To have a good forum I think you need to get back to basics. I believe that banning people is the last thing done in most cases. And that a good excuse and/or an apoligy could be better in some cases. A good explanation or apoligy for a first time offence may create a good member who will contribute to the community. A good moderator is one who can compromise and who is not opinionated. It would be great if there was was some way of giving feedback for decisions made by moderators without getting banned. A good moderator promotes a forum with his/her positive energy.
I also agree that Scritty would make a great moderator.
A forum is a place where you can share your opinions and stories with people who have the same interests. And it can be a part of marketing for experts here on BHW. Forum moderators keep forum sites clean from spam and other vulgar and malicious doings.
But what it takes to become a good forum moderator? Does it require lots of positive qualities? Does patience, flexibility, dedication, play an important part?
Below is the list of some qualities that it takes to become a good moderator:
•Patience
To become a forum moderator, you need to be patient. A forum moderator interacts with forum members as well as deal with them most of the time. Forum members have different personalities, thus a forum moderator needs to be patient to deal with them.
•Self Control
A forum moderator must learn how to control himself from any members who may offend him/her in a personal way. Always stick to the rules of the forum and as much as possible do not tolerate abusive forum members. Always present a good example to everyone.
•Flexibility
A forum moderator needs to be flexible enough to handle forum-related tasks. Sometimes there are lots of different requests made by valuable forum members and the forum moderator along with the forum administrator comply with this request. For instance, research is needed in the discussions, and forum moderators are doing research just to post relevant data for the members as well as for the visitors of the forum.
•Well-liked by Forum Members/Visitors
Who wants to have a forum moderator hated by forum members? Of course every forum administrator wants to have a forum moderator who is well-liked and well-respected by the forum members. Someone who is disputable may drive forum members to leave the forum.
•Dedication and Commitment
Moderators also help create content for the forum. They devote their time for the forum. They work very hard in behalf of the forum members. Some moderators are paid, and others are not, but one thing they have in common is their genuine desire to keep the forum run smoothly.
•Good Interpersonal Skills
Good forum moderators can generally control their feelings and emotions that emerged in difficult situations and respond appropriately. Having good interpersonal skills increase the productivity of an organization since conflict is reduce.
•Communicates Effectively
Forums may sometimes get spammed and infested by members (who use forums only for their marketing) who never read the rules before posting. Or, they just don't care. Moderators need to interact with these people who violate the rules and should try not to offend members because not all violators are spammers. They should also be able to communicate with correct spelling and grammar in a proper and polite way.
•Trustworthy
Trust is very important, not only in business but also in all aspects of life. A forum administrator gives his utmost trust to moderators believing that the forum will be clean from spam and other non-related forum posts. Moderators should not tolerate abusive members and should not ignore violations and penalties of any members.
All forums need good forum moderators. Moderating a forum is a team effort and the ideas should be weighed fairly, decided upon, and agreed based on the context of the forum policies. So, do you have what it takes to be a moderator on BHW?
I believe a system should be in place whereby members can rate or communicate with moderators without fear of getting banned. And, that a system should be in place to let members rate their experience with moderators. Or, if there is an issue the member is able to say if it was resolved or not.
One thing I want to say is that most of the moderators here on BHW are the best that I have experienced. They do lots of work of work on and off the forum to help BHW run smoothly. Thanks to those moderators we can enjoy BHW!
