[Debate] Member Management & Rule Enforcement

[Former Member]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
*Probably more on the lenient side... We have alot of debate but I don't let it get to the point of name calling/personal attacks.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
*Yes, although it always depends on the situation and what exactly is occuring... The longer a person has been there does depend on how well you know them and their form of posting, so you basically know what to expect from the one's who've been there the longest.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
*Good. Fairness is the way to go...

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
*I really don't have one. I don't do warning bars or anything, because I think that embarrasses members to have that in their profile. I basically just remove offensive posts if needed (although it's seldom needed.) But if it does happen continuously for days or weeks with the same member, I'll pm them and respectfully talk to them about what's going on, tell them to back off on another member, or whatever the issue is. This usually works, but if it keeps up continuously after this they get banned. Several banned members have later been welcomed back after their time out for awhile and getting them away from whatever is making them act out. Most are happy to come back later when it blows over... It's sad that it sometimes takes this, but some people continue to be disrespctful even after you ask them to stop. Most though, usually stop the behavior after one or two deleted posts, but if not they most always stop after my pm. Most are respectful but of cource you meet all walks of people on these forums and never know what to expect. For the most part, we haven't had too many problems and it's been way more good than bad.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
*My method is to treat all members well, and let them know that they all play the part in meaning something to our board, because they do... Members want to be where they feel comfortable and know they are appreciated. My methods of dealing with issues are probably answered best in the last question response.

[the infection____]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
--- I dont like to think of myself as strict unless I need to be. I'm pretty laid back and I'll let members do what they want as long as it doesn't get out of hand and no one gets their feelings hurt.
-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
--- I do in the sense that 'if you have been on the site longer you should have known better.' everyone is responsible for their own decisions, and if a member is causing problems it doesn't matter to me how long they've been around.
-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
--- Good, definitely.
-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
--- as of yet, I haven't had to use the warning system. In the event that I need to use it:
1st offense: 25% warning.
2nd offense: 50% warning.
3rd offense: 75-100% warning.
Any further offenses will hold a temporary ban. If it is something serious, like breaking TOS it goes immediately to third offense or ban. I'm only lenient until someone goes too far.
-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
--- BE NICE. be welcoming and caring. Listen to what people have to say and take suggestions with open arms. Would you rather have a caring community or a hateful community?

[kathy025]

Are you generally strict or lenient?
Lenient. I can let a few minor things slide depending on the situation.

Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
To a degree, yes. When a certain member has been around for long and I know he/she is not usually like that, I'll check into why the member has acted that way. Still, being objective regardless of who's new and who's a long-time member will stay the same.

Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Good.

If you have a warning system, how does it work?
Warning is based on the severity of the offense (e.g. spamming, flaming, stealing, etc.). 100% of course equates to a ban. But before the ultimatum, the member's account may be frozen first. If no behavioral improvement ensues, banning is imminent.

What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Do not use the rules as an excuse to abuse admin/staff powers. While keeping order in the forum, show your members you are still fair, unprejudiced, unbiased, and considerate.

[littlebabe322]

Are you generally strict or lenient?

When it comes to the rules I will say I'm strict. However, when it comes to everything else I'm pretty lenient and understanding.

Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?

Yes of course, to the troublesome members we give them a fair warning and if they choose to abuse it then that would be their fault.

Do you believe consistency is good or bad?

Definitely good, no matter who the person is every member should be treated equally and with open arms. If they respect me/the staff then I/we will respect them as an individual.

If you have a warning system, how does it work?

We have the three warning system actually make that six warnings. First three warnings are us PMing the member about their situation and let them know that they need to fix whatever issue they have. We will also put them on our "list of people to watch". The next three warnings are using the "warning system" proboards has with the red bar. We will do 75% warning for the 4th warning, 50% for the 5th warning and then they will be banned from the site after the sixth warning.

What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?

I say it's definitely all about communicating with not only your members but your staff as well. Be very helpful & friendly to all newbies and guests. Let them know of the many places they can post should a staff member not be online to answer their questions. So long as the site is a friendly environment and can help out anyone that comes by no matter the age, I think that's what helps manages a forum. Oh and also keeping it very active.

[Crystal]

I try not to be too lenient. I sometimes have a problem with "feeling bad" if I am too strict as well - so I try to be careful from the get go and to try and to take the other member in consideration before dealing with them at all. I try to add a verbal (or written) warning, usually in a PM where no warning bar - nothing else was used. A simple "hey, this is inappropriate" or "hey, you should do this" or something ~ to give them the benefit of the doubt that they simply didn't know, or that they accidentally made an error.

I also look at posting in wrong boards differently too - because I've been there as a new member and even as an older member, when I was almost positive I had posted in the right board but I had the wrong tab up. I simply said something like "Oops! >.< A moderator, please move this" ~ an apology within my post, at the bottom, and it generally goes by smoothly from there, with a simple move. Annoying, yes? But I've been there - so when someone makes such simple mistakes, I definitely just remind them or move it if I think it was an honest mistake. I'll warn them when I think they just didn't know, beyond that.

Also, I try to include a "punishment layout" on all of my rules, so that members know what the general protocol is. What happens when you make the first mistake, as to the third or fifth. I also have a reset feature - usually a month of not making a single mistake is a good time to "reset" and make them as if they've made no mistakes at all, and it seems fair too. If they are constantly messing up then it just makes sense that they either need help or they are disregarding the rules. I privately message way before I use a warning bar, and I use a warning bar way before a ban - and I usually ban for a week before a month or longer. It really depends on the rule, but I always liked the old "set them up for success" speech myself.

I will add in that I do consider how long a member has been apart of my forum but that I do not play favorites. If they can't play nicely with the new kids and they also refuse to listen to my reprimands (or kind reminders) to do such - or just to simply abide by the rules, when it's not a simple error - then they are held under the same stipulations. It's not fair to play favorites - it sets up a bad taste in others' mouths and it's not a forum I would want to be apart of (simply because I've been apart of a very large, very successful "favorites" site and didn't like it even when I was on the favorites side of things, which wasn't easy.)

[Andrew]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?

I would say I'm very lenient, on my new proboard, I do not have a single rule written anywhere, as I hate being on a forum that is bombarded with loads of rules. In my opinion, members should know from what not to post and why.


-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership
when dealing with troublesome members or drama?

My forum is new so I can't really answer this, but if a member has served a forum for years and years, posts regularly then suddenly commits an offence worthy of a ban, then it would be very hard for an admin to ban them. So I understand why admins do this.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?

Consistency is good, as it shows that you are fair and treat every member the same.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?

I don't have a warning system, as I think they're wrong. If a member steps out of line, then I won't show the whole forum that he has stepped out of line by giving him an ugly red warning level that sticks in his profile for months. If a member does commit offence, then I will deal with it privately and it will be between me and them. Also, warning levels can make members leave, I know when right on here on PBS, a couple of years ago I used a naughty word which came across as offensive and rude, I was given a 25% warning level which would go down by 5% each month. Now, in those 5 months I don't think I bothered posting, it's embarrassing posting around with a warning level, so I didn't bother coming on here at all in those 5 months, only the PM the staff member who gave it to me to tell them to decrease it by 5% at the end of each month.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)

I have found so far that right here, on the PBS is a good way of getting members, I have got 2 members so far on my forum and both have come from the PBS in some way or another.

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

Aug 20, 2012 3:35:18 GMT -8 Andrew said:

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?

I don't have a warning system, as I think they're wrong. If a member steps out of line, then I won't show the whole forum that he has stepped out of line by giving him an ugly red warning level that sticks in his profile for months. If a member does commit offence, then I will deal with it privately and it will be between me and them. Also, warning levels can make members leave, I know when right on here on PBS, a couple of years ago I used a naughty word which came across as offensive and rude, I was given a 25% warning level which would go down by 5% each month. Now, in those 5 months I don't think I bothered posting, it's embarrassing posting around with a warning level, so I didn't bother coming on here at all in those 5 months, only the PM the staff member who gave it to me to tell them to decrease it by 5% at the end of each month.

Warning Systems aren't necessarily public. It depends on what setting the Admin has it on. Personally, I keep that viewable by staff and the member only, so you and the staff would be the only ones that could see this.

[Shentino]

The most important part of any rule enforcement is that a potential rule breaker should, if they care, be able to easily predict what will happen if they do something "bad". When you discipline a forum member the WORST thing that can happen is for the punishment to be a surprise even after the fact. If the offender or a bystander can drop a jaw at seeing the punishment (and they're genuinely surprised, and not just using the incident as an opportunity to troll), then you have made a mistake. Perhaps in not explaining your rules, perhaps in misunderstanding the situation, perhaps in something else, but if a disciplinary action results in genuine surprise, you or your staff have made a big mistake somewhere.

Discipline is supposed to be boring for everyone involved.

[bigbob]

Are you generally strict or lenient?
Very lenient, on my own site. I have certain rules in place which are just common sense, and those I'll get very annoyed at having broken (I won't allow bickering, spamming, bigotry, offensive language, porn, or illegal files) As long as my members use common sense, I won't bother with punishing them.

Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
To a minor degree. I believe with a bit of a helping hand, in the form of forgiveness and guidance when they step out of line, they'll learn fairly quickly.

Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
I believe it to be highly important.. As has already been mentioned several times, it is important to appear as unbiased. Also, I believe a little forgiveness will go a long way.

If you have a warning system, how does it work?
So far, there has not been a need for a warning system - the members are fairly good at regulating themselves. I don't like to ban. I will PM or email the the offender and the problem will usually get ironed out with no ill feelings toward each other. Any problems with members is kept in the strictest confidence (with the exception of other moderators just so they are aware and can watch the member in question). As I stated before, a little forgiveness will go a long way, but I also like for the offender realize there are consequences resulting from the things we know are wrong even if they are forgiven.

What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
I think that all we really need to do is to interact in a friendly way and encourage members not to form cliques, but rather to think of every member as a part of one big family. Also, this includes members that may occasionally break rules, whether intentionally or not. These people will be dealt with one-on-one by PM or email. Sometimes I'll ask them to put themselves in my shoes as if THEY were the Admin and then they will be asked what punishment would be fair, and go from there.

Below is an example of the rules to abide by in my forums.
This may be located at: rapsquad.boards.net

Forum Rules
============================
1: Strictly No Bickering.
2: Respect all other members.
3: No Racial or Religious Bigotry Allowed.
4: No Spamming allowed.
5: No Offensive Language or Postings.
6: No Posting of Illegal Files.
7: No Posting Pornographic Pictures.
8: Subjects must be posted under the correct topic.
9: All members MUST be age thirteen (13) and above to join. No exceptions.
10: If you have a NovaWorld account, your user name in these forums MUST match that of your NovaWorld account.
11: ANY using of the forums or PMs to harass, alarm, annoy, or to verbally attack someone will be banned indefinitely.
12: Post at least one post a month to for your account to remain active. We want to know if you are still kicking or not.

The Admin reserves the right to change these rules when and as they see fit so please check regularly.

[Hacksaw Hugglemonster]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
It depends on what it is and it depends on my mood really. I have a good story of what happened last July. A staff member, who was the 2nd leading poster behind me, was causing a small bit of drama. Both of us were the cause of it since we got in so many arguments, mainly about sports but we'd kind of get out of hand in those. With our strict policy against drama, this lasted 1-2 weeks surprisingly before he got banned. This caused a huge member riot and the ban lasted 2 weeks before he was placed on a 3-month probation. Now today, he is a staff member once again. But some rules I'm strict on, drama I am no matter who you are. And the one depending on my mood and stuff is the rule of where you can't discuss any spoilers in the main chat, it'd have to be in Live or Discussion Thread. I'm more strict with this since we got more infractions and we have provided place to talk about events like that, so there's no reason to do it in the main chat, so we put in a new ruling system on how to deal with this.
-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
It hurts when somebody you know for a while begins to all of a sudden try to stir the boiling drama pot and break rules of the forum. But at the end of the day, you got to keep the forum in order and in alignment, or others will break rules and the forum will become a terrible place to spend your free time.
-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
I still think how rules are enforced are a case by case basis. Depends on my mood, what was done, how many times, etc.
-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
As I've said, case by case. But we put in a specific warning level system for putting spoilers in the main chat, we're gonna see how that works. But for any other rule, I'm unsure of any set warning level method. But I do like to personal message members when they break rules or get out of hand, it sometimes works, sometimes don't. It is the least I can do since they are my friends and it is a pretty fair warning. If they do the same again, nobody really can blame me for taking action in warning level or a chat/forum ban.
-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
It depends on the member. Everyone is different, I know that. Some just like to cause drama and choose not to learn a lesson, even when they are giving a chat ban or a warning level or a nice friendly PM to tell them to cool it. I've only had a few times where one nice friendly PM didn't work, but they are significant enough to know it isn't a 100% turnout, not even 75. BUT! I have found the perfect solution. If a member is out of hand and I think it'd be best for a break, I'd ban them from the forum, chat, everything. Then I'd give it a bit until I think things have calmed down and it is best for them to return, and if they've contacted me in other ways (Facebook, Twitter, E-Mail, Chatango PC, other member, etc) that they want to come back. I have found out that a Probation works! Put this member on a Probation, I originally thought 6 months but 3 months is the best solution. Put the member on a 3 month probation and do NOT give them their old account back! Make them create a new account, it signals a fresh start. I have tried this with several people, and it has worked 100% so far. They know if they screw up once on the probation, they are gone for good. I've had 4 probations I can think of off top of my head, and all has worked. Members come back on their best behavior. And that story I was talking about earlier? That member came back on a probation and is now staff, so it is really an effective system and I recommend this.

[Athene?]

Are you generally strict or lenient?
Lenient and laid back.
I only get strict when it's absolutely necessary.


Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Yes. Usually I don't have issues with long term members. It's the new ones. I've found that new members are pretty good and reasonable when I address the issue.
This has worked quite well on the sites I admin and co-admin and moderate.


Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Consistency IMHO is good though.
*not quite sure on how to answer the question*

If you have a warning system, how does it work?
It's on a case to case basis. Depends on the severity of the member's conduct whilst not following the rules of the forum.

What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
(For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
Make the forum fun and friendly. Treat members like you would your family with courtesy and respect.
Don't like to ban a member. I just give them a polite warning and that seems to do the trick.
Also, I don't allow any spam on my forums and disputes from other sites.
I have a forum FAQ listed that I request all new members and regular members to read.
The rules of my forums are clearly listed in the FAQ.

[Camille]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
Lenient. Since my forum is a fansite for an actor, and most of my members have met the actor and have been on set while he was working, the atmosphere of my forum is that of sharing information, pictures and latest news regarding the actor. It's all about sharing on my site. No one ever steps out of bounds, so I have never had to actually admin/moderate the board.  Members themselves are very conscious of what would be against TOS.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Never have had a troublesome member. We are all united for a common cause. Everyone is always respectful of each other.  But yes, if a member did become "troublesome," the length of time they have been a member would definitely affect how their behavior would be handled. 

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Sure, consistency is good but there is nothing wrong with a little spontaneity to wake us up.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
No warning system.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Bring fresh news to the board consistently. Very important.
Also, post a lot of pictures of the actor and share occasional tidbits of our private lives.
(Even in our best times we had only about twelve members that regularly posted. That has dropped off to about four. It will pick back up again once the actor has a recurring role in a regular television show.)
Finding new fans/members is always a priority, but hard.
Having a contest or some fun games to play is also nice.
Praise and congratulate members regularly. Be interested in them. Be interested in what they post.

[Cazzie]

Hmmm, let's do this properly for once.

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
Pretty lenient tbh. I've only ever had to give two members warnings ever, (And that was becuase the second one retailated after the first one started a fight.) though I used to be pretty strict about image sizes because I had the smallest monitor resolution on my forum.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Sort of... I take their previous behaviour into account, which is easier to do if I've known them longer. It helpos that I know , or at least have met, a lot of my members IRL so when one of them says "I wasn't trolling! My friend got onto my laptop and started messing around!" I have sufficient evidence of their character to know if that's likely. (Which in this case, the member was being truthful.)

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Super super important! Sometimes it's better to quietly discipline someone, and there are other times where it's about justice being seen to be done. Although people's behaviour towards me or other members either IRL or in other online spaces is sometimes taken into account. Like, the guy who spends an hour trying to convince me not to up his warning meter is much less likely to get the benefit of the doubt in later altercations than the guy who says "I was wrong and I shouldn't have done that. Sorry!"

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
They get a [x%] warning when they break rules and it goes down by the same increment every [x] number of posts, assuming I don't lose track. It feels better than a time-based system, which would allow a troll to just wait until their warning drops before appearing again. (Although if somebody did that they would just get banned outright). I've had to use it on two people. Ever. And that was over the same incident.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
My forum is basically me and my friends and their friends and their friends' friends, so I'm generally pretty informal with them all. Although I do try to at least pretend to be mature when I'm posting admin-y things or announcements. Most of my "managing" ends up being moving threads, sticking things behind spoiler tags, and making pretty graphics. (Although our current organisation system is very simplified and a result of the moderators' work because we had too many empty boards and the categorisation system was too complicated to really justify it.)

[Cuethelaugh]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
I used to be super friendly and lenient with rules but then I got burned more than a few times. Now we're pretty strict about rules regardless of how long we know a member or not. Rules are there for a reason and honestly our rules are simple enough that anyone would be able to follow them. IE: No drama and be respectful. That's really about it.
Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
We honestly do. That being said if the person has a HISTORY of drama the length of being a member means nothing. They've had enough chances to 'right' themselves. Our MAIN problem member had been a member for about a year. Nothing really all that special about her characters (in fact most people were bored with them) and she had a long history of causing drama.. With admins.. With members.. So we booted her and also banned her. Recently she tried to come back and we not only banned her but then another person who signed up (who knew her) who was trying to cyberbully for her (obviously sent by her). Yes he didn't necessarily do much (just stuff here and there) but that sort of drama we are not lenient with at all.
-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Good of course!
-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
We do a 3 strikes you're out system however if what they did is ridiculously outrageous.. They're gone.
-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Listening to your members is the most important while also maintaining your original vision. That way everyone has invested interest.

[The girl who waited]

-Are you generally strict or leinient?
Leinient. I don't have time to babysit people. However, if it's a major problem, I will NOT hesitate to give someone their walking papers (even staffers.) I've done it before, though the situation was VERY serious.
-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
It's always good!
-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
I don't have a "Formal" one-ie, the plugin-but I do it via PMs, so there's a paper trail. I, too, use a three-strikes type thing, unless the breach is huge.
-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Being as active as you expect your members to be...