Community Moderation Policy - Let’s Design it Together
Chelsea Robinson
Public
Seen by 177
This Loomio Community group is one of the most important parts of Loomio and our work here online, and we love engaging with each and every one of you. Our crowdfunding campaign is going to explode next week and we're hoping our exposure will increase dramatically, all around the world.
With more people in the conversation, we think this group might grow in size and more people will join the community. As this community group grows, how do you want to enhance and protect the quality of your experience in this group?
Inclusive groups are inclusive because of principles which make it safe for everyone to participate effectively, and a strong culture of respect and open communication. What principles would we like to uphold about how we interact here no matter how big, how global, how diverse we get?
We believe in the best in people, which is why we’re making a tool so all voices can be heard. But we all know that sometimes you have to draw a line. Where should that line be drawn? What kind of behavior would necessitate moderators stepping in, or having to make someone leave the community? These are worst case scenarios, but understanding these boundaries is how we nurture the best case scenarios.
Let's start by talking about what we love about Loomio Community group, and develop some principles from there for protecting what we love as we grow and change. We are trying to develop the first iteration of a moderation policy this week (although it will always be evolving) so if you have thoughts about this, have your say!
Benjamin Knight
Sat 8 Mar 2014 3:19AM
Feels like a really great starting point
David G.
Sat 8 Mar 2014 2:38PM
An excellent starting point. Changes can be made down the road as experiene dictates.
Alina Siegfried
Sat 8 Mar 2014 11:38PM
Really good starting point, thanks Alanna. I feel good knowing that we have this before we throw ourselves into the limelight.
Theodore Taptiklis Thu 6 Mar 2014 4:59AM
The other thing would be to look for real examples and experiences of people 'crossing the line' and focus on those rather than looking for a blanket solution.
Alanna Irving Thu 6 Mar 2014 5:21AM
Up to now, no one has really "crossed the line" - we've never had to kick anyone out. But I think it's likely that someday someone will troll for the sake of trolling. In that instance, relationship building won't really help because they were never valuing the relationship in the first place. I fully expect that kind of situation to be extremely rare. But when it happens, I want us to have a mandate to kick them out.
Fernando Nunes Thu 6 Mar 2014 12:12PM
Congrats, @alanna. The text got awesome!
Benjamin Knight Sat 8 Mar 2014 3:19AM
Figuring out how to treat situations where a person's behaviour is excluding others has got to be the core challenge of any community that seeks to be truly inclusive.
I think this is a great first iteration of a clearly laid out process. Really like the emphasis on principles and shared purpose
goob Sat 8 Mar 2014 3:47PM
Is there a means of reading the proposal for those of us who don't use Google?
Richard D. Bartlett Sat 8 Mar 2014 9:23PM
@goob here it is on Etherpad: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/AxZP6TfL91
Theodore Taptiklis · Thu 6 Mar 2014 4:58AM
I think there's a really practical solution here. And it doesn't require considering the worst that could happen and building a worst-case solution.
My suggestion is that you look at this question through the lens of relationship. People's expectations around conversational conduct on Loomio will be set before they get into a discussion. So the character of the initial invitation and the unfolding of the process that gets to the discussion will set the tone for what happens in a particular case.
A crucial difference between Loomio and other online forums is that people join as a member of a group. So the unspoken but nonetheless present character of the relationship between group members will strongly influence the way people speak to one another. So i don't think you have to invent rules of conduct...they will already be present and able to be drawn upon.
I think this group membership is a huge asset for Loomio. So I would be strongly tempted to avoid moderation in favour of encouraging the group to self-police its conduct. So there could be a meta-conversation where one person could call another out - of course, in a productive and positive way. Maybe you could have an example of doing this on the site somewhere.
My sense is that members of Loomio groups looking out for each other is closer to the ethos you are building than either a list of rules or an external moderation policy.