This is not deja vu, this is the second version of the publication.

I’ll clarify right away: this article is not about an online forum for adults, but about a forum that is already at an “age”. These forums are faced with many problems, including the decay of the secondary nuclei, and the hindrance to those participants who develop this forum and, of course, trolls (who pretend that they are on the forum for the first time, on which moderators pretend that they do not have these trolls identified).

It seems that most users, moderators and forum owners view their forums as a kind of state. When a problem occurs, users require a change of leadership, moderators or, in extreme cases, leave the forum. Some forum old-timers authoritatively claim some nonsense, prevent the "young" moderators from working in the style of "Who are you?" Which does not help. At the same time, the administrators, the management and the owners of the forum are thinking about “who would be replaced by moderators to rectify the situation?”. And practically no one thinks that the forum is not a state with its borders; it works differently. And approaches to solving problems may be different. You can also create another forum - an alternative to the existing one, which can start life from scratch,

Since the experience of creating an alternative can be interesting to moderators and owners of other forums, in this article I will talk about the results. In the process of writing this note, I was convinced that I can not believe the forum statistics collected by external resources. Either it shows the obvious success of creating an alternative, then it shows that, perhaps, the growth of statistics is not at all the merit of the appearance of the alternative. So I’ll explain the motivation, the arguments and just show the results to at least somehow describe how this method works.





Sooner or later, almost any online forum (hereinafter referred to as the forum) may slide into a garbage state or into a troll community in which there is simply no place for non-trolls. It is not trolls and non-conflicting people who create interesting materials, help other people, contribute to a constructive discussion of topics, and support similar development for the next generation of users. Trolls and conflicting people can not be redone. Therefore, such a "roll" to a greater extent lies with the conscience of the moderators, since only moderators can turn the tide. If the moderators, in their desire to prevent trolls, act too harshly against the violators of the forum rules and are not able to create conditions for discussing interesting topics, then the forum, on the contrary, risks becoming a virtual cemetery. There will be order and silence but it will still be a cemetery. Therefore, moderators have to find a balance between supporting the freedom of forum participants, creating conditions for the development of the forum, balancing forces and protecting order (observing the rules of the forum).

As a rule, if a forum rolls into a troll community and degrades, then the forum owners and moderators acknowledge the death of their resource and close it. There are attempts to give the forum a new life, but not every moderator can decide on this. And not everyone will receive the support of the owner of the forum. And, even if he gets support and decides, then he does not have to choose the best way to restore the work of the forum.

Further in this article, for the sake of simplicity, I will refer to both trolls and simply conflicting people as Users with Troll Signs (PPT). Just because it’s difficult to distinguish a conflict person from a troll. And it’s not necessary to spend time and effort trying to distinguish one from the other, if you just remember that their behavior and the results of their activities are very similar despite the fact that they have different motivation for their actions.

As a starting point for this article, and for those who have not read detailed material about forum trolls , it’s worth again to quote here the stages of the forum’s existence described successfully:

1. The origin.
2. Development. The formation of the primary core.
3. Further growth, blurring of the original idea
4. Weakening of the primary core.
5. Cyclic formation and decay of secondary nuclei.
6. Attenuation and death.

The cyclic formation and decay of the secondary nuclei supports the life of the forum only as long as these nuclei 1. can assemble and 2. are constructive in their actions, that is, create conditions for the creation of the following nuclei. As soon as any of these two conditions is not satisfied, the forum fades and dies.

Experienced moderators and administrators can judge the approach of the sixth stage by what and how users begin to write on the forum. If instead of calmly analyzing the issue for the sake of understanding it, users come to topics for manifesting their aggression and interfere with the calm discussion of those, or those who simply carry spam (political agitators, spammers, debaters for the sake of argument, trolls, etc.) are present on the forum. ), sooner or later, calm and constructive people lose their desire to communicate on such a forum. After all, they value their time and know how it can be spent with greater benefit and pleasure. But it is precisely such users, first of all, that bring interesting and useful discussions to the resource. The remaining users, sooner or later, can become moderators and, most likely, will continue this unconstructive culture of behavior. If the moderators create the conditions for aggression, develop or cover it, then here it is the fifth stage turning into the sixth. There will most likely be no secondary cores, since there will be nobody to build something new with. There will also be no constructive moderators; there’s simply nowhere to get them from.

What to do?

This question is being asked by both resource owners and active moderators and users who want and can develop a resource. The latter I will call the " dynamic link ", I hope this does not distort the meaning of this term about which evgenyl wrote . Many people in the process of managing the forum still think in the framework of the owner of the kingdom. Therefore, of the three solution methods that are mentioned below, the first two are copies of what people do in life. In these cases, those dissatisfied with the leadership or performers seek new leadership for their kingdom. And they do not think about the fact that you can simply make a new kingdom without harming the existing kingdom (this is the third solution). Moreover, if at least one kingdom survives, then this will already be a success. If both survive, then it will already be a success in the square and everyone will benefit from it.

And now, about all these solution methods in order.

Method 1: Assign New Moderators or More Moderators

The goal is for these new moderators to maintain high quality communication on the resource and compliance with the rules.

This method works at the stages of the forum from 1 to 3. Stage 3, where the initial idea is already blurring, implies that the new idea of ​​the new moderators is already in a state of blur or, God forbid, they are already saturated with corruption. That is, this method works, but only as a temporary solution to the subsequent stages of the forum.

Method 2: appoint new moderators with extensive experience who may be similar in spirit to the primary core and who are willing to spend time and energy restoring the resource (not necessarily the old methods)

The goal is to improve the situation on the forum for the better.

This is the most extreme and conflicting method. It also happens that for this purpose moderators are appointed “from the outside”, who could not get dirty in the existing system of relations in an adult forum or simply have extensive experience in moderation. This method seems attractive, since there is nothing to criticize for such a moderator, but there is a drawback that is not immediately noticeable. This is a nervous attitude of some people to unfamiliar or principled moderators.

Imagine that you are an ordinary member of the forum where you have already taken root over the past few years. And then a new moderator appears for you, who says, “Now let's get everything back to square one.” This is equivalent to the fact that users crouched on the forum branches and the moderator is ready to cut off some branches, others to expand, the tree itself to start shaking (problem place 1). At a minimum, users will get nervous. Those of them for whom paranoia “whispers” all sorts of bad things in their ears will build such fantastic theories about the new moderator and portal that you will feel strange (2). And almost no one will hear your arguments (3). If you really need to, you will be "framed" and since they know you very little, no one will believe in your honesty (4). Moreover, users who are nervous rather, they will accept the arguments of the PPT (whom they have long known) than the arguments of such a moderator from whom they do not know what to expect. There will be phrases “and who are you?”, “You were not here when I arrived” and “you are not the master” (5). Yes, and without constant support from the owner of the resource, such moderators will not be able to work. Moreover, you should not expect recognition of the actions of such a moderator as legitimate from most visitors, because he came to change what exactly the majority led to (6). If there is a recognition of the moderator’s actions as legitimate, then you can still try to moderate him. But again, it will be more likely to create a secondary core (stage 5) and there is a risk of losing some of the users as a result of the actions of such a moderator (7). “You were not here when I arrived” and “you are not the master here” (5). Yes, and without constant support from the owner of the resource, such moderators will not be able to work. Moreover, you should not expect recognition of the actions of such a moderator as legitimate from most visitors, because he came to change what exactly the majority led to (6). If there is a recognition of the moderator’s actions as legitimate, then you can still try to moderate him. But again, it will be more likely to create a secondary core (stage 5) and there is a risk of losing some of the users as a result of the actions of such a moderator (7). “You were not here when I arrived” and “you are not the master here” (5). Yes, and without constant support from the owner of the resource, such moderators will not be able to work. Moreover, you should not expect recognition of the actions of such a moderator as legitimate from most visitors, because he came to change what exactly the majority led to (6). If there is a recognition of the moderator’s actions as legitimate, then you can still try to moderate him. But again, it will be more likely to create a secondary core (stage 5) and there is a risk of losing some of the users as a result of the actions of such a moderator (7). because he came to change what exactly the majority led to (6). If there is a recognition of the moderator’s actions as legitimate, then you can still try to moderate him. But again, it will be more likely to create a secondary core (stage 5) and there is a risk of losing some of the users as a result of the actions of such a moderator (7). because he came to change what exactly the majority led to (6). If there is a recognition of the moderator’s actions as legitimate, then you can still try to moderate him. But again, it will be more likely to create a secondary core (stage 5) and there is a risk of losing some of the users as a result of the actions of such a moderator (7).

Method 3: create an alternative to an existing forum on the same site

The goal is to create a new forum without harm or influence on an existing age forum. It makes sense to do when the sixth stage has not arrived and there are enough people in the dynamic core to launch a new forum.

This method assumes that a new forum is created on the portal, access to which will be limited and the administrator of that forum or moderators (or whatever form of management they choose) will decide who to leave in the Alternative forum. Entrance to the Alternative forum - by invitation from existing members of the Alternative. The latter idea was borrowed from Harbahabr, for which he thanks a lot.

If you look at the problem points numbered above in method 3, you can see the following
1. This will not happen, as a new forum is being built, without interfering with the work and management of the existing parent forum.
2. These people can be kept at a distance.
3-5. As the new forum is being created with new people - the dynamic core that launches the forum, these problem areas do not bother any of the launching users. And to other users, the case should not be.
6. A new forum is being created with the goal of introducing changes into the life of the forum, and people come there precisely for this.
7. The parent forum is not touched, everything remains as before and there are no reasons to lose users.

In addition, there are other advantages of this solution
1. All those users who are satisfied with the parent forum have the opportunity to stay on it.
2. The newly created alternative forum does not necessarily carry the inheritance (positive, negative, rules, orders, traditions, etc.) of the main, parent forum. But uses them, has a chance to take the best.
3. Those users who then come to an alternative forum understand that they come there on the terms of the society of that forum and should not reorganize everything for themselves, but follow the rules of behavior of that forum and the dynamic link that created the new forum. That is, if you can’t troll there and they warned about it, then you can’t. And do not be offended that the moderator helped to remove such a user from a new forum or portal as a whole because he considered his PPT. The moderator simply fulfilled his duties and used the right to make a decision. That is, he did what he is present on the forum for.
4. Large and adult forums often suffer from the fact that their moderators simply do not have enough time for the number of active users that is present in these forums. By creating an alternative forum, introducing as an invitation system for new users, and like the ability to disconnect users from such a forum by the administrator / moderator of an alternative forum, you can control the balance between the number of users and moderators. There are not enough moderators to maintain high quality moderation with viewing all new messages - you can not let users in until the required number of moderators is available. At this time, users who cannot yet get into the alternative forum can use the parent forum.
5. Without harm to the parent forum, it is possible to select for the new forum those who can develop the forum and not create unnecessary problems for anyone. However, such people can use both forums.
6. The parent forum is a place where new users can show themselves before they get to the alternative forum.
7. ППТ and spammers, if the moderators of the parent forum operate in a mode of zero tolerance for them, they will not pass through the “sieve” of the moderators of the parent forum or the probability of their passage to the alternative forum will still be lower (this is especially true now that trolls and spammers are already know how to hide).
8. Users of the alternative forum remain the users of the main forum, which gives them two degrees of freedom of communication and does not allow them to become “aliens” in the parent forum.
9. An alternative forum can focus on their goals. For example, if the goal was to shut down from the ITT, which prevented communication at the general forum, then an alternative forum could be closed from such, and its participants could engage in an interesting business without problematic and imposing people.
10. Remember, I wrote about critics of moderators who want and can change the forum? So, critics may not come to the alternative forum created by such moderators, as normal people don’t go where those who don’t like them moderate (in fact, they all the same obsessively come, sometimes under different nicknames, and then complain that they were put out again from there, thereby raising the mood for everyone).
11. One of the arguments of the PMT in the past was this: "You banned me unjustly, so I will come forever and take revenge." FPTs that fall into an alternative forum are simply disconnected from this forum (disconnecting from the portal is rarely used). The PCTs can no longer speculate on issues of injustice and revenge, since they can still use the parent forum.

All these advantages give enough freedom to start an alternative forum without harming the existing forum and without special repressive measures against the TIP. All this will not work without sufficient support from the owner of the resource and the lack of a dynamic link - the primary core of the new forum.

But everything described above is an introduction to the existing problem, a description of methods for solving it. And now about the results of applying method 3.

results

After an unconscious trial of solutions 1 and 2 in different versions, the forum decided to try method number 3. As a risky attempt and not counting on anything. The primary core of the new alternative forum already had its own forum in one of the portal’s closed clubs, in which its members could communicate, show each other interesting news, music, photos, and so on. That is, there was already a self-sufficient community that could do something for itself. They became the primary core for a new alternative forum. The initial goals of the creation were to create conditions for mutually respectful behavior, constructive discussion, and restriction on the actions of the PPT.

The result has become interesting.
1. If before the creation of an alternative forum, almost all discussions revolved around the war, then during the first weeks the idea of ​​creating an alternative forum began to be criticized. Which again increased the activity of users of the portal as a whole. But the primary core of the users of the alternative forum created the forum, first of all, for themselves and people like them. Because they just continued to communicate on an alternative forum, have fun, bring interesting news and topics. A few days later, a similar thing started on the parent forum - many users of the parent forum began to bring interesting news and topics. Forum games began to be played on both forums and those who did not play them. They play, sometimes, under different accounts. This continues to this day, as a result - both forums have significantly revived.
2. The parent forum, which began to sink in abuse, conflict and trolls, received an alternative forum to the load. An alternative forum, with its rules and actions of moderators, initially creates “greenhouse” conditions for those who develop. The result was an “incubator”, which “pulls” the whole portal behind itself.
3. It really made it possible to launch an alternative forum in a new format for those who want it, but leave it untouched and do not harm the parent forum without imposing alternative communication in the format of those who need it.
4. With regard to the IPT - they have passed anyway, but their activity is at a minimum level, as the moderators of the alternative forum regularly remove the IPT from the alternative forum.

All these positive results are a situation in which both forums and the portal as a whole only benefit from mutual existence.

Here is the list of topics at the time of this writing:


As you can see, now these forums are not the only ones living in war. There is everything for development.

What did you do differently this time?

1. Take into account the experience and opinion of other moderators .
2. No matter how we relate to the PPT, they are an inevitable part of our life; they want to have fun in their own way , and some of the participants in the online forums have a demand for such entertainment that can lead to many arguments in favor of not removing the TIP from the forum. Now, if they are interested with the PPT, then let them stay with the PPT.
3. The creators of the forum (primary core) from the very beginning took a course to support those who create and support constructive conditions for participants in an alternative forum. Moderation is fundamental on this.
4. The participants of the alternative forum are in different countries and can bring translated news to the forum before many news agencies.
5. In addition to collecting interesting news on the Internet, some of the participants were able to start generating their content (sharing their recipes, personal experiences, showing their photos, and so on).