Forum Administration

Conflict can bring in traffic. If you manage the conflict and ensure that your community posts fairly present both sides.

To start with here are ways to make conflict drives traffic to your community:

1. Choose the Conflict Topic: Conflicts can be Community Managers generated or members generated. In the fist case choose a topic which is corrently being trendy. Go search for the trendy topic here in Google trends
2. Choose the Conflict Title: Wisely choose the conflict title which reflect the essense of the topic. It is always good to add the keywords which is closely related with the topic.
3. Publish your Community Guidelines: It’s always good to highlight your forum rules at the site of conflict topic. Have community guidelines everyone is familiar with. Try not to call out specifically what they said because they add fuel to the fire. Instead, remove offensive posts and follow up via email citing the guidelines so they’re aware of the error.
4. Active Comment Management: Constructive negativity is OK as long as users use their manners, a seemingly pleasant conversation can be tense. Ensure that you understand the community as yelling/caps can be normal for one community but totally abnormal for another (and, comes off as offensive). Your job as a CM is to manage the tone of the community as best as you can. Pull comments when necessary.
5. Managing offensive content: Put offensive users on moderation after you’ve warned them that their comments are offensive/violate your community guidelines. This way, when a warned user tries to post, they won’t be able to. After a week or so of moderation and once they’ve toned down, take them off of moderation and give them another chance.
6. Define role of Community Managers: Sometimes you agree with user. Let them know you’re sympathetic. Mob appreciates it, but be careful you’re not crossing the line and bashing your own company or product. Being neutral is hard. Re-reads emails to make sure emails don’t sound terse or bitchy. Ex: I understand, this is a great suggestion, I’m right on board with you is still fairly neutral vs. Thanks for the suggestion (flat). Ensure you communicate your sentiment with higher ups- you’re slightly sympathetic but will agree w/company line. You ARE a user. At some point you become part of the community. Separate out when you’re speaking for yourself vs. community.

The Content of the Posts are also drawn from the post here.