Forum Nerves

[cshipman]

How do you deal with the nerves of being a mod or an admin? You have to be respnsilble for so many people, watch that they do, take care of them, almost like running a daycare or a college. I feel like the responsibility is overwhelming at times.

[Dazzal]

cshipman Hello, nice to meet you. I have been a board owner since 2007. I do have simple guidelines posted on my forum. I let members know that I do NOT mediate between members having arguments/issues. I ask them to PM each other and handle it off the board. It's unfortunate that we have to post requirements for adults, but it has happened to me. If you have a shoutbox, I stipulate in the guidelines to NOT post negative questions, and that it's only a "greetings" shoutbox. Always PM me or my 2 Mods for questions.

I also interact with the members, quoting them, as I want them to know they are heard and important to the forum. I also stipulate in guidelines to NOT spam the board or attack members, and if it happens it's up to my discretion. Other than that I don't have any other issues. I hope that helps a little.

Do you have any specific issues?

[cshipman]

Apr 30, 2019 6:39:31 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

cshipman Hello, nice to meet you. I have been a board owner since 2007. I do have simple guidelines posted on my forum. I let members know that I do NOT mediate between members having arguments/issues. I ask them to PM each other and handle it off the board. It's unfortunate that we have to post requirements for adults, but it has happened to me. If you have a shoutbox, I stipulate in the guidelines to NOT post negative questions, and that it's only a "greetings" shoutbox. Always PM me or my 2 Mods for questions.

I also interact with the members, quoting them, as I want them to know they are heard and important to the forum. I also stipulate in guidelines to NOT spam the board or attack members, and if it happens it's up to my discretion. Other than that I don't have any other issues. I hope that helps a little.

Do you have any specific issues?

Nothing that bad yet.  I am in the process of making something for my employees and business contacts and just the people who have temp access are already arguing it and using it as a way to complain about other employees.

[Retread]

Apr 30, 2019 6:21:08 GMT -8 cshipman said:

How do you deal with the nerves of being a mod or an admin? You have to be respnsilble for so many people, watch that they do, take care of them, almost like running a daycare or a college. I feel like the responsibility is overwhelming at times.

I reckon the first thing is to avoid being this guy:

[Retread]

Apr 30, 2019 6:50:58 GMT -8 cshipman said:

Nothing that bad yet.  I am in the process of making something for my employees and business contacts and just the people who have temp access are already arguing it and using it as a way to complain about other employees.

Post guidelines regarding proper behavior and decorum.
Make a special board on your forum that's hidden from public view. You can set the permissions for that board so only staff members can view and access.
If someone makes unacceptable posts or threads, move them to the non-public area and send the author a PM. Gently suggest they lighten their posting style.

Good community members will adapt.

[cshipman]

Apr 30, 2019 6:51:50 GMT -8 Retread said:

Apr 30, 2019 6:21:08 GMT -8 cshipman said:

How do you deal with the nerves of being a mod or an admin? You have to be respnsilble for so many people, watch that they do, take care of them, almost like running a daycare or a college. I feel like the responsibility is overwhelming at times.

I reckon the first thing is to avoid being this guy:

That's going to be be until I get the hang of it all.

[Dazzal]

Retread Why this: Make a board that's hidden from public view.
_____________________________

For cshipman employees forum or for everyone?

[Retread]

Apr 30, 2019 7:20:43 GMT -8 cshipman said:

That's going to be be until I get the hang of it all. :o

Yeah, I absolutely can relate. Just remember, people make mistakes, yourself included.

Your role is to create and maintain a cheerful and cordial environment. When possible, make corrective actions behind the scenes and use the PM system to guide the kids who tend to color outside the lines.

Severe actions such as banning are always an option as a last resort but start with lesser (and private) methods first.

[Retread]

Apr 30, 2019 7:26:07 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

Retread Why this: Make a board that's hidden from public view.

By moving the unacceptable posts or threads, rather than deleting them, you maintain their integrity. If you've misjudged, you can always move them back to where they came from.

Also, if the person argues about the content, you can directly and accurately quote from the hidden post, in your PM discussion.

[Dazzal]

Apr 30, 2019 7:37:55 GMT -8 Retread said:

Apr 30, 2019 7:26:07 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

Retread Why this: Make a board that's hidden from public view.

By moving the unacceptable posts or threads, rather than deleting them, you maintain their integrity. If you've misjudged, you can always move them back to where they came from.

Also, if the person argues about the content, you can directly and accurately quote from the hidden post, in your PM discussion.

Retread, I misunderstood. I thought you meant the whole forum hidden from public view.

[Retread]

Apr 30, 2019 7:39:17 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

Retread, I misunderstood. I thought you meant the whole forum hidden from public view.

Cool. You helped define a possible ambiguity in my post. I've edited it!

[Radrook]

I think that the solution is to appoint plenty of moderators and administrators to avoid having just one administrator getting swamped. The more you delegate the less the stress falls on one person. I visited a forum where almost everyone was an administrator or moderator. All chiefs no braves, as they say. Of course there weren't that many members, maybe ten at most. LOL!

[Retread]

May 20, 2019 5:22:04 GMT -8 Radrook said:

I think that the solution is to appoint plenty of moderators and administrators

That solves one problem while creating the possibility of other, far more severe, problems.

Unless you the members you are promoting to staff positions are personal friends of yours in real life or you've worked with them online for a substantial amount of time, you won't know if they share the same vision as you or have the right temperament and judgment.

Moderator powers can be stripped back to the bare minimum to prevent serious consequences but a member with Administrative level powers could devastate your entire forum if they decide to go 'rogue'.

---

Forums tend to grow slowly, so the demands on a single staff member shouldn't be overwhelming at first. By the time a forum becomes too busy for one person to handle all the tasks, other members will have had time prove their ability to add to the harmonious nature.

I would strongly recommend against putting barely known users in groups with power.

[Dazzal]

I agree Retread. I do so much better just having a small staff. Right now I have 2 Moderators and they take care of sports, entertainment and moderate games threads. When I have had more staff members, it caused more problems. Too many differences of opinions. Suggestions from them is good, but sometimes they try to control.

[Radrook]

Sorry! I didn't mean to suggest that anyone and everyone or that the-more-the-merrier policy is best in choosing administrators. As the previous posters said, that would be inviting disaster, and unfortunately, disaster is something which humans are prone to create. So great care should be taken.

What I meant to say, and should have said it more clearly, is that generally speaking, if we feel stressed-out over the amount of moderation that is being reqquired, then delegation of responsibilities should be considered as a solution.

Moses was one who wanted to do all things by himself until he listened to advice and appointed other men to help him out. Trustworthy others-of course, and not just any rifraff that happened to show up.

Exodus 18:25
…24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25So Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.…