Moderator Rules - working document

[Admin]

This document is a living, working document. It will be amended over time, as needed. Chatters', moderators, and admins are requested to share their thoughts on these rules.


Rules for Chat Moderators and Admins

Moderators have a greater responsibility (and hassle level) from the hosts of specific topics or games. They need to keep the chat running without disruption, keep an eye out for “family, animal and underage” chat, role play, and rooms. They need to watch for underage chatters and keep track of the possibility of harasser coming to our house to play. The moderators also need to greet newcomers and keep an ear out for unwelcome drama and most of all, have fun. 

We are here for THEM. Our chatters keep our chat alive and vibrant. We, as a group of leaders and facilitators, are here to serve the needs of the chatters.

Being a chat Admin and moderator is a volunteer position. If for that reason alone, please give the chat admins and moderators your respect and thanks for their time.

It is not the moderators’ or Admins’ job to interfere with the chatters’ interpersonal relationships, squabbles, or personal lives without being specifically requested to. If an issue arises, we may offer mediation and/or training, but do not demand it. Superadmin is more than willing to mediate issues as they arise. Contact him via pm. If you wish to be a mediator, please discuss it with Superadmin.

Moderators and Admins are forbidden to pm chatters without gaining permission from the chatter first, including about site business or moderation of behavior. If the chatter refuses to allow the pm, mute the person until such a time as the Superadmin can deal with it.

Muting/Kicking is an unwelcome duty that we all have. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. We really try to ease someone out of the room rather than muting or kicking. It does make for a possibly more polite return and certainly less of a chance of an enemy. On the off chance that you need to mute someone, please give them a couple warnings first in the room to stop the activity. If needed, an Admin will ban the person once a report is filed.

Bans are the responsibility of the Superadmin. Please make note of the time and time zone in the Forum report so the incident can be reviewed.

If someone has a question or issue and you as a moderator or Admin are uncomfortable dealing with it, you are more than welcome to refer the chatter to the Superadmin or the Owner at thecourtesan@themasque.net

There are some people who find it amusing to try to recreate Lit or 321 rooms in chat, either public or private. I am violently opposed to that and if you see who is doing it, please stop them. We are not affiliated with either chat however we have been blessed to have many of the same chatters and friends. We are not a mini-Lit/321 or an offshoot of Lit or 321.

Emotes – if someone has a picture they’d like to see as an emote, have them email it to The Courtesan. It may or may not work but we will try it.

I prefer that we not ban unless there is an extreme circumstance. We use the idea of social rebuffing. The offender will get the idea not to come back or to change their behavior if they are ignored.

People may purchase VIP status as a gift. Payment should be sent through http://themasque.org/ with a note stating who the gift is for and if it should remain anonymous.

VIP members can create private rooms (as soon as I get that organized)

Private rooms can be created by Mods or Admins for members.

Mutes and bans need to be posted in the Moderator thread in the Forum.

Admins and Moderators are entitled to an @themasque.net email address. Contact cis@themasque.net to find out how.

Topic chat leaders should make sure that someone is transcribing and sending it to cis@themasque.net.  Game winners should be posted on the Forums, post game, for the chatters’ posterity.

Please read Silver's Host Training, in a thread on this board. This is our official policy.



POSTED ON SITE SEPT 22, 2019

[Admin]

Silver's Class for Moderators

Outline for Silver's class - please take a copy to follow along

Whenever hosting - be in the right frame of mind.

a: Why are you hosting
You host to promote the use of the Website and the Chat Room.

b: New Blood
Newbies are the heart and soul of a chat room. Without them chat rooms have a tendency to stagnate and die.

Smile from the wrists down
a: A positive attitude during the chat is a must.

Even if your seething with hate.. don’t let it pass your wrists.. be nice.. be polite.. be cool! It will let you deal with situations in a much more effective way.

Greet everyone
A: Everyone should be greeted whenever possible. Think about it.. if you were new to a chat room and someone says hi to you.. are you more or less likely to stick around for a bit? Think Rule 1.


Keep the topic moving

If the chat room isn’t moving along… then people get bored. Bored people can become unruly.. unruly people can be disruptive.

Try to get everyone involved.

See a person in the room not joining in on there own… get them involved.. ask them a question, find out how they feel about the topic. Think Rule 1.

Vulgarity should always be discouraged
Don’t use it yourself.. and be nice about asking others not to use it. This isn’t AOL..so use common sense.. and remember Rule 2.

Kill em with Kindness
Nothing takes the wind out of an unruly visitor faster then then being nice to them. It really is that simple. Be nice and expect niceness in return.

Never hold a grudge. Always allow second, third, forth, chances. Be nice, and you will see some interesting results.

Never add fuel to the fire
Ok… what drives a person to go to a chat room to and try to disrupt it? They want to get a reaction. The stronger the reaction the greater the reason for the person to stay. So as a host.. don’t be reactive in a negative way..be nice.. be calm!

Don’t let others ad fuel to the fire
This is the hard part….Don’t let other members of the chat room add fuel to an unruly visitor. Instruct them to ignore the member.. be nice.. Remain calm and expect others to remain calm. If the visitor isn’t getting the reaction they usually either leave.. or change their behavior.

Last Resort….Da Boot
So.. you have been nice and calm, the other visitor in the room have been tolerant to the point of being saints, and this one visitor is scrolling the chat and using vulgarity, making it totally impossible to chat. Boot the person.. but you should look at it as a failure by you to maintain control of your chat. Good hosts will think about there chats afterwards thinking about things that went well and not so well. It is this reflection that will guide them to handle similar situations differently to more positive results.

Remember Rule 7. If you have to boot someone one day and they come back the next.. treat them as a new visitor.. no grudges.

I would highly recommend that only one or two people actually have the power to “Ban” visitor from the site. If you feel that someone falls into a “ban” category they should be referred to these people.