Getting Started

Moderation is a complicated subject with a variety of topics. This guide will have a few cheat sheets for specific scenarios, but most cases are complex and require you to develop different skills. By the end of this chapter, you'll have the basic tools to begin developing these skills. Don't be upset if you don't get it right the first time or if you need help from another staff member. As we'll discuss later, collaboration is key and you should allow other to help and guide you.

It's not just rules

It is important to remember why moderation is required in online spaces. Most online social spaces have some kind of code of conduct to follow, and members are required to follow these rules. These rules can be split into two categories.

Systematic Rules

Systematic rules are rules put in place to inform users how to act in accordance with standard procedures. For example, a support server may require tickets to be filed in a specific way for it to be considered valid. Preferably, these types of rules should be implemented inherently into systems using permissions and design. However, this is not always possible or realistic, and so the rules must be communicated and consciously noted by users. One systematic rule we have on TNW is to keep all content in English.

When a user breaks a systematic rule, it usually is not a severe or hostile incident. Most often, systematic rules are broken out of forgetfulness, ignorance, or on accident, and their consequences are usually mild.

Behavioral Rules

Behavioral rules are the rules we'll be focusing most heavily on in this chapter because they are the most important to a community's health. Behavioral rules define how users should behave towards one another in the space.

A community's health can be measured by the friendliness and kindness of the users within the community. A healthy community fosters an environment where people can feel safe and trust each other.

In an ideal world, an online space would only need one behavioral rule: to be kind and courteous to others. However, differing life experiences result in different ideas of what "kind and courteous" means, which can result in conflict. Establishing a more precise set of behavioral rules that defines the expectations allows all users to agree upon common ground.