How do forum members act when you are not around?

[Beverly]

I'm an avid gamer and own a very large clan in an MMORPG game. And, one thing I have found to be very frustrating is how people act in my clan chat when i'm not around. I get reports from my clan moderators that perfectly nice people were acting up, trolling, harassing others and acting totally out of character. And, this type of behavior is very puzzling as these people are perfectly friendly when I'm around. And, I think maybe this is a phenomenon that happens on forums too. When people see the 'boss' around, they act nice and behave. But when the forum owner or admin takes hiatus for a few hours, the real nature comes out. To combat this, you will need reliable moderators who will actually tell you what's going on behind your back. Also, you might consider installing spies in your forum, such as under cover moderators who don't have mod title. These people would silently supervise without interfering and make notes of how people are acting when you're not around. Ideally, you will want to keep the under cover status of your forum spy even a secret from other moderators, so their behavior can be covertly observed too.

 

[Miss K.]

Or, have an alt and 'forget' to mention that it's you

I was a WoW guild leader for 3 years and yeah, sometimes I'd come online and have people tell me that so-and-so had done this-and-that while I was offline. Most of the time I just spoke to the member in question about it, got their side of the story and reminded them what appropriate behaviour was.

 

[PandahFish]

Haha, I love the title of this topic. Brings back memories. Every single member acted the same way when I was around cause we were like family. But there was always this one member who talked bad about me and whenever I came on he would act all friendly towards me or just "Away" from my chatbox. He was such a pain to deal with.

 

[wasi90lk]

My method is very simple - if someone is breaking the law, I will give warning. Repeated offense will result in ban.

I do not think you need undercover moderators in forums.

 

[milksheikh]

I think they should act like they would when I am around. Either way, I will have staff members checking out for the forum while Im gone.