It can be difficult to pin down a firm
set of universal rules for moderating online discussions. Much of
this is simply because what is considered acceptable varies so
drastically from community to community. For instance, an official
church message board will have very different standards than
someplace like 4chan. However, if there is a universal rule of good
moderation, it is that a community must have a clear and precise set
of rules they promise to abide by. Writing these rules can be
difficult, for the same reasons that it's difficult to write clear
and precise programming specifications. But the process can also be a
powerful tool to discover what it actually is that defines your
community.
I agree that well-defined rules of engagement are necessary for an online community. Unfortunately, there will always be trolls that come out of the woodwork to antagonize the community.
ReplyDeleteMany community sites already have rules, but it's nearly impossible to enforce them. Community enforcement means the trolls will just not punish other trolls. Moderator enforcement leads to bad things, I've seen targeted XDA moderators do terrible things to a sub forum.
ReplyDelete