How to Moderate an Online Group

Moderating an online group--whether it's a message board, a Yahoo! group, or a community on LiveJournal--takes some skill. You'll need to have patience and a thick skin, since members of your group may criticize your moderating style. You should also be a role model when you post your own comments to the group, showing class and restraint even during a heated debate.

Instructions

1. Have clear membership and posting rules. Depending on the subject matter and the group of people who are likely to participate, you may want loose or strict rules about membership and commenting etiquette. Some groups have close to an "anything goes" attitude about what types of comments and posts are allowed, while others have strict rules about what isn't allowed, with strict punishments (such as being banned from the group) for repeatedly breaking the rules. Whatever approach you take, make sure the rules and any penalties for breaking them are clearly stated where group members can easily access them.

2. Consider appointing a co-moderator. Occasionally, you will get sick or will go on vacation. Those are just the times someone will want to join the group or a "flamewar" will break out. When that happens, it's nice to have a co-moderator watching your online group. This also means you will have someone to turn to for a second opinion when any kind of controversy breaks out in the group.

3. Introduce yourself and any co-moderators. You should also make sure group members know how to contact you. Group members will appreciate knowing who you are, why you're interested in the topic of the group and how to reach you in case they have a question about the group or run into a problem, including being harassed by another member.

4. Make clear, obvious announcements when there's a change in the rules or a change in who is moderating or how to contact the moderators. You may want to let the group members know that discussions about the rules should generally be addressed privately and one-on-one with the moderator rather than clogging up the group with endless debates about online etiquette or minor points in the community rules.

5. Be a role model. If you make posts or comments to the group, make sure you're following both the letter and the spirit of the rules, and keep things civil. Also, it helps to make it clear when you're moderating and when you're just commenting as a member of the group.

6. Enforce the rules evenly--no favoritism. If personal attacks are against the rule, you must not come down hard on someone who annoys you while giving a pass to a friend for similar behavior. Again, this applies to your own comments in the group.

7. Be fair, but don't be rigid. People join online groups for support or for fun, and not to be scolded, so don't take rule enforcement to an extreme. One situation in which you might want to make an exception to the advice about enforcing rules evenly is giving newbies a break. Some online groups have a "Three Strikes and You're Out" rule, just so newbies can make an occasional mistake without being immediately banned. You may also want to extend a benefit of the doubt to a long-term member who has made many positive contributions if he has a bad day and inadvertently violates one of the group's rules.

8. Realize that some people may join your group with different expectations about the group's mission or purpose. For instance, you may moderate an online group about relationships with a focus on discussion and personal growth. Someone may join who tries to treat the group as a place to pick up dates. This doesn't mean you have to either ban the member or change the focus of your group. However, it does mean that disagreements may break out from time to time if you don't understand that different people will bring different expectations to your group.

9. Remember that an online group is not a democracy. Rules about posting and commenting really are necessary if you want to keep conversation civil, but some members may get upset and criticize you for "censoring" them when you discipline them for breaking rules. Obviously, you shouldn't shut down a useful conversation just because it makes you uncomfortable. However, ultimately, if the member feels her freedom of speech is being suppressed when you enforce the rules, she can start her own group with her own rules somewhere else.