Moderator Appreciation Day

Posted by Kim on July 2, 2015, 10:07am

The power that the internet has to create communities cannot be overstated. But we all know that it also has downsides -- body language is lost and it's much easier to accidentally insult someone or pick a fight than in real life. Anonymity lets some people feel free to be feckless or outright cruel. Different cultural assumptions cause unexpected clashes. It's almost inevitable that we all have an occasional screw up or bad day that impacts other people, out there somewhere in the world. And it is so easy for these problems to become the norm, turning a previously friendly community into a never ending flame war.

If you are a part of an online community, group or game with more than three members and it isn't a toxic pit of drama and name calling (or mostly isn't), it's probably that way because there are moderators in that community working their butts off to keep the atmosphere positive, welcoming and productive.

When doing their job well, most moderators are completely invisible to members who aren't directly involved in an issue, so they often get little credit for the good that they do.

When they are visible to a member, it's usually because they are asking someone to make a minor correction to something they said to bring it back in line with a guideline or even just to prevent it from being potentially misread as rude. Unfortunately, no one likes to be corrected. However minor the request, it usually inspires high emotion in the recipient.

It sucks to be told you did something wrong. Even when you actually did. Even when it was extremely minor. Even when the moderator in question isn't angry or judgmental or particularly emotionally invested at all because it's a minor correction they make about a dozen times a week and view as a tiny mistake that's no big deal.

All this adds up to moderating being a difficult job where the main thanks you get is being treated like an unreasonable, totalitarian monster, who should be taunted and defied instead of spoken to. When the mods do get a pleasant response and a thank you for the job they're doing, it's like a little nugget of gold.

But this shouldn't be the way that moderators are treated. Without excellent moderators, the entire internet would be on fire all of the time. It would be a wasteland where no one could venture. We need moderators, those brave souls who protect our psyches with their own.

That's why we set aside one day every year to remember to thank the moderators in the communities that we love. If you know a moderator here or elsewhere that seems to be keeping a community from going off the rails, let them know that you've noticed their hard work, and that you appreciate it.

For my part, I want to extend a personal big thanks to the RPR mod team: Ben, Copper_Dragon, Darth_Angelus, Loki and SeraphicStar.

And thanks to our previous moderators: Dylan, Sanne and Sherlock.

Post tags: Moderator Appreciation Day

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Comments

Sasheth

July 2, 2015
12:30pm

The moderators of RPR are actually one of the many great things I bring up when praising or explaining what RPR it is to my friends. Load's of thanks to all moderators, but especially to you guys!>w<

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