Forum Moderators: rogerd
This person spent hours on our small forum and replied to every post… eventually took over a forum on the boards that was a little outside the main topic but which had the most activity.
The forum blew up. Bad enough that people were bad mouthing the moderator (and forums) elsewhere.
Final straw was a PM to a member telling them they were going to be banned ( my moderators do not have permission to do that) then ½ hour later posts publicly to that member that she had no issues with her.
I reacted poorly. (but privately)
Moderator gone… friendship gone… members leaving… maybe other moderators leaving.
A tribute thread is going on about this person leaving.
The problem is that moderators tend to be long time popular members.
When there is a break up how do you keep the forum from splitting into fractions?
All I’ve done so far is publicly say she was leaving and that all the issues in the forum gone bad were my responsibility.
I’ve refused to go into specifics with anyone… including the other moderators.
I’ve taken over personal moderation of the hurting forum.
I’ve stayed out of the ‘tribute’ thread.
Anything else I can do?
I assume this typically happens and strong forums survive.
Andy
This too shall pass!
Be prepared for a campaign by PM or email to complain to other members about your hurtful and unjustified actions. ;) Not much you can do about it, other than staying calm and emphasizing the forum's expectations and TOS.
What I’ve learned from this experience:
1)Never reward a member with a moderation spot just because they have been an active/long time poster. Find other ways to reward good members.
2)Look for warning signs that they might not be a good moderator. Do they get snippy or argue with other members? Are they very opinionated? Do they have an even temper? Have they been ‘know it all’ posters?
3)Avoid mixing moderators and friendship. When things go bad it’s hard to separate the two.
4)Make sure you have written rules on what the moderator job is and how they are expected to act and make sure the see them BEFORE you make them a moderator.
5)Chose a moderator as if you were hiring an employee. Will they represent you well both on and off the forums.
6)Remove moderators quickly if they are losing a forum.
Andy
Picking high-volume posters for mods isn't the best approach, but I think it's good to pick mods with both a long history of posting as well as a reasonable volume of posts. Both are indicators of long-term interest in the community.
I have not had this issue in all the years I ran forums, but always dreaded the possiblity of it.
Being careful, super careful of who you make a moderator is the key.
" Power corrupts...
and absolute power, corrupts absolutely"
You can lose a lot of core/good members when even one mod gets rude/patronising/personal or is clearly editing in a partial or biased way!
Rgds
Damon
You can lose a lot of core/good members when even one mod gets rude/patronising/personal or is clearly editing in a partial or biased way!
No doubt. The mistakes I made are so obvious now I don’t understand how I missed it.
The individual forum was on a related but distinct topic from the main boards. It attracted a more ‘fan’ type of crowd. I didn’t particularly care for it but it was very active and I thought an active forum would help some future plans I had for the website it was connected to. So I was content to stay out of it.
Wow… she turned it into her own little fiefdom. Cliquish, opinionated, manipulative, never wrong. Took arguments with the people she didn’t like onto other forums. Started running the forum as if she owned it. Started disciplining members, interpreting board policy as she wanted, making her own policy… I think many members that didn’t venture into other areas of the boards thought she owned them.
On the other hand very knowledgeable about the main focus of the boards and extremely helpful to all.
Well… it’s settle down quite a bit. A ton of new members are visiting and participating in the forum which I thought was interesting.
A few of her groupies are hanging around making snide remarks directed towards me but in general the forum quickly is heading in a more positive direction.
Andy
Cliquish, opinionated, manipulative, never wrong. Took arguments with the people she didn’t like onto other forums.
ROFLMAO sounds like what my wife would be if she was a tad more computer literate... Unfortunately I am the sole recipient of her unending wisdom... [/sarcasm]
I own a forum, and haven't begun recruiting Moderators, as I'm unsure they can be trusted to be totally loyal and not upset members because they want to be God basically.
And you can't have that domineering attitude, it sets a bad example for members and potential members - it also lowers the overall image of the forum.
Not good.
no single user should be more powerful than your forum as a whole.
But they do exist on every forum, so how can you possibly avoid it. I got them on mine and it's a nightmare to control em.
Booting them won't help, as they just sign up as a new member. All I can do is to revoke moderator status and keep deleting members etc.
The former mod and about 4 of her friends would come over to the forums and make coy little remarks directed at me and bumping up the tribute thread. Most likely no one but my wife saw what was going on. I found a forum they had created and we’d see them gather there then come over to ours and post. Pretty childish…
The reason I let it go on for a week was that another moderator was having trouble accepting what I did. After a week of her saying she wasn’t sure she could continue moderating and then saying she needed time finally said we needed an answer (Thursday) and when we didn’t hear Friday we removed her.
I then banned all 5 of the trouble makers at once. I hid all the threads (I don’t delete anything) relating to it and put in one generic closed topic saying several long time members were gone and there wasn’t going to be public discussion about it.
A couple of them already had other accounts ready so it was a busy night.
The upshot and reaction for the forum to this? One big yawn.
Got the typical why did I get banned… I’m gonna sue emails but on the boards basically life as usual.
Andy
I've found it's a lot more work for them to keep joining up, than it's for me to hit a button and zap them. Ok, I may lose a potential member, but better than allowing insults that give the wrong impression.
Before you know it you will be infested with spam/fighting posts galore, so better to delete users and keep a forum clean.
The idea was never to let the banned user know he/she had been banned by making his/her posts invisible to regular user, but visible to banned users. That seemed pretty easy to implement to me, and also pretty effective. Of course, the bluff would be called if he/she had contact with other users, asking why no-one would answer his/her posts.
Another trick was to fake connection problems, slowing load speed etc.
As far as i recall, both of the above mentioned was available as plug-ins for major forum software.
Please forgive my lack of documentation, hopefully someone has the reference. It was quite an interesting thread.
-Peter
Hiding posts and no replies may frustrate a forum spammer, but you still have the problem of some idiot's posts in your forum.
Deleting is the best method, as it forces the spammers to waste time signing up. They think they won't be spotted or caught, but simply posting gives up their IP address, which can be recorded for easy identification of bullies, spammers etc. And to spam - they must make posts to peddle their stuff!
Then you have them he
[edited by: Helpinghand at 9:16 pm (utc) on April 30, 2007]
By default don't allow "goodbye " threads, as they end up as bitching sessions, or can be twisted as such.
Lock the thread with a note that board bashing isn't suitable.
Disconnect your self and others from this and remove the entire thread. Out of sight - out of mind, ofcourse I doubt this will totally stop insults as the only true way is to delete users, but it will help a lot.
[edited by: Helpinghand at 11:32 pm (utc) on April 30, 2007]
I'll be quicker to get rid of trouble makers without discussion (public at least) in the future. They don't really want to listen to reason or they won't be causing problems in the 1st place.
I remember reading a not completely unrelated topic earlier here on WW, though I do not recall the title/link.
The discussion was regarding how to handle disruptive forum members, and actually ended up having some pretty interesting plans (forgive me if I am being trivial, the ideas seemed novel to me, and I haven't yet tried to implement them).
I’ll try to look it up. I was thinking of starting another thread on how to handle irritating members. The type that fee the need to go through several times a day and reply to every post. They are friendly enough and maybe even helpful but they turn what should be informational forums into a chat room.
Andy
A post where people are enjoying themselves is good for a forum and should be encouraged.
Same rules work with forums; delete trouble as quickly as you'd delete spam; ban members who cause trouble.
There are a few topics/boards where active debate is what its all about; fine - but most forums simply don't need it. It scares other members - and worse, it puts off lurkers who would otherwise have joined.
Anyone who rejoins should banned instantly on principle; once banned, they only get in via you.
If you can create private boards "staff room" etc., that's good - you can move bad threads there, so all the mods can see what's happening.
Never reply to snotty emails from exmembers.
And finally; mods are great, you need them - but you MUST remain 'In Charge'; it isn't a democracy, it's your forum. For example, while you may put new mods up for discussion, it's your decision. Always.
Cliquish, opinionated, manipulative, never wrong. Took arguments with the people she didn’t like onto other forums.
If such a person behaved in a team like this, they would have to leave.
Unfortunately, they appear to have used your forums for their own competitive or selfish purposes and you would have a case to bring against them for damages based on using your business for their benefit.
I'm not sure you would want to do this, but i just say it. Pesonally, I would have a gentle word with this former moderator, ask her to withdraw from public comment and if there is resistance say that you will need to have the matter clarified through a lawyer's letter. [ Just my way of doing things ]. If it is business, whilst remaining decent at all times, friendship shouldn't come into it. They are seperate.
All things work better when there's good dialogue, consideration and understanding between you .... so good luck on this.
In a strong company, stakeholders appoint a board who in turn appoint a President / CEO and assist that person to appoint senior executives in specific roles.
The operation must work as a team, to a common objective along stated governance [ rules ] with good and respectful communication.
Translate this to how you would run your forums.
[edited by: Whitey at 1:08 am (utc) on May 2, 2007]
[edited by: rogerd at 2:39 pm (utc) on May 2, 2007]
[edit reason] no specifics or URLs, please [/edit]
And finally; mods are great, you need them - but you MUST remain 'In Charge'; it isn't a democracy, it's your forum. For example, while you may put new mods up for discussion, it's your decision. Always.
Our moderators seem to have a hard time understanding that for some reason. I ask their opinions but I'm very upfront that when it comes to the grey areas I make the decision... right or wrong.
In any case... everyone knows my wife and I are gone for 4 nights this weekend.... one of the gang let us know they have duplicate accounts and plan to do something.
Children... I of course will be signing on several times a day and they'll just turn the board more against them.
Whitey - Thanks for the encouragement and I hope lawyers don't get involved. College students don't have money. If it doesn't end soon I'll go to the schools about the abuse of their connection and if I can get their addresses write a letter to their parents.
Andy
If it doesn't end soon I'll go to the schools about the abuse of their connection and if I can get their addresses write a letter to their parents
I didn't appreciate it was for students - it sounds like you have a good approach to the whole thing and a lesson well learned.
Anyhow - maybe the tip would be more handy for others than in your case - good luck with sorting it out.
The idea was never to let the banned user know he/she had been banned by making his/her posts invisible to regular user, but visible to banned users. That seemed pretty easy to implement to me, and also pretty effective.
LOL that is a feature in vbulletin. Not had a chance to use it yet but seems like a pretty sweet idea!
It won't kill your site; regular folk know you have to have the occasional break.
Just put a new (locked) thread on Monday apologising for the disruption, and promising normal service has been resumed.
Net result is I got the best mods who really want to be a part of my community and respect what I am trying to achieve.
As far as members are concerned, no warnings are given. trouble is banned in the first instance and without mercy. If that means your forum takes a while longer to reach critical mass, then so be it... better to grow slowly than to end up with a forum full of sh##t in every thread... nobody wants to read that and nobody will register unless your threads are chock full of useful discussion in your niche.
Ignore rude and abusive emails. Stick to your plan. Show appreciation to quality members and loyal mods... screw everyone else. Your forum is not a democracy so make it what YOU want it to be. Make it a meritocracy.
[edited by: Asia_Expat at 4:28 am (utc) on May 6, 2007]
;)
