an online community can be labor intensive, especially at first, but the return is well worth it.

Creating a place where you can talk directly to users and they can communicate on a personal level can be hugely rewarding.

By: Mike Pascucci

Mike Pascucci — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:28:35 +0000

JD,

The best way to avoid any questions or confusion is to develop and enforce a clear and decisive “Terms of Service” or “Board Usage Policy.” Having multiple people moderate a community should not generally be an issue, as long as it is understood how enforcement of those policies should be handled. If that is not done ahead of time, the result would be wasted time deciding how to handle each piece of content – and the enforcement would depend on the Moderator – likely inconsistent.
Launching a community is not as easy as most think, but the benefits are priceless.

Mike

By: JD

JD — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:23:19 +0000

Are there general guidelines for moderation? In particular like how to set up a policy when you have multiple people moderating a community? This all seems like it is more labor intensive than a community is worth.

By: Mike Pascucci

Mike Pascucci — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:14:40 +0000

Aaron,

Great idea. Janet, you are more than welcome to guest post on one of our blogs, and thank you so much for the opportunity here.

Mike

By: Andie

Andie — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:54:53 +0000

Thank you for this post Michael. I will use it to explain to my manager why I need to spend more time cultivating our forums, creating a welcoming environment for users, and encouraging new discussions to grow. I’m not a cop I’m a conversational gardener.

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:35:38 +0000

Good idea Aaron, I’ll do some arm twisting for sure!
( -:

By: Aaron Strout

Aaron Strout — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:13:53 +0000

Mike – nice job! I work with you and I still feel like I learn something from you every time I listen to you talk about moderation. You’re a pro!

-Janet, thanks for this opportunity. Make sure you make Mike let you guest post on his blog (or mine) sometime in the near future!

Best,
Aaron | @astrout