Creating an online brand and establishing a presence takes a lot of work. Once you have put up your website, what would your next steps be? If that already has articles under the care of an SEO expert, you will be assured that you will be getting some traffic. You can grow that further by building a community, which you can give the site itself some semblance of it by adding in a forum section. Another way to draw people in is by setting up a social media account. Sites like Facebook or Twitter already have functions in place that will enable people to connect with each other. But as human nature would dictate, things could get rowdy. So rather than witnessing your small empire crumble before your eyes, you should get a moderator to get a handle on things. This can be crucial for what you are trying to accomplish. The type of crowd a community attracts can tarnish an otherwise decent online brand.
Maintaining Order
You would not want to join in a conversation where everyone is spewing expletives and hurtful comments. It is not a good sight for anyone and it could easily push away potential followers. A moderator can help maintain order by screening comments before they are posted in the community pages or forums. This role can also screen aspiring members and impose bans on those who are not complying with the site rules and regulations.
People will appreciate the level of control that an effective moderator brings because they will know that they will get a mature and insult-free discussion when bad comments are filtered out. This also gives them the impression that things are under control and the necessary actions are being taken. The online space is free for anyone to explore, but it does need some policing in specific areas.
Censorship and Transparency
Being a moderator is not an easy job. Since you have the power to control the content being shown on a website, you have to tread the fine balance between legitimately removing useless or bad comments and flat out censoring content. People are observant, and they can easily call you out whenever they feel that their freedom to speech is curtailed. It would help if you provide your audience with written guidelines on what you are and are not allowing on your site. There could be occasional issues where a sensitive topic is not ideal to discuss at a moment in time, so it would be best if things like these get their own announcements.
You will definitely have community members that you won’t like. Even if you have a strong desire to kick that person out, you have to exercise restraint as long as they are following the site rules. So when it comes to taking drastic actions, it should not be driven by personal gripes. But if you ever drop the ban hammer on someone, you better have an explanation and proof of the violation ready to be presented to the group. This will be your proof that what has been done is not a product of bias.
In the Service of the Community
Whatever action that is being done by the moderator, it should be for the good of the community. A moderator is not limited to controlling unruly members. They should also participate in discussions and update everyone on the latest news about the website. They can also hold virtual events like contests and themed conversations to keep things exciting among members.
The social media experience, just like real life, will depend on the people that you meet. If you come across impolite netizens, your opinion will most certainly be negative and it may even drive you away from the platform. But when you have a moderator to keep things balanced, they can keep your community engaged and happy.
