Hey look, me again! Just like we need community rules, we also need moderator guidelines to set expectations for our behavior. As with community rules, we want everyone to weigh in on them since this is a community for all of us. Here’s what we have, let us know what you think:

Moderator Guidelines

• Don’t be mean to users. Be gentle or neutral.
• When in doubt about whether or not a user is problematic, send them a DM if you have the time and energy.
• Don’t waste time debating/arguing with problematic users.
• Assume the best, but don’t tolerate sealioning/just asking questions/concern trolling.
• Ask another mod to take over cases you struggle with, or when things get personal.
• Ask the other mods for advice when things get complicated.
• Don’t perform too much moderation in the comments, except if you want a verdict to be public or to ask people to dial a convo down/stop. Single comment warnings are okay.
• Send users concise DMs about verdicts about them, such as bans etc, except in cases where it is clear we don’t want them at all, such as obvious transphobes. No need to notify someone they haven’t been banned of course.
• Some users are stupid and focus on pedantry and technicalities. If you struggle to deal with such users, send them to another mod.
• Explain to a user why their behavior is problematic and how it is distressing others rather than engage with whatever they are saying. Ask them to avoid this in the future and send them packing if they do not comply.
• First warn users, then temp ban them, then finally perma ban them when they break the rules or act inappropriately. Skip steps if necessary.
• Use neutral statements like “this statement can be considered transphobic” rather than “you are being transphobic”.
• Remember you are a voluntary moderator. You don’t get paid. Take a break when you need one. Perhaps ask another moderator to step in if necessary.