Attack of the mods!
Something I've noticed is that when there's a disturbance in one of the support rooms, you can get an abundance of mods swarming to that chatroom, sometimes as many as up to five to seven. It's great that people are willing to come to help and provide support when another mod or member asks for it, but having so many moderators in one room at once is really upsetting to a lot of the room's participants, and can cause other rooms to be neglected as a result.
I've also noticed that the group mod zone in the listener rooms is often unoccupied, or has a long list of usernames of people who've popped in and then out again as soon as they realize nobody is around. I know sitting in there by yourself is unappealing, but I think if we all started at least being present in the GMZ room while we moderate, it would be much easier to communicate requests for support and not have a massive response.
That would potentially help one aspect of the problem, but it wouldn't help a great deal if members or guests hop rooms asking for mods. Maybe having another link at the bottom of the chatroom rules or a button at the top of the room that would send out a message to active mods, or a message sent to the group mod zone along the lines of "A moderator has been requested in the X chatroom." and then whoever was in there could say "mine" and go?
I don't know if that would be a feasable option, but I'd be really interested to hear ideas, suggestions or opinions if you've got them!
@AcinonyxGreat post, and I like the suggestion you offered. I feel that GMZ has great potentialand purpose that are not used completely and I agree that trying to change this around could potentially solve at least some of problems and lack of communication between Group Moderators.
Thanks, @Maku! I think the GMZ has great potential, too, if people use it, but aside from mod discussions, I haven't seen it used any time I've been in there. I'm going to start hanging out in there a little more, though, so hopefully it becomes a little more used!
You know@Acinonyx This is a lovely post. Its constructive and helpful. You offer the problem and then you offer some really really good solutions, lets see what @heather thinks of your ideas. :)
Thank you, @Jaelin! I'm glad you like it, and that you think my suggestions have merit!
The "this is the problem and this is a possible solution" is so refreshing to see. Thank you @Acinonyx! :)
I'm glad! If I complain, I always try to come up with a suggestion on how to fix it, otherwise what's the point, right? =P
Hi @Acinonyx ! WheneverI log in , I leave a message that I'll be around for XX hours and members can PM me if they need me for any issue. (Perhaps other Mods can try the same) Along with that we have an emergency form which you can use to call Group Mod Leaders in case of emergency.
When there is a spam attack, at times it is tough for one Mod to handle the situation alone. I guess it is ok to have more mods in a room if there is an emergency.
Howdy, @Apple74! Thanks for responding and providing all that information! That's really great to know!
What I mean with this thread is not so much about emergencies and needing a group mod leader, but more about an excessive number of mods appearing when one chat room has a problem. Kind of like... say you only need a little bit of cinnamon to make a cake, but when you tap the jar over the bowl, a larger amount than you expected just spills out. It's having too great of a response to, often times, something that only requires one or two people to solve.
It's fantastic that people are so willing to take action when a request for support comes! It's really inspiring to see, and in some cases, it can be absolutely helpful! I don't mean to imply anything negative about the effort and dedication people put into moderating--only that, in this regard, I think it can harm our interactions with the chatrooms.
Usually, it's a case where the group support room doesn't have a moderator in it when something happens (i.e. inappropriate conversation, trolls, etc.), so listeners participating in the chatroom go to LS or the Community Room and ask for mods. In that case, you can get 2-3 mods appearing at once to try and help clear the situation up. Alternatively, if something happens and no mods or listeners are around, other guests/members will go to another room to look for moderators, and when they find one, they'll ask them to go help out in the other chatroom. They'll move through all the chatrooms and ask as many moderators as they can find, so you can get anywhere between 1-5 moving to the conflicted chatroom to try and resolve the issue.
I agree when you say that spamming can be difficult to control on your own, and I don't have a problem with having 2 or so mods in a room at once, but I've found that more than 2 makes guests and members really uneasy a lot of the time. I was moderating in some of the support rooms today, and on three separate occasions, I got commentary from the people I was talking with about how moderating works, if we're on a schedule, and side-eye remarks about how "you never see a moderator until there's a problem and then three are there". I think a big part of it is the mistrust people have for mods right now and a disconnect between the authority and realizing that we're just regular people like them--and volunteers, to boot!
By creating this thread, I was intending to survey the moderating community to see whether it's just me that feels this way, or if others have, too, and maybe put a couple of suggestions out there to see if there's anything we, as a community, can do to make everyone--guests, members, listeners and mods--feel better about how we do things.
Hi! Thanks for this awesome post! I'm a teen mod and I've noticed this issue a lot too! Sometimes I may just be lurking because the chatroom doesn't ever say I am in the Welcome room or the Teen support, and if all appears to be well then I might not mod I'll check in with PMs. However, I notice an issue I'll come in. Maybe a lot of mods do this also (lurk when the chatroom doesn't say we are there) because as soon as I see an issue and say hello BAM 2 other mods come in. I think lurking is okay as long as there's no issues, but it's hard when we don't know who else is there. This could just be times zones - there are a few of us teen mods that are just on around the same time. I know Heather had made something up for shifts, but I can't do that because I don't always know when I'll be on. So I come on when I can. I think you're right though, especially when there's an overwhelming unbalance of mods and members it can create them not wanting to talk, even more so because we all mod so much differently. Try don't know what we each will do or say, and it may feel like they don't have a voice or any power. I try to do what Apple said with I'll be for XX amount of time, or use the form if there's an emergency. Thanks for this post! (Ps, sorry for any bad format or tying errors, I'm on my phone and unable to format it better :(
Hey, Mikaela! Thanks for the insight, and no worries about the formatting! I'm impressed that you did it through the app at all!
You're definitely right that a moderator's presence can scare some members away, or even cause them to leave the chatroom! Lurking is definitely an option, but like you say, can be hard when you don't know if anyone else is moderating, too. It would be super handy if we could have a really small, secondary chat window right next to the main support chat just for moderators to communicate within the chatroom if there are several. That's probably pretty unfeasible, though! =P
Thanks for your perspective! It was great to hear!
I don't really understand why a lot of moderaters would be a disruption to the members in the chat rooms. I think having a lot of people showing support and caring is a good thing. If you mean they are all going to a single room and there are no mods in another room, I do understand that though.
I find member support group chat rooms to be discouraging and even toxic sometimes, it's not always fun to be in there. I feel it's easy to upset someone and then get accuzed of something, and it's not even really possible to see the original chat because of the chat going by so quickly, and by then, many people are angry over what they think happened and are abusive, inappropriate, rude and critical and it's a huge mess.
The shocking thing to me is, it's supposed to be a group full of adults, that is insane behavior for adults. That is downright inappropriate apauling behavior. I don't know what age the members are and if they are around 18 and early 20s, I suppose I get it, but if it's from anyone over 30, I just can't even believe it. We are here to be supportive, adults, not stubbern children, and that goes for everyone.
I personally just can't deal with being attacked like that, and it's happened a few times. I'm new here, I'm not perfect, however I do try to say things in the best way I can. I understand that I have room for inprovement, but I'd not be here if I didn't care. I don't apprechiate on any level being attacked, much less by a mob of people, and much worse if a listener jumps on the hate train. Like what is even going on?
I'm not against making mistakes. I'm going to mess up, I'm going to say things in the wrong way, I'm going to say the wrong things. That's how life is, that's how we learn. However while I'm tripping over my feet and say something to upset people, did anyone ever think for one second that I never meant to upset anyone? Did anyone ever think for a second what my goals were when I said what I said? I don't think so. and I'm not trying to say we have bad moderaters. because we don't, I'm mostly ending up venting over the banwagon hated, but still, it hurts me.
I'm very fragile, I'm very sensative. I understand I do things that aren't on the mark, and I am willing to get better, however when people talk to me about it, I truly need them to be gentle and kind. I have been abused all my life, terrible terrible abuse ever since I was a small child and even by men when I got older. I can't deal with this.
I suppose this post has turned for the worst for me. I'm going to express my fears a bit more. I am scared of group chat rooms, but not only from the members attacking me, but from some of the unsupportivemembers who have hurt me as well. I am however forever thankful to some of the peer support and moderaters who have talked with me in a respectful and empathetic way about how i've been struggling with this, and I am very grateful. However I still have my fears of the group chats. It's not even the group chats, I'm afraid as a whole. I'm afraid of unkind listeners, I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing and anger someone.
I want people to understand that I want to be a great listener. I want people to understand that I truly care! However I am damaged, I am broken, and I need a lot of TLC. I don't feel that being broken has to mean I am a bad listener, it just means I need a little extra kindness, which is supposed to be the entire point of this website, however I have seen a few things here that cause for me to be worried.
I understand there is no way we can control the fact people will be people, and everyone can't be empathetic and understanding. I know I have to grow strong and do my best under the circumstances that are here, because that's life. People are mean, even well meaning people are mean. I want to get stronger, and I will get stronger. I just ask that if people see me, that they can remember I need a little extra kindness and need to be spoken to in a softer tone than maybe they normally use.
I'm scared, but I want to be the best I can be. and I am thankful for the wonderful and supportive people I have found here, you are the reason why I can have faith to become a better, more supportive and strong listener, and I thank you from the button of my heart.
Much love,
╰⊰✿ SakuraFlower`✿⊱ ╮
Thanks for replying, Sakura. In theory, you're right: the presence of so many moderators in one room shouldn't be an issue, and, ideally, people should be happy to have so many caring, supportive people around who are willing to listen to them and focus on them entirely. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Some people dislike moderators without even meeting them--for having authoritative powers and being able to use them. Sometimes it's as a result of someone else being muted for reasons they think are unfair, or that they, themselves have been muted. Other times it's just the learned response to moderators through being in the chat rooms and interacting with others who dislike mods.
When multiple moderators go to one room, people notice, and a lot of people are uncomfortable with it, or don't respond positively. As I mentioned in my comment to Apple74, you can get a backlash for having some many around in a "crisis" situation and then few when it's pleasant. I did mention in my initial post that having so many moderators drawn to one chatroom when there's a disturbance can leave other chatrooms neglected. Last night, we had a trial run for a new chatroom, and as a result, we had over 10 moderators in one chatroom for a good 5 minutes, and then at least 5 remained for the next hour and a half at least. Several times during that period, comments like, "this is moderator central" or "so this is where all the moderators are", and "while you're busy here, we could use some mods back in the normal room. WR and depression right now specifically." From comments like those, you can get a picture of what it can be like--regulating the concentration of moderators is important, and when they all localize in one chatroom, others can be left without, and guests and members can feel angry/confused/upset/etc. at so many moderators being present at once.
In case there are more than 10 mods in a room , and there is no crisis like situation you can individually PM them and ask them to continue the conversation in LCR. There is no need for guests to move to another room, in case there is no Mod they can fill out the emrgency form
Great suggestion, Apple! Thanks!
It's the same in the teen side , really good constructive post ! I do think that it would be important to have a better coordination and use GMZ/TMZ more often
Very true :o) One thing I try to do (and have failed to do recently) is log into GMZ and leave it up the entire time I am moderating, so I can see if a new messages is posted. But I definitely like the idea of having more of a presence or making myself more open to others, as @apple74 suggested. Great ideas, guys, I'll try to improve!