[extropy-chat] Moderation suggestions from Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Hal Finney hal at finney.org
Fri Jan 28 20:15:43 UTC 2005


Found this linked from boingboing.net.  It's more oriented towards
moderating blog comments but I think many of the points are relevant
to email discussion lists as well.

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006036.html#006036

> Some things I know about moderating conversations in virtual space:
>
> 1. There can be no ongoing discourse without some degree of moderation,
> if only to kill off the hardcore trolls. It takes rather more moderation
> than that to create a complex, nuanced, civil discourse. If you want
> that to happen, you have to give of yourself. Providing the space but
> not tending the conversation is like expecting that your front yard will
> automatically turn itself into a garden.
>
> 2. Once you have a well-established online conversation space, with
> enough regulars to explain the local mores to newcomers, they'll do
> a lot of the policing themselves.
>
> 3. You own the space. You host the conversation. You don't own the
> community. Respect their needs. For instance, if you're going away for
> a while, don't shut down your comment area. Give them an open thread
> to play with, so they'll still be there when you get back.
>
> 4. Message persistence rewards people who write good comments.
>
> 5. Over-specific rules are an invitation to people who get off on gaming
> the system.
>
> 6. Civil speech and impassioned speech are not opposed and mutually
> exclusive sets. Being interesting trumps any amount of conventional
> politeness.
>
> 7. Things to cherish: Your regulars. A sense of community. Real
> expertise. Genuine engagement with the subject under
> discussion. Outstanding performances. Helping others. Cooperation in
> maintenance of a good conversation. Taking the time to teach newbies
> the ropes.
>
> All these things should be rewarded with your attention and praise. And
> if you get a particularly good comment, consider adding it to the
> original post.
>
> 8. Grant more lenience to participants who are only part-time jerks,
> as long as they're valuable the rest of the time.
>
> 9. If you judge that a post is offensive, upsetting, or just plain
> unpleasant, it's important to get rid of it, or at least make it
> hard to read. Do it as quickly as possible. There's no more useless
> advice than to tell people to just ignore such things. We can't. We
> automatically read what falls under our eyes.
>
> 10. Another important rule: You can let one jeering, unpleasant jerk hang
> around for a while, but the minute you get two or more of them egging
> each other on, they both have to go, and all their recent messages with
> them. There are others like them prowling the net, looking for just that
> kind of situation. More of them will turn up, and they'll encourage
> each other to behave more and more outrageously. Kill them quickly and
> have no regrets.
>
> 11. You can't automate intelligence. In theory, systems like
> Slashdot's ought to work better than they do. Maintaining a conversation
> is a task for human beings.
>
> 12. Disemvowelling works. Consider it.
>
> 13. If someone you've disemvowelled comes back and behaves, forgive and
> forget their earlier gaffes. You're acting in the service of civility,
> not abstract justice.



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