Members that try and make you look bad as an administrator

Have you ever had a member that purposely tried to make you look bad, or purposely tried to irritate you, in a gradual form?

For example, here are some things he'd say...

"Hey admin, is this your first forum?"
"The admin should install this."
"Why isn't this topic locked, admin?"
"Does this guy know how to run a forum?"
"Admin, you should do this. And that."

And basically, he starts acting as if the forum is his own.

How do you deal with these members? Obviously banning is not the way, because technically, they aren't breaking any rules.

 

I have fun with members that try to do this, but never let it bother me. State the facts and be honest with the members, let them know why you did something if they try and question you.

 

Feel free to punish backseat moderating. Give him a 'Backseat Driver' title if you feel like giving a slight hint.

 

Yes.

This. If it gets bad enough, and it has, I lock the thread after making the final post. It usually drives home the point. I try very hard not to do that though.

 

Make backseat moderating one of the rules. After being a member of a forum that didn't have it as one of their rules, and then eventually adding it due to an influx of backseat moderators, I made sure that my forums had that as a rule.

Having people tell me what to do when they are in no position to do so is one of my personal pet peeves.

 

Personally, if I have a member posting like that I would be worried. What am I doing/not doing to cause this. Usually there is something underlying which I can work out with him in PM's

 

What would you guys do if that same individual created a massive ten suggestion threads, one right after another? They are all legit suggestions, but can't something be said about it? The tone he used in each thread didn't sound all that nice either.

"Why don't you have this installed already?"
"You NEED to install this NOW."

Why do I have the feeling that he owns a competing forum?

 

cough' Miserable Users 'cough


My members are free to suggest anything in our suggestion sub forum section. If it's worth looking into I'll see about having the mod installed. If a thread any where in the forum turns to pot because of some backseat mod or anyone else, I'll lock the thread and tell why. If a person just continues to be a PITA, I add them to the miserable user list.

 

The first thing I would do is to initiate contact via PM to find out more information. They could legitimately want the forum improved, or they could have other motives. If there is a conversation via PM, then there is a chance less would be posted publicly.

 

i knew a member like that, he would even send the admin links to mods that he wanted installing!

i accept feedback and suggestions, but that is going too far.

i would pm him and let him know that sometimes his suggestions are a bit much, and arent always possible to be added to the forum

 

I haven't had any such problems but you guys are too nice.

I'm giving the ole hook
.

That being said I do have and recommend a feedback section where they can give their feedback. I've had some great suggestions from my members.

 

Nah, you got to define how much feedback you want. If a mod would enhance the forum, sure. I don't spend all day on the org looking for new mods, if you happen to have found one, I am all for it. However, demanding I do something on my forum, like install a mod that benefits you is not going to happen. And if he made ten threads, merge them, make a post about a maybe getting a thread merger mod, tell him you will look into it and thats that.
As for tone, just make sure what you see as one tone he actually means. Words cannot convey his tone all too well.
On the same note, you don't want people to be afraid of you do you? But you got to lay down the law.

 

Like Brandon, I'll tell them why I did something or didn't do something. Whatever is pertinent to their complaints.

I am, on the other hand, very sarcastic but in good light, with the troublesome members. Sometimes they don't catch on to the fact I'm poking fun at them and go along until other people clue them in via various methods.

 

I would call that spamming and trolling.

Administrators and forum owners should never allow members to harass them.

It is up to you to maintain control in running your forum.

 

Ha ha. I wish they were all that kind. We have a rough crowd on my forum. Read on...

I do on certain subjects & Who the member is. I delete stuff at times quickly & so do my mods. To much is to much. Depends ^

Sometimes it irritates me to no end too. Certain members grrrrr

True dat



Here's a winner > What 50calray said

 

Most forum software makes it possible for you to discourage that kind of abuse, but also allow the suggestions to be presented. I would move 9 of those new threads into the first one, then merge all the posts into a single post. Then answer the questions with very short replies and leave it at that (maybe even close the thread).

+++​

I have a former staff member who recently posted a slur against the forum as part of a reply to a discussion. I maybe should have thicker skin, but it pissed me off, so I "corrected" his mis-statement of the facts. When he replied back with an obscenity, I put him in a user group that has access to read forums, but not the ability do do anything else - no searches, no posting, no PMs, no access to the calendar (an important feature on my forum) or anything else.

All former staff carry a badge of recognition of their former service to the website. His was labeled Guide Emeritus (Guides on my forum are similar to moderators, but they don't do enforcement, they do encouragement - the subject of another topic, if you're interested). And I have another badge of honor for those who joined the forum the first year, called the Charter Member badge (badges are modified rank icons and members do see them as a sign of status). The errant staffer lost those badges when he was placed on restriction. He'll get the Charter Member badge back when he's off restriction, but not the Guide Emeritus badge.

People that like using your forum, like it for more than just posting messages to people with similar interests. If your forum doesn't have something unique to encourage their activity, they will become occasional posters, or stop visiting at all. I try to make being active, even in the lean and uneventful times, an interesting and enjoyable experience. I like to think because of that, I have had a relatively well behaved community with a very friendly spirit.

It's rare for me to have to punish members for acting out, but I also like to do that with less harm to our professional relationship and with little or no public notice. Banning is a last resort. Restriction lets them see that we aren't talking about them or ridiculing the member behind their backs. They can still read the forums and, hopefully, see what they are missing.

R'gards,

Jim

 

Some people are just abrasive by nature yet mean no ill will, they just lack social skills. I have found that often people with this type of issue go into situations expecting rebuttal and conflict and it becomes a self-fullfilling prophecy. They can't break that cycle but we can. Should he be punished for his lack of social graces or should an admin try to reach out to him and give him a some guidance on forum ettiquette? Personally I go with the latter.

If the suggestions he is making are valid I would be glad of the constructive critcism and ignore the gauche tone of the posts. Implementing the suggested changes would be to the overall good of the forum and seeing his suggestions acted upon could help the poster understand that he and his contributions are appreciated and help make him a more valuable member of the community.


That's enough niceness for one day, now where are those pesky kittens?

 

When I started my first forum,I wanted to do everything right and be polite to everybody.Since it was a forum for a small community most of the people went on to know each other and become friends.At some point a certain member demanded that I should ban another member.I declined and she started posting threads like "The admin doesn't know his job", "The admin always changes things and I get confused" or "The admin thinks he owns the place and he doesn't want us here".

Next thing, she demanded I should let her pay for the server.When I told her that this is done through the donations system so that everybody can contribute she went on to pm members saying I'm power hungry.She used to wake up at 5 am to fill the forum with threads saying that "the Admin hasn't woken up yet and he is lazy" or that "I post all day so the forum is mine".At a point she was online almost 24/7 checking member profiles and monitoring the forum.
One day I just learnt that she was working to launch a competitive forum and she was contacting our members through pm and email.

 

The sappy cow.

In most cases, if the admin doesn't own the place who the hell does?

 

People who use the Admin and Staff in a topic are simply pointing negativity to the staff.