In reference to my last user drama thread

[Agent_Zero]

How do you manage user arguments without micromanaging? Where do you draw the line? Do you ever think getting involved has made it worse?

 

[Cosmic]

Usually I like to draw a line in the sand. When a thread gets out of control, I do not lock the thread, but instead post telling people to cool down. From that post, I hide/split/remove any posts which reply to the thread that would cause any issues. This does a much better job of stopping arguments than locking a thread, because if you lock a thread, someone will just create another to respond. You don't have to send a warning to someone when removing their post. Usually just removing it sends the message, if it's removed from a contravserial thread that the person will check back on.

 

[Agent_Zero]

I am at a loss over where to draw the line. It's kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of thing right now. I do agree that locking a thread will not help. When you say you split threads, do you mean you are able to remove the off topic comments and make them into a thread of their own?

 

[Tindris]

So I haven't read your previous thread, but I am going to try offer some advice anyway. In situations like this, it really depends how many people are involved in the situation. Is it just 2 or 3 members behaving like this all the time, or is it a large majority of your community?

If it is 2 or 3 people, even if they are extremely active members of your community, are they really worth keeping around? Sometimes it is better to take the temporary drop in activity over the constant spreading of poison.

If it is a large majority of the community, this becomes a lot harder. There are multiple ways you can deal with it, one being to be completely honest with your members. Give them a simple option, where do they want to go from here? You can also choose to crack down with your moderation, but that requires a lot of effort and skill.

 

[Nebulous]

How do you manage user arguments without micromanaging? Where do you draw the line? Do you ever think getting involved has made it worse?

Getting involved does make things worse. At least is has turned out that way for me. Instead of being neutral, you're bound to pick a side and alienate someone.

The only way to handle this type of problem is to stay out of it, tell the people arguing to take it elsewhere (email, skype, etc). If it continues on your open forums for everyone to see, consequences/punishments will be the next step.

 

[Migi]

I am at a loss over where to draw the line. It's kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of thing right now.

Do you mean drawing a line of what is allowed and what is not?

Anyways, the damage has been done. At least now you know that you have a weakness in your original concept. Everyone must have done a mistake in their life, so don't pressure yourself too hard. But also remember to take notice of the situation and improve yourself to avoid the same thing happening in the future.

And since as you said "damned if you do, damned if you don't", just go ahead and do whatever you need to control whatever damage the situation has caused to the forum. My advice in your other thread still stands. You can't let it keep on going and turn other members away from your forum.

Getting involved will always get matters worse. Nobody likes someone else butt in their problems, especially when it seems like he knows nothing of the situation. But that is your responsibility being an admin/founder/owner, to solve this kind of situation. It's an annoying feeling, but that is the truth. So take your time, weigh your options, and decide on one which you think will cause least damage to the community and which you will not regret.

 

[Cosmic]

I am at a loss over where to draw the line. It's kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of thing right now. I do agree that locking a thread will not help. When you say you split threads, do you mean you are able to remove the off topic comments and make them into a thread of their own?

I more meant splitting the posts into a trash can forum. I very rarely split them off into publicly visible threads.

 

[Agent_Zero]

Yes, many users are upset over everything that happened. I'm upset as well and I have a few members that are well liked that I wish would just log out and stay gone. The mod who had dragged up the rate war into my inbox and made it an official staff problem left and is now being seen as a martyr.

I don't know what to think. I want to have a nice community but I feel so many of the members are just not worth wasting my money and time on. I have people that I once really liked from other forums now on my dislike list and I am just so tired of the fighting and drama.

 

[Migi]

Yes, many users are upset over everything that happened. I'm upset as well and I have a few members that are well liked that I wish would just log out and stay gone. The mod who had dragged up the rate war into my inbox and made it an official staff problem left and is now being seen as a martyr.

I think most forums have temporary banning system. You can use that to give them some time off the forum to think about the situation. You can't easily change someone's opinion. At least try to talk to them, if it won't work and they cause trouble around the forum give them a temporary ban, if they still cause problem when they return that means they can't respect difference in opinions and therefore can be given permanent ban.

 

[Cosmic]

There's also mod queue, although I guess the users might complain that they're being censored. It's still a step short of a permanent ban which I think is pretty effective, though.

 

[Agent_Zero]

I think things are starting to settle down.

I started a quarantine group for some members which restricts them from being able to post in public forums. There is a hidden forum for advanced members of the site called the drama llama and they are restricted to that forum if they cause too much trouble. I had to quarantine a friend today and that was hard to do but it seems to have opened a lot of people's eyes about the sites expectations and neutrality.

I also have a shadow ban feature and have shadow banned one person so far who just likes to jump around and post one line digs at people and leave. He is now invisible to everyone but does not know he can not be seen.

I feel the site is still too new to be handing out bans but I did ban one profile that was an alt profile of another member that he was using to post pictures of others.

Moderating is hard but some people are stepping up and defending me and posting great threads in support. I'm also happy for the people from this forum that recently posted threads and comments so there are some nice contributions to take the spot light away from some of the drama.

I'm so glad I joined this forum to have a place to talk with other admins and get some support and feedback. Best thing I ever did.

 

[Migi]

I feel the site is still too new to be handing out bans but I did ban one profile that was an alt profile of another member that he was using to post pictures of others.

I disagree if age of a forum decides whether its owner is allowed to ban a member or not. A troublemaker is still a troublemaker, regardless of the age of the forum or the situation. As long as it is handled with careful consideration, it is legal to do so.