Connect with us

FACEBOOK

Moderation Tips to Avoid a Toxic Community

Published

on

toxic community 5de159350de79

Many Facebook Group administrators are experiencing growth. Without proper moderation, a community can easily slip into becoming toxic. Here are some tips for avoiding common mistakes.

I have been moderating communities since 2003, both my own communities as an administrator  and as a moderator at WebmasterWorld.  I have quite a bit of experience with communities, including learning from my own mistakes.

These are a few insights I learned from over fifteen years as an admin and a moderator.

Treat Members with Respect

Rule #1 for moderating a community is to never humiliate a member or make them feel remorse for participating.  One of the worst things a moderator can do is to belittle a member.

The other day I saw an inexperienced moderator call a member “an ass” for questioning a moderator for posting an unsubstantiated rumor about a company.

As an impartial observer, what I saw is that the member questioned the wisdom of spreading an unsubstantiated rumor about a company without citing an authoritative source or any other documentary evidence.

The reason why calling that member an “ass” was not a good response is because it violates the first rule of moderation which is to embarrass a member.

Advertisement

A second reason why it’s not a good response is because a moderator should never be afraid of being questioned.  Being open to criticism makes a moderator a better community leader because it helps them grow. It also teaches them to be gracious, which helps make the moderator and the community popular.

Rather than calling the member an “ass,” the moderator could have responded by acknowledging that the member raised a fair point and learning something from the exchange.

Moderators Set the Tone

Community moderators are leaders and set the temperature of the forum. Community members will take their cue from how the moderators behave themselves and model their behavior on the mods.

If the entire moderator team is on board with the rules of behavior, whether it’s a Facebook group or a traditional forum, the rest of the community will follow along with the behaviors modeled by the moderator team.

Ideally, community admins should think of the kind of community they want to host then have their moderator team model that behavior. No amount of rules will shape the tone of the community as effectively as the moderator’s example.

Define the Tone of the Community

It’s important to define the tone of the community early on. Create a document outlining what kind of community you wish to build.

Advertisement

The tone of the community can then be encouraged in a Terms of Service, which outlines what members can or cannot say in exchange for the privilege of being a member of the community.

Changing the Tone of a Community is Nearly Impossible

Many forum admins make the mistake early on of taking a hands-off approach in order to grow the community.

Anyone who’s read Lord of the Flies knows what happens next: The members turn the community into a dystopian nightmare no advertiser would want to touch.

Once rudeness and casual cruelty enters the community’s DNA it is next to impossible to rein it back in. Attempting to do so generally sparks a rebellion that almost always leads to the founding of competing communities.

While those communities eventually burn out the original community is sometimes left limping along.

Moderation Means Service

Without proper training, some moderators tend to heavy handed moderating. It’s a quirk of human nature that I’ve observed many times.

Advertisement

I’ve always advised my moderators that they are not policing the community. They are serving the community. Their role is that of a servant, not of a police.

As a moderator it is their role to encourage community, good vibes, encourage discussion and upholding the terms of service.

Moderation with a Light Touch

Community members take offense at being moderated. Editing a member’s post or deleting it altogether should be viewed as an action of last resort.

Ideally, the terms of service and moderator behavior should be steering how members behave in a community.

Depending on the tone of your community and what you want it to be, minor infractions should be dealt with in a polite manner by private message. This way one can avoid embarrassing a member.

Communities Should be Fun

Most of all, a community should be fun. The word community is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others who share the same interests. And the word fellowship is defined as friendly association with others.

Advertisement

In general, the moderation policies of a community should encourage those qualities of fellowship in order to ensure a good experience for the members.

And if the goal of the community is to earn advertising revenue, then a community founded on fellowship makes it a better place for advertising, as no business wishes to advertise on a community that allows racism and other foul commentary, and Google AdSense may disable ads on pages that feature negative commentary.

To recap, respect your community members, encourage the moderators to lead by example and have a plan in place for cultivating the kind of community you wish to create.

Searchenginejournal.com

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address

FACEBOOK

Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

Published

on

By

Facebook Problem Again

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

Advertisement

During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

FACEBOOK

Christian family goes in hiding after being cleared of blasphemy

Published

on

Christian family goes in hiding after being cleared of blasphemy

LAHORE, Pakistan — A court in Pakistan granted bail to a Christian falsely charged with blasphemy, but he and his family have separated and gone into hiding amid threats to their lives, sources said.

Haroon Shahzad (right) with attorney Aneeqa Maria. | The Voice Society/Morning Star News

Haroon Shahzad, 45, was released from Sargodha District Jail on Nov. 15, said his attorney, Aneeqa Maria. Shahzad was charged with blasphemy on June 30 after posting Bible verses on Facebook that infuriated Muslims, causing dozens of Christian families in Chak 49 Shumaali, near Sargodha in Punjab Province, to flee their homes.

Lahore High Court Judge Ali Baqir Najfi granted bail on Nov. 6, but the decision and his release on Nov. 15 were not made public until now due to security fears for his life, Maria said.

Shahzad told Morning Star News by telephone from an undisclosed location that the false accusation has changed his family’s lives forever.

“My family has been on the run from the time I was implicated in this false charge and arrested by the police under mob pressure,” Shahzad told Morning Star News. “My eldest daughter had just started her second year in college, but it’s been more than four months now that she hasn’t been able to return to her institution. My other children are also unable to resume their education as my family is compelled to change their location after 15-20 days as a security precaution.”

Though he was not tortured during incarceration, he said, the pain of being away from his family and thinking about their well-being and safety gave him countless sleepless nights.

Advertisement



“All of this is due to the fact that the complainant, Imran Ladhar, has widely shared my photo on social media and declared me liable for death for alleged blasphemy,” he said in a choked voice. “As soon as Ladhar heard about my bail, he and his accomplices started gathering people in the village and incited them against me and my family. He’s trying his best to ensure that we are never able to go back to the village.”

Shahzad has met with his family only once since his release on bail, and they are unable to return to their village in the foreseeable future, he said.

“We are not together,” he told Morning Star News. “They are living at a relative’s house while I’m taking refuge elsewhere. I don’t know when this agonizing situation will come to an end.”

The Christian said the complainant, said to be a member of Islamist extremist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and also allegedly connected with banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, filed the charge because of a grudge. Shahzad said he and his family had obtained valuable government land and allotted it for construction of a church building, and Ladhar and others had filed multiple cases against the allotment and lost all of them after a four-year legal battle.

“Another probable reason for Ladhar’s jealousy could be that we were financially better off than most Christian families of the village,” he said. “I was running a successful paint business in Sargodha city, but that too has shut down due to this case.”

Regarding the social media post, Shahzad said he had no intention of hurting Muslim sentiments by sharing the biblical verse on his Facebook page.

Advertisement



“I posted the verse a week before Eid Al Adha [Feast of the Sacrifice] but I had no idea that it would be used to target me and my family,” he said. “In fact, when I came to know that Ladhar was provoking the villagers against me, I deleted the post and decided to meet the village elders to explain my position.”

The village elders were already influenced by Ladhar and refused to listen to him, Shahzad said.

“I was left with no option but to flee the village when I heard that Ladhar was amassing a mob to attack me,” he said.

Shahzad pleaded with government authorities for justice, saying he should not be punished for sharing a verse from the Bible that in no way constituted blasphemy.

Similar to other cases

Shahzad’s attorney, Maria, told Morning Star News that events in Shahzad’s case were similar to other blasphemy cases filed against Christians.

Advertisement



“Defective investigation, mala fide on the part of the police and complainant, violent protests against the accused persons and threats to them and their families, forcing their displacement from their ancestral areas, have become hallmarks of all blasphemy allegations in Pakistan,” said Maria, head of The Voice Society, a Christian paralegal organization.

She said that the case filed against Shahzad was gross violation of Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which states that police cannot register a case under the Section 295-A blasphemy statute against a private citizen without the approval of the provincial government or federal agencies.

Maria added that Shahzad and his family have continued to suffer even though there was no evidence of blasphemy.

“The social stigma attached with a blasphemy accusation will likely have a long-lasting impact on their lives, whereas his accuser, Imran Ladhar, would not have to face any consequence of his false accusation,” she said.

The judge who granted bail noted that Shahzad was charged with blasphemy under Section 295-A, which is a non-cognizable offense, and Section 298, which is bailable. The judge also noted that police had not submitted the forensic report of Shahzad’s cell phone and said evidence was required to prove that the social media was blasphemous, according to Maria.

Bail was set at 100,000 Pakistani rupees (US $350) and two personal sureties, and the judge ordered police to further investigate, she said.

Advertisement



Shahzad, a paint contractor, on June 29 posted on his Facebook page 1 Cor. 10:18-21 regarding food sacrificed to idols, as Muslims were beginning the four-day festival of Eid al-Adha, which involves slaughtering an animal and sharing the meat.

A Muslim villager took a screenshot of the post, sent it to local social media groups and accused Shahzad of likening Muslims to pagans and disrespecting the Abrahamic tradition of animal sacrifice.

Though Shahzad made no comment in the post, inflammatory or otherwise, the situation became tense after Friday prayers when announcements were made from mosque loudspeakers telling people to gather for a protest, family sources previously told Morning Star News.

Fearing violence as mobs grew in the village, most Christian families fled their homes, leaving everything behind.

In a bid to restore order, the police registered a case against Shahzad under Sections 295-A and 298. Section 295-A relates to “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” and is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fine, or both. Section 298 prescribes up to one year in prison and a fine, or both, for hurting religious sentiments.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.

Advertisement



Morning Star News is the only independent news service focusing exclusively on the persecution of Christians. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide complete, reliable, even-handed news in order to empower those in the free world to help persecuted Christians, and to encourage persecuted Christians by informing them that they are not alone in their suffering.

Free Religious Freedom Updates

Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.

Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

FACEBOOK

Individual + Team Stats: Hornets vs. Timberwolves

Published

on

CHARLOTTE HORNETS MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on X: Facebook – All Hornets X – …

Source link

Keep an eye on what we are doing
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Continue Reading

Trending

Follow by Email
RSS