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Creating a welcoming community hinges on effective moderation, shaping the way members engage and connect. 

Every community has its unique way of maintaining this delicate balance, and I've been lucky to collaborate with a standout teammate, @arminfpop, in enhancing our moderation strategies while injecting that human touch into his interactions.

 

Armin has shared great practices that serve as the bedrock for moderation in communities. These practices are suitable for any community, but can be especially powerful for early stage communities (first 3-6 months).

 

 

The 3 key guidelines are Encourage, Guide and Prescribe.

  1. Encourage: Foster a culture where members engage not only with the community team but also with each other, cultivating a lively exchange of ideas.
  2. Guide: Direct members toward trending topics, showcasing them and guiding interactions for a positive engagement experience.
  3. Prescribe: Introduce specific categories or areas for new users, steering them toward active engagement zones.

Most of all, it’s important to find the perfect harmony among these guidelines, ensuring diverse exploration for the members beyond their expertise or product interests.

 

✍️ When it comes to regular community moderation, what's your absolute go-to guideline?

 

We moderate our communities by following three core beliefs:

1: If you can make a difference, do. If you can’t then don’t engage. Making a difference also means being the first one to answer a topic when it’s been sitting there for a while without any other interaction = you’re making a difference to that user. Making a difference specifically means stepping in to gently correct misconceptions and disinformation.

2: Angry users are passionate users. If you didn’t hear from them, you would have a problem you wouldn’t even know about. Them reaching out and being angry means that they’re disappointed in you, and that’s something you can do something about. Let them have their rant, but contain it, and absolutely always try your best to help them with whatever their challenge is. Making a difference to a passionate/angry user can often turn the tides on that particular user’s engagement with your company as a whole. 

3: And finally: Don’t steer too hard. There has never been a more efficient community killer, than overenthusiastic moderation. Let the users engage among each other. A topic going slightly off topic is great for atmosphere and that Community Feeling.

Thank you for sharing these @Ditte 🙌🏼

I genuinely can’t pick a favorite from the ones you shared - but the 3rd one, i think that one really needs to be a daunting reminder in the back of our heads always. To really know when to let the reigns go to the community members for engaging amongst themselves.

Thanks for adding your thoughts, @Ditte! I love your second point around using your users’ passion to your advantage. I wholeheartedly agree with you - anger oftentimes come from a place of passion and deep care, so engaging users where they are is a great way to make them feel heard and allow you to improve the community. 😄

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