Author Topic: Being an Admin  (Read 728 times)

Victoria

Being an Admin
« on: May 15, 2019, 10:09:40 am »
I am an admin of a Facebook group that abruptly swelled to 500 members and is still growing. The group is about the Method of a popular Authority Figure. The Method is relatively simple to understand but a bit complex in its implementation, and I've stated in the rules that advice to the contrary of what Authority Figure teaches isn't allowed. However, there are several shades of gray and several areas open to interpretation. There are even instances where Authority Figure's advice deviates slightly from what Method is on its face when extraordinary circumstances present themselves.

As a result of the fact that there are nuances, I have tried not to "police" the group too much unless something is blatantly going against Authority Figure's advice or Method. But I've noticed that when I comment on a thread, it tends to be a conversation killer, or people just end up liking the comment and not saying anything else. I know that I'm not overly harsh and I don't say anything like "My word is law" or "This is the right answer, end of discussion" but I'm wondering if by commenting at all (even if it's just "my personal opinion is X," I'm implicitly saying "Question answered, shut it down, next topic."

I also wonder how much participation is actually appropriate for an admin. I probably comment on 1 in 15 posts when it's an opinion question or when the answer is a bright line rule from Method, just to show that I'm still there. I'm trying to walk a line between looming over everyone and seeming like I'm checked out and not paying attention. I'd love your thoughts if you have experience as an admin/mod, and particularly on Facebook where we're using our real identities.

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Pattycake

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Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2019, 07:16:37 pm »
Quote
but I'm wondering if by commenting at all (even if it's just "my personal opinion is X," I'm implicitly saying "Question answered, shut it down, next topic."

I am a mod on a page, but it's (no big surprise...) a crafting page so not sure how much help I am, but I don't think that it is implied that you are shutting it down. People may infer that because you are the admin, you know LOTS about the topic and take you as more of the expert, so drop it after you say your bit, though. Do you think it might help if you said "my personal opinion is X, but I would also like to know what others think so please chime in with your thoughts!"
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Victoria

Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2019, 08:00:31 am »
Quote
but I'm wondering if by commenting at all (even if it's just "my personal opinion is X," I'm implicitly saying "Question answered, shut it down, next topic."

I am a mod on a page, but it's (no big surprise...) a crafting page so not sure how much help I am, but I don't think that it is implied that you are shutting it down. People may infer that because you are the admin, you know LOTS about the topic and take you as more of the expert, so drop it after you say your bit, though. Do you think it might help if you said "my personal opinion is X, but I would also like to know what others think so please chime in with your thoughts!"

That may help, thank you. I think saying "My personal opinion" implies that it isn't the end of the thread, but "Please chime in" is explicit about it.

Chez Miriam

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Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2019, 08:09:05 am »
Have you ever shut down a thread, Victoria?

Might sound an odd question, but many of us were active on a previous etiquette forum, and whilst I could sometimes tell if a Mod was adding to a discussion, often I couldn't...

If they used the phrase "move on", I was supremely unlikely to comment again in that thread, even though the comment was never aimed at me.

I often couldn't tell what had gone wrong to get a thread locked, so I was often too nervous of causing that to happen to risk making a comment that could be construed as argumentative [which almost invariably meant I became the keyboard equivalent of tongue-tied ::)].

Do you know (personally) any other members?  You could PM one or more to ask them to continue the thread, and so it would 'become known' that you weren't shutting off discussion just by posting your opinion/restating a rule?
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."  - Julian of Norwich
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Hmmm

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Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2019, 09:11:43 am »
I'm actually wondering if you are the Admin of a FB group that I belong to and has similar issues. Mine is for a diet by a Dr. who published his first book about 20 years ago and it has since been written and updated in different languages. There are also different websites for different countries. Advice between all of these "official references" is not always consistent since some products are not available in different places and also the advice has matured and modified over the last 20 years. So in discussions you'll often see someone comment that someone else's advice is not accurate. (Sometimes the advice is just plain wrong, but other times it's because they are referencing a different source.) And to make it more confusing, the Dr. came out with a modified version of his plan a couple of years ago.

I've noticed that if the admin does chime in to a thread it will often stop. So I do like the advice above of inviting others to continue the conversation.


Victoria

Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2019, 10:52:57 am »
Have you ever shut down a thread, Victoria?

Might sound an odd question, but many of us were active on a previous etiquette forum, and whilst I could sometimes tell if a Mod was adding to a discussion, often I couldn't...

If they used the phrase "move on", I was supremely unlikely to comment again in that thread, even though the comment was never aimed at me.

I often couldn't tell what had gone wrong to get a thread locked, so I was often too nervous of causing that to happen to risk making a comment that could be construed as argumentative [which almost invariably meant I became the keyboard equivalent of tongue-tied ::)].

Do you know (personally) any other members?  You could PM one or more to ask them to continue the thread, and so it would 'become known' that you weren't shutting off discussion just by posting your opinion/restating a rule?

I have shut down a couple of threads. One was removed due to a violation of our rules prohibiting personal attacks and name calling. I posted my own message that basically said "I am locking this thread since it has become more about attacking individual posters than the original topic, and name calling is prohibited." I then PM'ed three members with some boilerplate "No name calling" message. Another was locked after someone asked for advice about a particular aspect of Method, and other people started chiming in with "I know Method and Authority says X, but we've been using [Y thing that blatantly contradicts Method in every situation]." Before I shut down that thread I added a comment and said "We're getting a good discussion of X so this thread will stay open, but if people keep recommending Y then this thread will be shut down." Naturally people kept recommending Y, so I locked it after a few more comments.  I don't personally know anyone in the group but I have a moderator and it may be good to discuss with her.

Hmmm, that doesn't sound like my group but this seems to be a common problem!

Chez Miriam

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Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2019, 11:12:07 am »
Ah, that sounds very different to some of the moderating I was writing about, so I'm not sure of anything to suggest (other than creating a chatty alter-ego who can post after you post as a Mod).
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."  - Julian of Norwich
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JeanFromBNA

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Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2019, 12:54:40 pm »
Ah, that sounds very different to some of the moderating I was writing about, so I'm not sure of anything to suggest (other than creating a chatty alter-ego who can post after you post as a Mod).
I was wondering if that was possible.  OP could post as Admin Victoria, and "Just Victoria." Maybe that would be enough of a difference.

Victoria

Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2019, 12:57:38 pm »
Ah, that sounds very different to some of the moderating I was writing about, so I'm not sure of anything to suggest (other than creating a chatty alter-ego who can post after you post as a Mod).
I was wondering if that was possible.  OP could post as Admin Victoria, and "Just Victoria." Maybe that would be enough of a difference.

Facebook doesn't allow you to have multiple accounts or I would do this. I really like that idea for a message forum.
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daen

Re: Being an Admin
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2019, 08:29:57 pm »
Not a moderator myself, but I have seen mods start a comment (or section of a comment) with MOD HAT ON and end with MOD HAT OFF.  That way people can tell what comments are official moderation and what comments are simply one person's opinion.

If the mod is more likely to comment officially than unofficially, perhaps marking personal opinion posts with MOD HAT OFF/ MOD HAT ON instead would require less work.

In my offline experience as a discussion group facilitator (in a religious organization), I discovered that as soon as I, the "moderator" expressed anything resembling an opinion or a statement, the discussion ended right there. I would have to ask a question to restart things. I got very good at asking questions and then carefully drinking coffee and saying basically nothing while the discussion swirled.
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