Insight from a newbie

Over the past few weeks I have began to accommodate myself with my new role, as a forum moderator of bungie.net. It has been a fairly enlightening experience; I have always felt I had a good grasp of the rules, however understanding the line you can cross as a member is a much more straightforward than deciding how to deal with those that cross the line. To use an analogy, it is much like learning to drive a car, in contrast to riding as a passenger. You see it done all the time and you can tell whether somebody is a good driver and yet, when you get the opportunity to sit behind the wheel, it is an exciting, daunting and fairly complex ordeal; until of course the process becomes natural (a feeling I believe I am nearing, but still have a fair way to go).

I have been discussing aspects of moderation as much as possible with more senior moderators, who have been both helpful and informative. This insight has allowed better appreciation of the subtleties of the role. I admit that my performance has varied; with plenty of information to take on board there have naturally been mistakes. I have been needlessly overzealous on more than one instant and I have also been a little too lenient in other cases. Generally speaking I find the best thing to do is follow a “If in doubt: warn” policy for more minor offences, in order to ensure users are not unfairly banned and so that other ninjas can spot any patterns of users deviating from the rules – although I have banned first and questioned later a little more regularly than is wise. There is also a vast number of novel circumstances to consider that mean that there is a need to constantly change and adapt your judgement. However, all things considered, the fact I can see my flaws and am willing to work on them should be seen as a positive attribute.

What I now need to do is strike a comfortable balance. Not just for the community, but for myself. It would be very easy to ban users who break every tiny rule, however doing so would likely starve members of air and it would make the website an unpleasant place to be. It would also ultimately lead to personal segregation from the community, the thing that has kept me coming back over the past few years.

What I currently feel is the best policy and how I feel I should conduct my duties, is to appreciate that members ultimately come to this website to have fun. Minor offences shouldn’t be overly troubled with or considered a problem. I tried to moderate in a harsh manner for a short period and it felt wrong, users were banned for justifiable reasons, but the bans were also fairly petty when one considers the grand scheme of things. To second guess my actions and to be borderline inconsistent, is worrying. With this considered I have decided to take an alternative outlook on the task. It is better to post in a polite manner, contribute, get involved, help members and treat them on as equal footing as possible, than attempt to rule with an iron fist. We are instructed to be rule enforcers; however I feel there is more to it.

The decision comes down to this. As a moderator you make a choice: you either allow the rules to take priority, or you allow the community to take priority. Some might argue those are the same thing and I partly agree, but I feel there is a difference (albeit a subtle one). The best thing I can do is target those most detrimental to the user experience. Flaming, inappropriate posting, discrimination, flamebaiting, spam, bartering, shock sites etc... They will all be met without mercy. Threads will be locked, users warned and banned for other things, but the community should be held above the mundane. You must be able to spot, or rather make a judgement call upon whether users were intentionally deviating, or unknowingly crossing a small boundary and it is that difference that preserves the community and differentiates whether a user is a respectable moderator or a good one. By no means am I anywhere near that point, but I thought it would be a nice idea to share my thought process!