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So it has nearly been a year of moderating on Gaia. I was officially made a Site Moderator during 5th-6th of June last year. That's freaking me out a little.

After a year, here is some things I have learned about Gaia that I'm going to share.

Number One: Report & Reply, Learn the Difference!
Something that constantly comes up are reports made against a post when it's clear the user meant to hit reply. Now I get this can happen, but you'd have to be very inattentive to notice the page completely changes, that it says REPORT at the top and you're asked to pick a report reason. Nope, it still happens.



To me the distinction is enough to realize what you're doing. So I emphasise, please actually pay attention!

Number Two: Your Ignore List is Your Friend
Yes, you have the ability to ignore those people who bother you, so take advantage of it. We would much prefer for simple disagreements you actually be proactive and take the step to prevent the person from contacting you.

Now if they then continue to contact/harass you in whatever way (possibly from a mule account) then you're justified in filing an Abuse/Harassment report against them. But your first action should always to ignore the person.

Trust me, I've seen it a lot, someone is being bugged by a user and they're getting tired of it. Rather than stopping the user from contacting them the person opts to go straight to report, generally for some form of vengeance.

In this case I'm saying, be the bigger man (or woman) and take the high road. Take advantage of your ignore list.

Number Three: I am a Moderator, Not a Pokemon.
We're not playing Pokemon here so the concept of catching them all is out. By this I mean the need to friend every moderator you see, or to friend a moderator just because they're a moderator.

When I get friend requests saying "I want to have access to a moderator easily" I decline them. I'm not your pocket mod, I'm not a pokemon, I'm not here to be collected. Any of my friends try and get me to pocket mod, I tell them where to go.

Friending a moderator or admin does not get you preferential treatment, and anyone who tries to finds themself removed from my friends list.

It's a friend list, not a people I'm gonna use list. Don't try to collect us, it's transparent and frankly, a little sad.

Number Four: I am a Person, Not a Robot.
I'm a person behind this avatar, so when you're wanting my help or just want to chat a little politeness goes a long way.

When talking with someone I wouldn't go "Hey USER" and constantly call them "USER". They have a name on this site, so I'd use it.

Same goes for me. It irks me when I get messages go "So MODERATOR why don't you _______". My name isn't MODERATOR, it's Sweet n Leo or Leo.

You can leave the attitude out of the message, especially if you're asking for help.

On the same line, moderating on Gaia isn't automated. My online light being on doesn't mean I'm here to give immediate support through my inbox. Not receiving a PM reply immediately is natural, and you need to have some patience.

Number Five: Profile Comments Are Not a Report Queue!
If you're reporting something, use the right form. I'm not going to do anything placed in my profile comments, since it's obvious you've not read anything, like the part of my profile which asks you not to do that.

We have report queues for a reason, and if you need to contact me officially about something take the time and PM it to me. I don't like dealing publicly in my profile regarding anything moderating related.

Number Six: Talking To The Title
Some people end up taking straight to the title, as in completely forgetting there's a regular user behind the title, albeit a user who's seen a bit more in how Gaia runs, but a user still.

I'm not talking about through PMs, I'm talking about through forums. You notice it a lot in Site Feedback, there are the (mistaken) few who believe that having a green name means a) you're automatically on Gaia's side and b) you have no right to an opinion. Well to those who believe that I say rubbish.

Gaia has done a lot of things that really annoy me, and I've said so many times before. I'm not automatically on Gaia's side, but I'm also not going to rush into Site Feedback and rage as many people do. That's really unprofessional.

Regarding not getting an opinion, the narrow-minded few who believe that need to take a look at the situation again. Everybody gets an opinion, you have no right to tell people they're not allowed to have an opinion.

Number Seven: PM Etiquette
For the love of everything that is holy, don't remove the old conversation when replying to a PM. I get a lot of PMs and I rely on the quotes to know what we've talked about and to remind me of the situation. When I get a PM that's a single line without any of the previous quotes I'm at a loss.

This is true whether you're PMing another person or a moderator. It's a pain in the a** if you delete the quotes from the PM box before sending. Why?

Number Eight: Beware Vengeance
By vengence I mean trying to get another user in trouble, especially when they've done nothing wrong.

Friends have a disagreement and one reports the other. It's sad but happens.

What I'm saying here is don't report someone for password phishing if they haven't password phished you. It's really obvious, especially if the PM you're reporting has the entire conversation in it including the part where you tell your friend you're going to report them and get them banned.

This really does happen. People try to report someone else to get them in trouble, but end up getting in trouble themselves over abusive things they've done that shows up in the report. Why would you report a PM for password phishing when it clearly shows you flaming the other person.

So don't try and get a friend (or anyone) in trouble when they've done nothing wrong. It'll bite you in the a**.

Number Nine: Disagreement Trolling Does Not Make
Just because someone has a differing position doesn't make them a troll.

By this I specifically refer to the entertainment forums who are notorious for this. If you're a Robert P fan, someone saying they don't think he's that hot isn't trolling, it's an opinion and a valid one.

I honestly don't care how much of a fan you are, someone who isn't a fan isn't automatically a troll. People are allowed to dislike Joe Jonas without being reported. The world isn't going to be all "OMG JOE JONAS IS HOT - MOUTHFOAM -", there are actually people out there who don't think he's that great.

So reign in the fanboy/girlism a little bit.


So it has been a nearly a year, that's a little freaky. Here's to another smile