What do you think of community involvement in creating community rules & guidelines?

[Deleted member 29780]

Hello everyone!

So in an attempt to be more transparent with my community (CF), I have involved my community in making our rules and guidelines and have even released our moderation guidelines. In an attempt to be more transparent and trustworthy as a community.

So first things first, I created a set of rules and guidelines I came up with on the top of my head. And then released to the community, which I had @John and @Joshua Farrell kindly go over. After posting, I received feedback and adapted the TR&G to member suggestions. Then I wrote the moderation guidelines, this sets out conditions and rules that staff must follow when dealing with certain issues. So at Code Forum, we have a chart and based on the type of rule broken equals what type of disciplinary action shall be enforced. I believe this helps prevent abuse of power and shows the community what their moderators must follow.

Keep in mind, there's no deadline for the community to suggest rule changes; if a community member recommends something and we agree on it then we'll add it.

So what do you think? I can share our current rules and guidelines later. And do you think FP could benefit from this?

 

[TechWiz18]

I think collaborating with the community to establish rules and guidelines is a pretty great idea. I think you'd need to have some sort of voting system for suggestions so that you aren't just going off of someone's idea for a rule and implementing it 😛

FP may be able to benefit from such a collaboration it'd be interesting to see how it went.

 

[Deleted member 29780]

I think collaborating with the community to establish rules and guidelines is a pretty great idea. I think you'd need to have some sort of voting system for suggestions so that you aren't just going off of someone's idea for a rule and implementing it 😛

FP may be able to benefit from such a collaboration it'd be interesting to see how it went.

Of course! A voting system of popular ideas and whichever has the most votes gets added! 🙂

 

[Deleted member 7467]

I strongly advise against a popular vote for rules. You don’t want to give that much control over to the community. You can use votes to help gather user input but ultimately, the administration should reserve policy rights. Strong collaboration with the community is still good though. Just don’t implement simply because a popular vote leans in one direction even if the cons outweigh the pros.

 

[Deleted member 29780]

I strongly advise against a popular vote for rules. You don’t want to give that much control over to the community. You can use votes to help gather user input but ultimately, the administration should reserve policy rights. Strong collaboration with the community is still good though. Just don’t implement simply because a popular vote leans in one direction even if the cons outweigh the pros.

I'm assuming you're thinking about security/privacy rules? Of course, as an owner and due to laws and policies of CF, I have to ensure the protection of accounts and privacy so anything that infringes those policies and or laws I'd ultimately overrule. Thanks for brining that up!

 

[TechWiz18]

I strongly advise against a popular vote for rules. You don’t want to give that much control over to the community. You can use votes to help gather user input but ultimately, the administration should reserve policy rights. Strong collaboration with the community is still good though. Just don’t implement simply because a popular vote leans in one direction even if the cons outweigh the pros.

I agree that community input should be strongly considered but perhaps letting them pick isn't exactly the right direction in some cases, especially if it doesn't work with your vision for your community.

 

[Deleted member 29780]

I agree that community input should be strongly considered but perhaps letting them pick isn't exactly the right direction in some cases, especially if it doesn't work with your vision for your community.

+1 to that as well, and as I said regarding the security/privacy this would also include the vision of the community. Geez, you guys are making me think of all areas, I appreciate that so much! 🙂

 

[Deleted member 7467]

I'm assuming you're thinking about security/privacy rules? Of course, as an owner and due to laws and policies of CF, I have to ensure the protection of accounts and privacy so anything that infringes those policies and or laws I'd ultimately overrule. Thanks for brining that up!

Anything really. I think the methodology you outlined in your OP is sufficient. I would just always note something like, “While we take input into consideration, the ultimate decision will be made on what is best for the overall community.”

 

[USHost247]

Anything really. I think the methodology you outlined in your OP is sufficient. I would just always note something like, “While we take input into consideration, the ultimate decision will be made on what is best for the overall community.”

I fully support transparency for the community from staff, but I wouldn't fully hand off the torch in their hands for them to make the final call on rules and regulations. Although, I would heavily consider their thoughts on what has been drafted at that moment.

 

[Deleted member 29780]

It wouldn’t be handing over the torch but more keeping them involved. An involved community is a strong community.

 

[Deleted member 7467]

It wouldn’t be handing over the torch but more keeping them involved. An involved community is a strong community.

A voting system with the winner being added like you mentioned would be handing the torch over to your community. I like polls but I’m wary of communities that don’t hold to their own beliefs. I guess what I’m trying to convey is, watch verbiage like you mentioned above “vote and the winner gets added.” I wouldn’t make that guarantee in a live setting

 

[Deleted member 29780]

A voting system with the winner being added like you mentioned would be handing the torch over to your community. I like polls but I’m wary of communities that don’t hold to their own beliefs. I guess what I’m trying to convey is, watch verbiage like you mentioned above “vote and the winner gets added.” I wouldn’t make that guarantee in a live setting

Sorry! But what I’m thinking of utilizing is the community suggests and votes on adding or modifying an existing a rule. But however I’ll look over the result and determine if it’s a suited solution for our community and decide to approve or disapprove. How is that? Or should I rework this out? The point is I’ll always yay or nay based off community needs.

 

[Deleted member 7467]

Sorry! But what I’m thinking of utilizing is the community suggests and votes on adding or modifying an existing a rule. But however I’ll look over the result and determine if it’s a suited solution for our community and decide to approve or disapprove. How is that? Or should I rework this out? The point is I’ll always yay or nay based off community needs.

I think asking for input and polling is great. I would just add a notice stating that the ultimate decision will be made based on factors including staff commentary, community commentary, and what’s best to meet the community mission. Make it clear that the poll is not a guarantee course of action.

 

[Jon]

I think it's a great idea to form moderation guidelines as it keeps the moderating of members and posts consistent. Reaching out to other webmasters for input on the guidelines is also never a bad idea as it allows for a different, unbiased perspective. I believe being transparent with the community and clearly displaying the rules and regulations is a must as it gives everyone a chance to first understand what is and isn't acceptable.

 

[overcast]

I feel sometimes too much community and the management involvement creates more chaos. And the person at the top has to take the tough calls. So how much to include the staff and how much to include community should be owners call.