More information about New Community Mods

Hi Crew,

As many of you know we have been working to bring on some paid mods to give us a more coverage of our group support chatrooms!

They will take ownership of the mod emergency form to ensure all situations are responded to as soon as possible during their assigned shifts.

Other information!

----> The first group will start on Monday, February 11

----> They will be operating from Listener accts with names like: CommunityModLucy, CommunityModFred - the username will clearly indicate who they are and the role they will play.

Community Mods & Volunteer Mod Roles:

What is the role of the community moderator?

----> Be on-call in the community during your shift hours to help resolve safety issues as quickly as possible.

----> Monitor the group support emergency form during your shift & respond to all issues within 5 minutes.

----> Support all volunteer moderators in their efforts to resolve safety issues across the site in a timely manner.

----> 100% managing the emergency form

----> Your job is to help facilitate volunteerism

----> If there is a volunteer mod in the room:

1)Your role is to be a little more hands-off and let the volunteer moderators take the lead in hosting a discussion, an open chat or hanging out. In these cases, let the room know you are present, but be a little more hands off to let the conversation flow.

2) You are a cheerleader to the volunteer moderators, helping to facilitate their efforts. Appreciate them, support them, cheerlead them.

3)If there is a problem in the room and moderation action is needed, the volunteer mod will take the lead.

4)Your job is to make the volunteer mods role as easy as possible. So they can focus on community building activities.

----> If there is no volunteer mod present in the room:

1)You are both front of house and back of house in this situation.

2) You can be more active in the room - welcoming new members, asking questions that keep the conversation safe and healthy. And taking all moderation actions necessary.

----> If there is not a volunteer present, you are doing front & back of house at the same time

1) If there is a volunteer mod present but they aren't doing what they are tasked to do, PM and ask them to step up.

2) If you dont have time to PM them, you have to step up and do it all. You need to make that judgment call.

What is the role of the volunteer moderator?

----> Create and maintain a supportive and positive community culture.

----> Help each member grow and learn together in a group setting.

----> Be an active listener in the room

----> Host Discussions

----> Host Open chat times

----> Join Support teams

----> Front of house tasks:

1) Proactively De-escalating in the room

2) Giving out warnings as needed

3) Keeping up with your traditional moderation role

4) Hosting discussions

5) Creating a welcoming environment

Please note: We will continue to hear your feedback and learn how to best integrate this role into the community. The first few weeks may present some challenges and issues as we figure out the best way to work together. The community team is ready to make changes as needed! We want this to work for everyone. We want everyone to feel good about this additional support on the site!

I will make another announcement on Monday, February 11. On that post, Ill also share a specific feedback form for this project. Please share any feedback or ideas as to what is shared above in the meantime. We look forward to hearing from you!