Who is it for?

Today is a day for something a little bit different. I want to take a break from talking specifically about roleplay, and spend a little bit on the idea of a roleplaying community, specifically the point of administration inside of it. While I’m not going to bother going into specific roles and titles and such, I will likely reference them simply as “moderators” or “staff” or some spin-off of that. I’d like to be clear up front though, that a mod in a roleplaying community can mean many different things, and what ultimately matters is whether or not you have power in this forum that was granted to you by someone else.

So my question I raise to you is this: who is a mod’s power for?

Is it for them, so they can feel important? So they can feel honored? Maybe so they can feel that the community is finally acknowledging their worth? It’s a nice boost to your self-esteem and pride to find out that someone thinks you’re worthy of making decisions or at least being a part of them. It’s nice to know you’re entrusted with some responsibility and all that, and that’s great. But, when it comes down to it, that power isn’t there for a mod to enjoy—it’s there so they can serve the community.

I mean, everyone “knows” this, but it seems like most people really don’t… get it. That’s why people get so pissed off when they get demoted, or why a person in charge of the demotions feels so terrified to do it. A lot of times the fear is, “If I demote this person, they’ll leave the site.”

Funny story, if you’re a mod, and you would leave or not frequent the community unless you continued to be one: you shouldn’t be a mod.

Because at this point, it’s clearly not about the community at all, it’s about some nice happy feeling you get because you got promoted. Great, it’s awesome to be excited about a position, but if you have to be in control, putting power over other people to remain happy with the place, then something is seriously wrong. This isn’t because, “Oh, you can’t let the power get to your head” or “If you want the position then you don’t deserve it” or any of that stuff, though it’s often important.

No, it’s actually really simple. If the only reason to stay is just because you’re either obligated to stay or you just like the power involved, then it’s clear that you don’t actually care about the community (ultimately), just your position in it. Wouldn’t it be great if we had mods who were instated, who operated as long as they could be effective, and when they stopped being effective (or, you know, coming around) they quietly handed over that role to another person, who could be more effective? I’m not saying that a rotating staff is the most ideal form, but the point is you SHOULD be able to do this without pissing off a bunch of children. People take demotions so personally, because it’s a personal affront to part of their identity that they’ve been grasping onto. It’s unhealthy and leads to a bad roleplaying community.

Being a mod is about servicing your community, whether you’re the head admin or just the guy who makes sure people aren’t breaking the rules.  The position a mod holds is not for their own benefit, but rather the benefit of a community. This is important for the mod to understand as well as the person promoting the mods (usually an admin). If you’re promoting people because they’re your buddy, or they have seniority, or they post a lot, or they make really good roleplay, then you’re doing it wrong. You’re going to end up with an ingrown staff that’s ineffective and is there for any number of reasons besides service.

Mods should be chosen not necessarily off their own achievements but rather their effectiveness in the role. A good admin can choose a good staff, just like a good manager can build a good department at a business. People should be promoted based on what they could add to the community, whether that’s something specifically related to the group of people as a whole, or even just strengthening the staff. That person should be chosen, not because they’ve been around for a while or because they’re the admin’s friend, but because they will serve the community more effectively than anyone else in that regard.

This is a lot of the reason why when you see a forum that has way too many mods, it’s usually because it’s the same clique they’ve always had, same group of friends, or even just because it would be taboo to NOT make them staff. Not only is this kind of backwards, it also caters to communities that are often unhealthy, unstable, and inactive—usually with more staff members than they need.

In the healthiest roleplaying communities I’ve seen, the staff is always healthy too, and their skills always serve the style of the community. Not every group is the same; some will have despots as leaders, which is fine, so long as they merit the position; other groups will function in more of a group-decision setting, approaching problems together and finding a solution they can always agree on. Maybe another time I’ll talk about how these work in more detail, but suffice it say many styles can succeed in creating good communities.

So I’ll say it again, just for good measure: the staff is there for the people they serve, even the admins. Moderators and administrators should both receive respect for their job, not because they have earned a title from someone above them (or self given, in the case of some admins), but because they are constantly willing to exercise their power for the good of the community. If people get this wrong, things can get really messed up. You might either end up with a community that has a belligerent group of staff that everyone hates, or it’ll be a place where nothing really gets done because no one’s willing to work for it.

Many of the greatest moderators and admins I’ve seen have not been the best roleplayers of the community. They should lead in good roleplay, supporting it and striving for it, but if a person is a moderator simply on the merit that they make good roleplay… you’re missing the point. A moderator should be a good roleplayer, but I would say many of the ‘best’ roleplayers a site has to offer are simply unfit for the role, in the end. It’s also good to spread that talent around, in the staff and out of it. If a site’s only good roleplayers are the moderators, there are some problems in that too.

So keep it balanced, keep it healthy, but above all keep it selfless. There are plenty of times to be worried about your own skin, your own nest, but a public roleplaying community is not it. It’s a place for people to write roleplay, to make stories and characters come to life, and to explore worlds you never thought you’d set foot in. It’s not a place for you to feel good about yourself because a bunch of people on the internet respect you. It’s not a place to worry about how much political power you have because it makes you feel important.

If you want a good place to roleplay in, serve your community, not yourself.