My experience of netiquette as an online group admin/moderator

By Beverley Paine

I joined my first Yahoo group in 2001 and I remember it took some time to get the hang of being the member of an internet based social group.

People forget that the normal rules of conversation don't apply and I think that is because most of the communication taking place between people is non-verbal. It's something we simply take for granted.

However, this level of communication isn't included in a email or online post, even with a liberal dose of emoticons (those little smiley or not so smiley faces) or acronyms that spell out a reaction, like LOL (laugh out loud).

The way I see it, communicating by email is somewhat of a cross between writing and speaking. Often when we speak, especially in informal settings, we don't use whole sentences. We utter phrases and sometimes single words, and rely heavily on context as well as gestures and facial expression to fill in the gaps.

If we write our thoughts as we think them, our messages often come across confused, because our brains seldom think in whole, perfectly grammatically constructed sentences and paragraphs!

Few of us have the time or inclination to write emails or posts the way we would write a letter or an article. Some of us don't bother with punctuation or grammar. Some of us are two finger typists and it is tedious typing. All of these reasons, and more, account for why the emails, online posts and comments we send are sometimes not received the way we want them to, or thought they should be!

Written communication via the internet is a difficult medium to get right. It can be fraught with problems, some of which can quickly escalate into conflict.

Starting a group or signing on to become a group admin only takes a few minutes and usually seems like a good idea at the time. However, it does involve taking on responsibility for the way members of the group behave. And that does have legal implication too. It's a serious endeavour. There is also the terms and conditions of the group's hosting platform to consider.

Plus, it's like inviting a whole group of strangers into your house. Naturally there are some basic standards and boundaries you want everyone to comply with so that the purpose or goal of the group can be achieved.

I started my first online homeschool support group in 1999, shortly after being a member of a Yahoo group.

It was, and continues to be, important to me to work at keeping my groups on-topic and pleasant places so that members get what they need from interacting with others in the group.

The following are some of the ways in which I do that:

• Most online groups have a rule setting function. In addition to this I add a 'welcome post' with an extensive guide describing the group's purpose and to how to participate in the group.
  
• I allow my personality to come through as I find it sets the tone of my groups.
  
• I try to remember to post frequently and reply to posts. I feel this encourages others to feel comfortable about participating in the group.
  
• If there is something I wouldn't do or say in the presence of a child because it isn't behaviour I'd want that child to emulate, then it isn't appropriate for my group either.
  
• I am very careful when approving members to join the group. I create a set of questions that must be answered, and include a personal response question to ascertain that the request is from a real person, not a bot.
  
• When people go off-topic I will either bring the subject back on topic, often without needing to say 'that's off-topic'. It's important to reinforce the purpose and goals of the group in this way. Sometimes, however, I will need to delete an off-topic reply, comment or post and direct the person to read the group guidelines again.
  
• I remove posts that incite conflict, or have the potential to do so. These often contain controversial or overly emotional statements. I aim for an inclusive and supportive environment in the group.
  
• Because the group's terms and conditions are part of a welcome post and new members are tagged in this post, I seldom find the need to remind members of the rules.
  
• I don't condone nitpicking, particularly about spelling and grammar. I accept that people who come to the group come from different backgrounds and abilities. My responses aim is to encourage tolerance.
  
• Looking through the archives shows that I am the person that posts the most on my groups. I believe that this kind of 'hands-on' gentle moderation is necessary. I believe that one of the reasons homeschooling works well for children is that, as parents, we're there most of the time, gently supervising, 'keeping an eye on the play', always ready to 'head-off' potential or escalating conflicts.

I take my role and responsibilities as an online group owner, admin and moderator seriously. We provide a valuable and much needed voluntary service in our communities. Our groups provide support and information and in order to continue to do so they need constant attention to their management.