The best thing I’ve seen forum-wise has been strict moderators who also post. They’re part of the community, so you actually care about whether or not you upset them. It takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Karma is for community evaluation of someone’s contributions—“is this person good to learn from?” Moderation is to punish dickish behavior, bad argumentative habits, etc. Moderation can have an element of authoritarian caprice, which is actually good for morale, like a well-loved grade-school teacher with her own strict, quirky rules.
That last is very much a matter of taste. I can think of two blogs where the moderators talk a fair amount about their absolute power, and I find it makes the blogs less attractive for me. On the other hand, my taste may be unusual—both of them have a lot of commenters.
The best thing I’ve seen forum-wise has been strict moderators who also post. They’re part of the community, so you actually care about whether or not you upset them. It takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Karma is for community evaluation of someone’s contributions—“is this person good to learn from?” Moderation is to punish dickish behavior, bad argumentative habits, etc. Moderation can have an element of authoritarian caprice, which is actually good for morale, like a well-loved grade-school teacher with her own strict, quirky rules.
Got that covered.
That last is very much a matter of taste. I can think of two blogs where the moderators talk a fair amount about their absolute power, and I find it makes the blogs less attractive for me. On the other hand, my taste may be unusual—both of them have a lot of commenters.
Your taste may not be that unusual—I agree with you. Quirky, strict, authoritarian caprice annoyed me in grade school, and still does.