Hi guys,
just wanted to talk about some moderation tips and tricks i've found while being a moderator.
(1) You're going to want to not be racist/sexist/otherwise bigoted. It is not enough to not be racist/sexist/otherwise bigoted, you must actually take an affirmative stance against those views in your community. If people are racist/sexist/otherwise bigoted, then people in those groups will not feel comfortable in your community. Do we really need an all white sausage fest? (Refpsi, don't answer). Everyone is deserving of respect, and race, gender, sexual orientation, or parental status, among others, provide no reason for discrimination.
(2) You're going to want to take feedback with open ears. If people criticize you, you have to look at it and try to adopt it into your moderation practices. For example, if people say you aren't transparent, you should try to be more transparent.
(3) when people criticize you, you can't fly off the handles in a rage. If you do that, how can you moderate? Moderating may be a hard thing to do from time to time, but you have to have a strong constitution if you wish to be up to the task. Even if people insult you, that is just part of the job, and you have to put up with it. Sometimes you turn into a punching bag for people, and this is ok; you have to have a backbone, you can't be a baby.
(4) Read all the posts: this is the forum that you moderate. If there is a contentious discussion, you should read all the posts so that way you know where people are coming from. If you refuse to read the posts, it seems clear that you have no interest in moderating in a fair way.
(5) Don't ban people for disagreeing with you. Bans should be meted out only when strictly necessary. If somebody disagrees with you over moderation practices, you should not ban them. Instead, you should look at their criticism with interest. supra 2.
All in all, places i moderate have been fairly happy with my moderation. Hope this helps you all in your moderating endeavors, here and otherwise.
Thanks,
WinkieDuck