Mod Posts - Some Rules Tweaks
Jan. 18th, 2021 02:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
olivermoss posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
transmediaclubHey all!
I am reworking the comm's rules and guidelines a bit because they seem to be confusing people. I've gotten several questions about them recently. Some of the rules and wording that has been causing confusion got added because other people specifically requested it. I've shortened and simplified the rules. I am a fan of comms haveing very few and very short rules. Long or complicated rules tends to be off-putting and confusing.
The tl:dr of the rules is: Be clear about whether a work has actual trans rep or not. Use an LJ-cut for sensitive content. Don't drag Harry Potter discourse in here, it's too big a sprawling a drama for me to know if a post or comment is vagueing about something.
Someone asked that I specify in the rules that I don't ban for one mistake. That rule seemed ominous, so I took it out. I've run comms since like 2003 and I've never banned or publicly called out anyone for anything on any LJ, DW or Discord community.
The only time I've banned someone it was from anime convention forum and I'm not going to get into that situation. Let's just say it was a clear-cut situation.
I am very sorry if that rule did help one person, but spelling all that out was making the rules long and seem like the comm had drama going on, and it hasn't so far!
I do have the comm on moderated posted because it makes my job as a mod easier. I've approved every post so far. But if there is ever a problem, that heads it off at the pass.
I don't have much time today so I'll likely take another pass at them later this week. But hopefully they are a bit clearer and shorter now!
I am reworking the comm's rules and guidelines a bit because they seem to be confusing people. I've gotten several questions about them recently. Some of the rules and wording that has been causing confusion got added because other people specifically requested it. I've shortened and simplified the rules. I am a fan of comms haveing very few and very short rules. Long or complicated rules tends to be off-putting and confusing.
The tl:dr of the rules is: Be clear about whether a work has actual trans rep or not. Use an LJ-cut for sensitive content. Don't drag Harry Potter discourse in here, it's too big a sprawling a drama for me to know if a post or comment is vagueing about something.
Someone asked that I specify in the rules that I don't ban for one mistake. That rule seemed ominous, so I took it out. I've run comms since like 2003 and I've never banned or publicly called out anyone for anything on any LJ, DW or Discord community.
The only time I've banned someone it was from anime convention forum and I'm not going to get into that situation. Let's just say it was a clear-cut situation.
I am very sorry if that rule did help one person, but spelling all that out was making the rules long and seem like the comm had drama going on, and it hasn't so far!
I do have the comm on moderated posted because it makes my job as a mod easier. I've approved every post so far. But if there is ever a problem, that heads it off at the pass.
I don't have much time today so I'll likely take another pass at them later this week. But hopefully they are a bit clearer and shorter now!
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-01-19 08:09 pm (UTC)I agree.
>> That happened a lot when some LJ mods tried to restart fandom comms on Imzy. They tried to restart Crack Van and when I asked for a posting slot I was sent 3 pages of rules and guidelines. <<
Yikes. That probably is too much. 0_o
>> I find that posting guidelines work for the old school LJ crowd but not for people who came from other spaces. I might add that if I can get the rules post super short, but the page is still too long and specific as it is.<<
I don't think it's just a matter of timing. It's about how people want to communicate. Bloggers want a big, flexible space where they can have whole conversations, or post things like videos and photos to talk about. A lot of the later services are the exact opposite -- much smaller spaces that hold less information and are more designed for idle browsing than close interactions.
Well, the more diverse and flexible and voluminous a space is, the more it needs parameters to define what it is and how to use it. Twitter doesn't need that because what you can do with it is so limited. The platform itself sets most of the rules. From there, it's just a matter of figuring out what type and amount of rules will best suit a given goal.
Just keep tweaking your site parameters until you like the way they're working. I've been creating, and coaching people on creating, online venues for decades. It's not that hard, it just takes attention. You'll figure out what works for this community. It's a promising comm.