Friday Roundup: Defining Community Guidelines

By Amy Turner, The Community Roundtable

Communities tend to function best when there is some defined sense of appropriate behaviors. But there’s a catch. Policies and guidelines shouldn’t just explain what you shouldn’t do – they should highlight what you should. Once again this year, our best-in-class communities drive this home. The best communities are more than twice as likely as the average to have policies and guidelines in place that don’t just define what shouldn’t be done, but guide members to the behaviors that benefit the community.

SOCM2016_Fact_#10_DefineBehaviors

So what’s a community manager to do? In his latest research post – SOCM Fact #10 – Don’t be afraid to define community guidelines– Ted shares his ideas including:

Recognize the power of policies and guidelines as a positive force.
Go back to your community values.
Get community input.
Be transparent – about the process and the things that aren’t negotiable.

Before you say, “Duh!” – recognize that it’s a delicate balance. People don’t love being told what to do, or what not to do. But we need both. A community that works to have no rules or guidelines for expected behaviors can descend into the chaos of many media comments sections. But communities that are too restrictive can crush the constructive disagreements that are the heart of innovation and dialogue. Click here to read Ted’s full post.

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