Board Thread:Consensus Track/@comment-9062114-20140704200351/@comment-25140047-20140704210410

I'm new here, so forgive me if there are factors at work of which I know nothing, but I don't understand how there could be drama on chat. Mods are there for a reason: because they PROVE themselves to be unbiased, honest, patient, fair and friendly. If your mods are not all of the above, they don't deserve the right to be a mod.

As far as my (fairly extensive and sometimes paid) experience has shown me, the rules of running a chat should be as follows:

1) Agree upon a set of rules (it's often best to look at the rules of other chat and forums and see their success before you finalise) with people you trust. Not the forum. While this may seem like a democratic thing to do, you will often find that this undermines authority.

2) Post the rules on your site/forum. If users have questions or concerns about these rules, they should message you privately so that trolls don't join in. Tell them that you will consider their concerns. Talk to those you trust, and either amend your rules, or tell the user why the rules should not change.

3) Appoint your mods. In a non-paid scenario, this should be based on quality of character (as mentioned above), and the respect they have in the forum. On no account should you appoint a mod simply because they are your friend, as this clouds your judgement of their actions.

4) Give your Mods a code of conduct to stick to. Rigorously. Make this public on the forum (or at least, what other users should know) and let users know they can complain (with a print screen, and another witness, where possible), should a mod neglect the code of conduct. This code of conduct should make sure that your mods are impartial, fair, but firm.

5) Give your mods direct instructions to disallow any breach of chat rules. Temporary bans followed by a permanent ban is a tried and tested method (I have had success with the old fashioned 'three strikes' rule). Any mod showing favouritism in this area should be relieved of their position.

6) Mods earn their position, they do not claim it by friendship, length of membership, or any other unrelated factor. Any mod not following the code of conduct, or not punishing/ punishing too harshly those in breach of chat rules, should be relieved of their position, no matter the personal relationship between mod and admin.

The foot traffic of any interactive website generally initially looks at the chatbox (if it has one) in order to make a decision whether or not to join the website's community. This is a double-edged sword: If a chat capability is present on your site, tendency to join is increased. However, should a chatbox etc. be hostile, unfriendly or unmoderated, joining frequency tends to plummet. Most often, a chatbox is the first interaction an interested potential user has with your community.

If you feel you can correct the problems you are having with chat, then this should be easily done without removing it. If you feel this problem will return, and is untreatable, perhaps it would be better for you to remove chat altogether.

Again, I'm sorry if my reply seems uninformed, but as far as I can tell from what I've seen so far, this is the only solution.