Most people have visited a message board at one time or another in
their life. I would guess that the vast majority has never posted
anything at all, preferring just to lurk (view) rather than to
contribute their ideas and thoughts. Most of those that have
contributed have posted useful input to discussions which are valued
by many of the subscribers to the board.
It's the small minority, however, which has created the need for
moderators. These are the people who read all of the articles and
comments posted to a board and ensure that they are suitable for the
audience.
Moderators are very necessary. If you've ever visited a board (or the
near cousins: newsgroups and elists) which is not moderated, you know
exactly what I mean. These often are filled with spam of the worst
sort: silly money making programs and pornography. Quite often they
degenerate into meaningless collections of junk visited by no one
except automated spamming programs.
I always find it sad when I visit a board in this condition. I mean
someone put some effort into creating a community on the web, then
for whatever reason neglected or abandoned it. The truly sad boards
are those that were obviously active, useful areas full of vibrant
communications which have degenerated into uselessness. It's exactly
the same feeling I get every time I visit the long abandoned
Marineland in Southern California. Kind of an uncomfortable, ghost-
town-like spookiness of the wrongness that permeates the area.
What is the job of a moderator?
Some boards require user registration. In very strictly moderated
boards, a moderator must approve each person who registers to access
the board. This allows some measure of control over who can post.
Security levels can further restrict what visitors can do.
Good judgment in allowing people to join the group can obviate the
need for extreme policing of postings. In other words, don't allow
the bad apples into the barrel in the first place.
Postings are policed. You can have two forms of moderation. In one
form, articles are posted automatically. They are reviewed by the
moderator after they are posted to the board. Moderators can delete
postings which do not measure up to board standards. Personally, I
dislike this kind of moderation, since unnecessary postings are
available for reading until the moderator reviews them.
In the second form, a moderator must review each posting before it
appears on the board. This makes for a cleaner experience, although
it demands a lot more work from the moderator.
Ensuring the board remains on-topic. The best message boards stick to
one or more specific topics. A major job of a good moderator is to
review postings to ensure that they are of the same subject as the
board. At the very least, off-topic threads should be discouraged
quickly or gently moved to other, more appropriate arenas.
Minimize flaming. Flames are critical or derogatory remarks. A flame
war is kind of like a shouting match where insults are hurled between
people until they all flee, exhausted and battered. Good moderators
gently prod people into posting responsibly by discouraging flaming.
Eject troublemakers and spammers. As moderators read through
postings, it can become obvious very quickly that there is a
troublemaker in the group. These troublemakers need to be handled -
either by gentle persuasion or more harsh measures if necessary. In
fact, the moderator must be ready to eject severe troublemakers from
the group if these people are continually causing problems.
The best boards are good because they remain on-topic and the
communications between individuals is civil and useful. A good
moderator works to ensure that this remains true so that everyone can
benefit from the community as well as contribute to the discussions
in an intelligent manner.
The best moderators work with the board members to create an
environment which is enjoyable and beneficial to all. A bad moderator
can produce the feeling that one is being watched by the Gestapo or
secret police, where every word is watched and postings are often
deleted without apparent cause or need.
Members of the board need to feel that their comments are desired and
valued. Randomly deleting large numbers of postings for no apparent
reason other than the moderator disagrees will certainly cause a
board to become useless and empty of life. In fact, one of the things
that can make a board truly outstanding is lively (not insulting or
demeaning but lively) discussions about various topics.
And that's really the job of a board moderator. To ensure that the
board remains viable, active and alive. To promote and ensure that an
environment exists where people can post without threat or fear. And
to be sure that disagreements do not flare into all-out warfare.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
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