User blog:Luchofigo85/A Conversation About Chat

Chat is a feature that allows us to connect with others users who want to talk about the content of the wiki, discuss guidelines, projects and even share a nice off-topic conversation with another person. Despite being used all over the internet, there are some people that still don't understand what is the proper etiquette in a chat. Which is why the figure of the chat moderator is a key component if we want to have a healthy and drama-free environment.

When you are a chat moderator, you are not a cop, you are not a class of security manager or a superhero, you are a user who gained the trust of both the administration and the users to always ensure harmony between users inside a chat. A good chat moderator is someone passionate and understanding of the topic of the wiki, pleasant, with good communication, but above all, responsible and mature to handle situations, work together and understand that they are part of a whole.

I went ahead and asked some of our experienced Spanish volunteers to see what suggestions do they have in regards to chat etiquette and how chat moderators should behave.

I would recommend the chat moderators to be as patient as they can be regardless of the situation. There will be times where you will see users inside the chat who haven't read the rules; neither of the chat nor of FANDOM. In these cases, you need to take some time and explain to them the rules in a friendly way. You also need to know when you have to switch your tone and be more strict with users that have been around for quite some time on FANDOM. Being strict and rude are two different things; make sure to take some time before replying to a comment.

I would recommend chat moderators keep the pranks to a minimum. Yes, you can always throw a joke related to the theme to alleviate some tension, but being funny all the time can be more offensive to the users and will create chaos in the chat. You have to demonstrate that you have enough maturity to handle different situations. A simple but important aspect is to avoid "confrontations" with trolls or annoying users who will be imminently banned. As always, it is better to just ban them or expel them. Don’t make them angrier or provoke them- it will be funny to the chat room, but then the problem can grow inside the wiki and become more complex. An interesting technique that could be used for very active chats (perhaps of an average more than 20 users) is to find users from different time zones, that way they can cover a greater number of hours. In my experience, the Spanish moderators helped cover the morning hours in Latin America in chat, and those in Latin America covered part of the afternoon and evening.

An important thing to point out is the difference between English and non-English Community Centrals. On the English chat, there is usually a great variety of people. There aren't only native English speakers, but also users who know the language but are from many countries, which makes everything more varied and it is possible that more care should be taken when certain topics are touched.

Regardless of the language, administration and chat moderation are two parts that go completely hand in hand, they have to necessarily share the same goals. If each one takes different approaches, problems inside and outside the chat will emerge. It is good for administrators to move away and act moderately, but it is not bad to see how they respond and how everything goes from time to time.

Are there any other suggestions for chat moderators that weren't mentioned in this blog entry? Please share them in the comments section below, I'm pretty sure that other users will appreciate the comments to see if the can use them in their wikis.

Thanks to the users for taking the time to provide their suggestions and the design of this blog entry!