Chatroom for moderators
Hey there, I am going to keep this brief since, as I always say, no one wants to read a library.
I know there are many requests for different channels right now and we're in the process of figuring this all out, but one recommendation I strongly advise is a chat room strictly for moderators.
The group mods need to be organized in the sense where I need a place to go to and ask "Hey, who is on, and what rooms are you focusing in?" so I can focus in a different room. Sometimes we will have several mods in one room, but not in another.
The biggest factor is control. If a mod feels a situation is getting out of hand, or that the chat is going in a direction deemed unfit, sometimes it is better to ask for other mods to join in rather than using "executive action" so to speak (aka mod tools).
An example is if Johnny is a little ticked off today and being passive aggressive towards Jane. You could reprimand him, or you could get more mods to post positive things to Jane and hopefully motivate Johnny to do the same.
I do not wish to type anymore, but I feel it is pivotal for us to organize. The biggest thing is, if I come in and I see 1-2 mods per channel, I can pick up private general requests *IF* we reach over 10 and are having an influx issue. (Remember, us group mods aren't suppose to pick up general requests since we should be busy moderating, but on the evenings where we have many mods on then we should be able to adapt. Sort of a play it by ear scenario)
I hope my reasoning isre identifiable. :)
As much as I do like this I will have to disagree on some stuff here. Some of those that are being passive aggressive do so cause they want to go against someone as an "authority" type figure. And some can be down right rude. It is an adult chat room and they do know the rules. If they want to be disrespectful warnings are given. But to just be "positive" towards them fuels them to keep going later on and actually disrespect the moderator even more that had been disrespected in the aspect. Everybody has bad days I get that but we all make a conscious decision to make actions toward other and even more so when we type them out.
Unfortunately, I will have to disagree in the sense that this discussion isn't about when a moderator should use their privelages. This is about having a private chat for organizational purposes, and if a moderator feels overwhlemed, they have a place to ask for assistance.
I tried this method more than a few times and it has worked, as such, I will use it when applicable.I do not expect you to moderate in the same manner as me--that isn't the focus here--but rather a wishing to establish a specific channel to get quick access to others moderators since the Listener Chat as of now is more relaxed.
However, I should note, you are correct in the sense that some take it too far. By all means, this wouldn't apply to them.
Thanks for the response.
I feel as though in my initial responseI forgot emphasizing my last statement in saying there are absolutely, positively MANY people whom get out of hand. Wanted to make that clear. :) Sorry for lack of emphasis.
@HelpfulEJ I have also thought it would be useful for us to have a moderator chatroomto discuss issues, e.g. 'Has [guest] been warned before?'or 'It's definitely [member]'s turn in three minutes in Share Your Story,' etc.
The challenge would be making sure all relevant moderators were using such a room.With the current interface I'm not sure it'd be as convenient or obvious as we'd need it to beto utilize it without asking other moderators to 'come to mod chat for a moment' ? which could give trolls an opening to misbehave while we're not looking.
I think this would be best implemented in a way mods don't have to take their eyes off the room they're moderating (i.e. using a channel) in order to communicate with other mods without asking or making them tab another room.
Hi @HelpfulEJ!
I think you are talking about a co-ordination between mods. We don't need a separate chatroom for mods if we can utilize the tools we have now.
If you are in a chatroom, and a neew mod comes in, PM them and tell them if there is or was any situation which needs their attention. Whether someone has been acting rude or someone needs extra care.
When you walk into a chatroom, ask the current listeners and Mods what has been going on instead of judging the situation based on your insight. The chat in the chatroom is the edited version after Mods have deleted some content. So when you go into a chatroom please ask the current Mod what has been going on.
If you feel that you cannot decide what action you need to take, go to the listener chat room and ask the mentor to help you.
These methods have worked well and I do believe there needs to be a clear communication between moderators.
I hear what you're saying there, Smile, and in the majority of the cases I find that to be true. It is often the case however that moderators park themselves in a room and then head off to listener chatroom. They're there in name only and not moderating at all.
I had an example last night of exactly that. I was moderating one of the quieter member rooms and I checked in one of the member rooms that is typically more busy. The moderator concerned didn't answer my PM. I hopped out of that room to find that they'd been in listener chat the entire time and weren't moderating at all.
I guess the solution for this and I do not know the practicalilty of this at all, but when someone with a Group Mod badge enters a room, it states that they are a moderator. Is there any way in which a listener with a moderator badge could be select to moderate when entering the room? Therefore, situations such as yesterday wouldn't be an issue and others would try and cover two or three room as well as New Listener?
Just brainstorming.
If we had amoderator chat room, a quick scan between channelswouldn't hurt and wouldn't defect a mod's abilityto moderate. Most mods also are typing in the listener chat which is for recreational use, so if they're able to multitask then the private channel wouldn't defect their ability. At least, that's how I'm thinking. :)
As of now, there really is no coordination. If we feel we do not need it, then by all means, but I feel it wouldn't be a bad thing implementing. OR some sort of moderator PM system that alerts all moderators. Just brainstorming as well. Thanks for everyone responding I like the mixed results. :)
@HelpfulEJbased on my observations, multitasking and moderating is not as effective if there are not at least twomods in a room ? someone to catch what you're missing and include members who are slipping through the cracks. Of course there are times when things go quite well and you hardly need to moderate at all.But if something were happening thatmoderators seriously needed tocoordinate themselves for, that's not the time to have all mods take theireyes off the room at issue.
I think that coulddefeat the purpose, for much beyond what's achievable in Listener Chat and PMsalready. I would keep in mind also that for some, their preferred moderating technique already involves additionallylogging onto their member account to support guests that way ? so two accounts, plus they may already be looking at Listener Chat, plus they may likely have PMs from other listeners or members ? and adding another room that wasn't immediately integrated on the page would be a lot and possibly neglected.
I think Listener Chat should work for basic coordination between shifts, etc., and I've attempted to use it as such. Of course it's hard to break through the noise there. But ifwe implemented an idea as has been suggested recently in two other threads, to change Listener Chat and New Listener Chat into a clearly on-duty room and a break room, then I think the reformed Listener Chat would serve this purpose well.
Hi @OliviaButler ! Where is the link to this post? I would definitely like to read about this.
Hey @smile2900 sorry, I would have linked right away if I hadn't been on the app. Here's one thread, and here's the other! I've thought thatwould be a good plan for some time, but recognize as a challenge that we do not necessarily want to encourage people to be "off-duty" here with a room just for hanging out. Although, reality is, that's what the Listener Chatroom is mostly, at the moment, and that's troublesome at times. If we did move forward with a Listener Support room, I believe that would cancel out any need for a separate moderator room.
I agree @Oliviabutler with Listener support idea. After a stressful chat it is okay to join the chat room and relax for a while. But indefinitely using it to relax and not participating in chats is not at all good.
I have PMed moderators and listeners even between chats and it went well. There always will be a time when no Mod will be around and if you think you need help please ask for help in listener chatroom. There is ALWAYS a mentor in the chatroom and they can always help you or guide you.
And most of the listeners in the listener chatroom have signed up for being a mod too. I don't think we need separate chatroom for this now.
I agree @Longroadtoruin! I have managed 3 rooms and personal PRs at once for hours and it is really tough. I really feel we need to work as a team. I have already made my partners when I moderate rooms now. I feel we need to work together as a team.
I have been making sure I PM when I walk into a chatroom and when I walk out. And it has been working in a great way since then.
That's a great tip actually. The PM'ing when you come and when you leave.
If I am in the minority here, by all means. But, if the site keeps expanding and likewise with our chats, I'd rather us be prepared beforehand.
Regardless, I appreciate all the input thus far. Good to see how others operate. :)
I like that you're trying to think ahead to prevent disaster from happening,EJ! Coming up with ideas to at least suggest and see how they are, and I really appreciate that you have taken the intiative to do so!
Anotherchatroommight get lost in the list of rooms, but perhaps in the future, there would be a way to highlight who the actual moderators are in a given room at a given time. By that, I mean distinguishing between active moderators (who are guiding conversation) and other moderators (who are simply participating, watching, or are still on the list for whatever reason.)Given that shifts are not always planned, it would be nice if there was a button or something to say "Sign me into this room" and have your name appear somewhere in the room saying "Moderators for this room: ______ &______" Not necessarily like that idea, but something like that.
(If anyone iscurious why I always say no to more chatrooms. I currently have 6 rooms on my list. 7 when there is theteen support room. 8 when there is the guided discussion room on top of that. At a certain point, you have to start picking and choosing which rooms to watch in order to stay on top of things.)
As a note on some of the things said in here (and on a general note based on observations in the forums), please keep in mind that listeners have a lot of reasons not to take chats.It can come across in a hurtful way to make the assumption that frequenting the chatroom means that someone is not doing their part in the community as I see many listeners taking referrals, doing peer support, etc while they are still in the rooms themselves.I have also heard from listeners who felt like they could not practice self-care because people would question why they are not taking chats or make the listener feel like they could be here if they are not taking chats. This isn't coming from me as a mentor, but as another listener who is part of the community. We all contribute in different ways, and it's good to highlight that while encouraging others to support our members.
Yeah, what Kane said.
You are far more articulate than me, obviously, because it makes more sense when you write it.
I don't know if this has something to do with what have been discussed, but Isaw the Group Mod Zone today and Inoticed that it is not exclusive to moderators. Listeners are coming in and out of the room and some did PM me what that room is for. Can we find a way to make it more exclusive for the group moderators only? Thatway, we couldprevent confusing other listeners and at the same time, we can discuss related topics about moderating the roomsthere that only group moderators can see/read.
