Make moderator actions public or private

[MisterBobbyPin]

Something that I notice forum owners do when they want to show how "professional" their forum is, is by making what the mods do public on the forums. I'm taking about listing not just bans but warnings and thread bans as well. Do you think this is a good idea?

 

[Kale]

Yes, seen it on a few forums before. I honestly am not against it at all. I feel like being transparent about bans and other stuff is best to do. I've never seen much drama or issues out of it as long as the staff were up front about it.

 

[Arantor]

I tend not to be that transparent because it's almost inevitably drama fuel.

The reality is that on most communities, the troublemakers are understood by the majority to be troublemakers so no explanation should be needed and if the question is asked, "They were conducting themselves in a way that is not in accordance with our rules." Nothing more than that needs to be said and it's often best to stop the discussion there because letting the community relitigate bans is also usually drama fuel.

 

[Kale]

I tend not to be that transparent because it's almost inevitably drama fuel.

Yeah, true. On one forum the ban list is public, and honestly that's not too bad. Most of the bans seemed to be for legit reasons outside of just the usual spam/spambot.

The reality is that on most communities, the troublemakers are understood by the majority to be troublemakers so no explanation should be needed and if the question is asked, "They were conducting themselves in a way that is not in accordance with our rules." Nothing more than that needs to be said and it's often best to stop the discussion there because letting the community relitigate bans is also usually drama fuel.

That sounds like the best thing to say honestly. I'd also maybe state that it's up to the banned user if they wish to disclose their ban reason to people. Sometimes giving out the true ban reason could become some form of drama too.

 

[Aaron]

I personally feel it has nothing to do with individual members except when there's a group of users complaining about the same person then I might let them all know. Half the time I wouldn't even tell a user who reports someone else what happened with the reported user.

 

[Heatman]

I personally feel it has nothing to do with individual members except when there's a group of users complaining about the same person then I might let them all know. Half the time I wouldn't even tell a user who reports someone else what happened with the reported user.

Staff duties are confidential if you're looking at being a professional with running your forum. If there's an aggrieved member who's got something to say about any particular staff, I will have an investigation conducted in order to find out the truth which I will follow up to fixing whatever that's been off the line.

 

[Cory]

I don't think it's really anyone else's business what staff actions are taken against them. This isn't the news channel where every perpetrator is announced for their crimes throughout the world, this is a message board where telling other users about another user's conduct is likely just to stir up some drama in the community. It's usually the same with businesses where the manager has no right to tell an employee why someone else was fired, I think the same can be said for message boards too.

 

[Heatman]

I don't think it's really anyone else's business what staff actions are taken against them. This isn't the news channel where every perpetrator is announced for their crimes throughout the world, this is a message board where telling other users about another user's conduct is likely just to stir up some drama in the community. It's usually the same with businesses where the manager has no right to tell an employee why someone else was fired, I think the same can be said for message boards too.

It's the same way I see it too. I have confidence in all my staff that I know they are capable of carrying out their duties and responsibilities without any bias.

With that in mind, there's no way other members are to be privy to how they do their jobs. As long as my staff are objective, I'm very okay with their job.

 

[Reverie]

So while I've never done this, I can see some positivity to it, however I wouldn't make it all transparent. The warnings aren't really necessary - unless having to ban someone. It can be made transparent. Sometimes members haven't seen the whole picture and decide they want to revolt because they aren't happy with actions. I don't know if I would necessarily make this topic... but it is an interesting concept to make.

I typically ask my staff just to make notes in the warning logs so that way we can review it, and if anyone else decides they need a warning we as a staff team can view the history.