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Welcome to Melcrum's Social Media Newsletter.
Moderation – the process of keeping in check the various comment threads, online forums, bulletin boards and blogs your organization provides – can be a difficult and time-consuming task. But good moderation is vital to the success of these platforms. How can you ensure it's handled correctly?
Set an early tone
Your first step with any online discussion platform (blog, bulletin board etc.) should be to establish some guidelines; what will and will not be acceptable? For example, any abusive language and explicit content are obvious exclusions, but just how far will you let something such as criticism go? Allowing people to complain endlessly about not having a Coke machine on their floor is asking for trouble, but allowing genuine problems to surface may well be a primary aim. Such questions need to be addressed before you launch.
Anonymous or accountable?
In the corporate environment, whether comments should be allowed anonymously or whether employees should be made accountable is a difficult question.
In an ideal world perhaps every employee would feel confident enough to post his or her name alongside a comment that's critical of the organization, without any fear of reprise or of their reputation being tainted. Unfortunately for many, the fear of losing a job may be too strong.
While some organizations are having success in making individuals 100% accountable for their comments, others have chosen to allow anonymity. Whatever model you choose the decision should be based on the culture at your own organization and the purpose of the initiative itself. For example, does your organization have a good history of being open and transparent? Is it a long-term, knowledge-building initiative, where including personal and contact details are vital? Or, is it a platform for discussion around certain issues, some of which are – or could potentially be – sensitive. Each case is different.
Lead by example
Regardless of the model you choose, at first you should be prepared to encourage and lead discussion, perhaps even making constructive criticisms of your own, or highlighting issues you know will get people talking.
If an employee does post critical but fair comments – with or without their name attached – resolutely ensure that they’re treated fairly and their criticisms dealt with professionally.
If a comment or discussion contravenes your guidelines, edit or delete it (or close the thread), but post a clear explanation of why the action was taken and refer readers back to those guidelines. If appropriate, follow up with the commenter via a more private channel such as e-mail and discuss with them the reasons for the moderation. Don’t be heavy handed, but be fair, be honest and also be aware that such e-mails themselves may be circulated.
A fine line between success and failure
It’s the actions and responses in the very first few instances that will set the standard and could well prove the spark for your new discussion platform – or the sword on which it will fall.
Best regards,
Alex Manchester
Editor
alex.manchester@melcrum.com
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