What is community building on 7 Cups? (a note to all of our moderators, project leader, helpers and friends)
Moderation is an important part of what our volunteer teams do here at 7 Cups. Through moderation we are able to more effectively accomplish our mission of creating safe and supportive environments throughout our community.
However, somewhere along the way, we forgot why we have moderation in the first place. Its time to step back and consider what it means to be a moderator on 7 Cups.
Everyday, there are individuals who come to 7 Cups with the intent to cause harm - sometimes in rooms, sometimes on pms and sometimes in 1-1 chats. Over the years we have developed many ways of suppressing these behaviors - one of which is giving trained moderators the ability to remove spam, send warnings and flag content.
I am not sure why - but because of this - many moderators began to see this task of spam removal as the primary purpose of their role.
Today, I am here to tell you its not. Removing inappropriate content is important and I am very thankful to all the mods out there who help here - we need you. But removing inappropriate content is only a small part of what you are tasked to do as a moderator on 7 Cups.
At the core a moderators job is to build community, support members and create a supportive and kind environment in our public spaces. This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of being a moderator at 7 Cups. You keep the spam out so you can build community. Building community on 7 Cups is the point.
If you are a mod, instead of thinking of yourself as someone who is exclusively here to help keep out spam, you must urgently start to see yourself as a community builder. The purpose of being a leader, a moderator on 7 Cups is to build community. Building community is what members benefit from, it is why they are here and it is why the come back.
How do you build community as a moderator? (there are many ways, to name a few)
-----> You are a familiar face in one room, forum or area of the site.
-----> You know the regulars in that area
-----> You host special events for the regulars in that area
-----> You help welcome new people in that area
-----> You are actively trying to know and build supportive relationships with people in this part of the community
Global vs community centered moderation is how we get there. If you are focused exclusively on building community in one part of the site, in your sub-community or project area, I applaud you. You really understand what we are trying to do here. My goal for every moderator reading this is that you will find your niche in the community and start building it up. You are a community builder of your project, your space, your role, your area… it's time to *own* this so more members can get help and feel supported.
Time to let go of viewing ourselves as ppl who exclusively combat spam and time to start embracing ourselves as deliberate and smart community builders.
Lets do this.
@Laura it couldn't have been said better! I am so glad to see our (LGBTQ+) mods and supporters in the forums being community with the members and sharing their joyces and struggles and opinions together because for me it is what makes a real community, everyone is being equal, just some people have some features or privileges but it is not making them any better 
@Laura I don't think very many see spam removal as what should be the most important part of their role.
With the amount that occurs at times though, it often does end up taking priority because doing all of the community building is pointless if people can't get to it because there's so much spam in the way.
In the forums, when spam posts take up multiple pages, it becomes difficult to filter down to posts that are deserving of responses.
In the chat rooms, the spam fills up the chat and it's not possible to see what's being said because it comes too fast to mute and scroll around it.
@AffyAvo
glad to hear affy!! Sounds like many of us are already doing this! :)
I love this @Laura !
Feeling like we belong makes such a huge difference on things, its incredible. Sometimes we can lose sight of the real reason we are here when a thousand little thing pull our attention or when a particular part of our role needs more attention that the rest.
Thank you for giving us this reminder and helping us refocus on what really matters: being there for one another and making sure everyone has a place to belong and get support.
@Laura Awesome post!
@Laura thanks for outlining how we can be community builders.
Thank you and yes lets do this ! @Laura
@Laura
There has been a spike in Moderators abusing their powers to enable very disturbing behavior in very well knowns Cess Pits in Group. Many users have had to Flee into other rooms after being harrassed by mods, some of this behavior is borderline if not criminal. There needs to be better policing.. or monitoring of some of the situations going on as this seems to be sanctioned by 7cups by not getting involved. I've witness at least 5 users (Wise Ones) in the last 24 hours..
@Paradox111 I have seen some mods behaving inappropriately too. The best thing to do is to use the report form that's linked in the chatroom rules. It does get reviewed and action does get taken although I have been frustrated sometimes with how long it takes. So report and be specific and accurate. Saying ModX is a jerk isn't going to do much. Stating that ModX was doing inappropriate behaviour Y with a specifc example is information that is useful to those who oversee the moderators.
@AffyAvo Thank you. That is very specifically what I have done.. unfortunately some users just quit 7 cups due to the bullying.. and some suffer worse MH triggering due to it
@Laura thank you laura, it puts a sense of responsability in all of us listeners as well :)
@Laura
Thank you
