A New Mod's First Encounter: Mod-Threatening Behavior

Hihey, everyone! Nice to see you here. I'm a new Moderator on the block and today I had my first encounter with a member who disliked mebecause I was a Moderator. This post will mainly be to express hownew Moderators who are first experiencing this type of situation might feel and to help those new Moderators alongusing everything that I've learned so far. Yes, this does mean I'll be saying some things that I didn't do and should have done, haha. This post actually helps me too, as it gives me a chance to organize my thoughts.So, let's get started!

The Fear Connected to Mod-Threatening Behavior

Let's be real. We all have that fear of losing our Group Mod badge whether it be for one reason or another. The fear is even worse, however, if you just gained the badgenot too long ago. As new Moderators, we're always double-checking ourselves and we try very, very hard not to displease anyone along the way. That's why when such a dramatic event happens to someone who just became part of the team, he/she is most likely to panic. (Including me! Very much including me!)We've all heard those stories about how the role of a Moderator is super fragile and that one or two complaints meanthat you should start flailing your arms around. In fact, some of our Members/Guests know this too, reporting Moderators for reasons that either didn't happen the way they describe it or didn't happen at all. It's not much wonder of why we're a little nervous right after someone confronts us. Although the fear is still existent, one way that our marvelous managers have tried to fix this problem is by creating the Mod Log. You can use the Mod Log to report others using your side of the story. We're all usually nervous when a Member/Guest threatens to report you for a situation, but have faith in that our managers will do their best to understand what happened and will act accordingly. They chose you in the first place, and they will try to keep that hope alive.

After Mod-Threatening Behavior Is No Longer a Current Issue

After all of the drama has faded, calm yourself down! Try to lift your mood up. Maybe even take a little break. Self-care is definitely important, and also, being the amazing person you are, you wouldn't wish to be spreading your negative mood around in the group chats and 1-on-1 chats. Realize that the Member/Guest who was acting accordingly could've chosen any other Moderator to try to start a conflict with. You were only there by chance, and you were eventually going to run into this type of situation sooner or later. At least, now you have the relevant experience and you know how you can deal with similar situations in the future! You could even grab some tips from Dan117and Cadence'sgreat guide here. Also, don't be afraid to talk to a Peer Support about what happened.They're so amazing, I'm sure all of them would be willing to speak with you about anything that's bothered you throughout the occurrence.

Getting Back into the Group

Now that you're feeling better, you know what to do next. Start moderating, yet again! We do have some difficult participants in the group chats from time to time, but many of our Members/Guests are very friendly, and, after talking to them,you'll forget about the incident in a heartbeat. Dramatic things will happen, it's guaranteed, but you can handle it. You have the whole team by your side. And if you think you need just a bit more support, you can check out Heather's post about twins and coaching systems here, just to tie everything together.

Thanks For Reading!

A big shout-out to you, my fellow and future Group Moderators, who are doing a wonderful job of keeping the group chats a safe and pleasant space for guests and members. You're all the best.

And, obviously, we thank our managers for keeping everything in order and improving the community to the best of their ability.

Those who will attemptGroup Moderatorand current Group Moderators will be tagged in this space so that they can read it beforehand and/or share it with others as they see fit. [This will be mainly my closefriends so that no one gets a random alert, haha.] @Nina007 @Ace13 @DanielThePhilosopher@ViataEVerde @MelAllyouneedislove @izza @ZaraSmiles@Softball900 @ListenerJake@MaddyIsHere@EvangelineLover- Sorry if I missed anyone!