Your personal behavior

Do you believe that as admin you should never participate in controversial topics or discussions and should tone down your opinions in order to lead the community?

 

I personally do but mainly because I have received death threats in the past regarding me personally commenting on something and the newspaper running a story on it and mentioning my website as somewhere that is against it and everyone bombarded my site so if it's controversial i do not comment at all.

 

Well, it depends on the topic. If it's just religious or political views I generally keep them to myself. If it's something I feel strongly about, or I feel someone might be endangered by my silence, I'll post my views and let the chips fall where they may.

 

I kind of really don't care, the users have as much voice as I have and vice versa.

 

No.

IMO.

It is the person, or people, that made the forum popular in the first place, that need to carry on doing so to keep it alive.

A visitor's perception of the place can be based on a short period of time on the forum. So if at the start of it, it was popular because of X reason (X perhaps being YOU posted a lot with your views) then maybe you need to keep that going to keep attracting members at the same, or an increasing rate.

If it is you hardly ever posted much, and it got going, I'd recommend not trying to take over it and keep it as it is too.

So; if it's working, keep doing it. If it's not, change it (in your case perhaps NOT express you view as much).

So there's no direct answer without us knowing much more about what got it going, and what activity it has now, and whatnot.

All the best with it though.

 

This is a tough situation. If the passionate discussion (i.e. religion or politics) isn't related to the niche of the site, I would keep it to myself. I don't want to turn my members away just because they don't like my personal views.

It's really a personal preference as to how you (the administrator) want to present yourself. In some cases, expressing your strong opinions on a subject is fine, but in others, it can turn sour and change the community's perspective of you.

 

I regard the conversations on my forums as public, "polite" conversations (though not everyone always remains polite), and as such feel I shouldn't really talk about religion or politics. Those subjects are really for private conversations or among friends, in my opinion.

 

I would strongly disagree with the idea of toning down your opinions just because you're the administrator of the forum, heck, I hate nothing more than admins who try to run their site like a business, completely detached from the community side of things when the forum isn't the support for an actual company. I just think an administrator (and the moderators) should be involved in a community and post what they actually think of the topic like any other member, it makes the site feel like a closer community and probably more personal. So no, I don't think you should tone down your opinions to lead a community, just as I hate anyone who calls their owner/admin account 'admin' or something that generic.

 

I post an awful lot on our biggest forum...thats the www.tilersforums.co.uk and i feel that a very active administrator also lets members know you are nearly always around to help if needed and an active administrator shows you care about the community enough to spend plenty of time with them...So joining in helps ME as an Administrator be in touch with our members needs..

 

Generally, I'll exercise extreme caution if and when I decide to express my opinion on a subject that could be described as controversial. For the sake of the relationships built with fellow members, however, I tend to not participate in such topics.

Voice your opinion when desired, but be careful.

 

I understand what you are saying, but I think there is a degree of separation here. I am very "into" my community, and my forum is one of the most tight-knit communities I know of (to be honest) but I am still very careful about where I comment in regards to passionate but personal topics: politics, religion, etc. Although it's more personal for me to join in the conversation like the rest of the members, what am I going to do when several members no longer look at me in the same light as they did before, due to their conflicting personal views? Members might end up leaving the community or hold a grudge against me. Yes, it's their problem, but it is really mine as well.

Exactly, Chris. This is how I feel about it to a 'T'.

 

The few times that I haven't participated, I was called out on the thread and asked why they hadn't heard my own POV yet. I feel that your members expect to hear (read) their leaders' opinions. It makes them feel that they know you better.

However, I do always use extreme caution and choose my words very carefully. It has at times, taken me days to post, not because I had to decide whether I was going to or not, but because it took me that long to say what I needed to say, in a nice way.

 

That is a great question. I think the best answer has to depend on the forum and the admin. What members are used to and expect, how adept the admin is at communications.

My hobby forum's off-topic area is heavy with opinions and commentary. My first real mistake was that I did not post enough, and the members became uncomfortable that they did not know me as a community member. Ironically that undermined my credibility as an admin with them. I don't think that would be the case on some forums but it's part of the culture of that one.

Since then I have made sure to participate enough for them to feel they know something about me. I'm definitely careful not to press my own opinion in the off-topic area once it has been stated, and not to get into arguments. If someone strongly disagrees I don't take it personally. So far I believe the forum community believes diverse pov's are welcome, regardless of my opinions.

In the on-topic area I'm much more careful. I avoid posting that I "dislike" things in the hobby. Many of the hobbyists are passionate about their hobby interests, and are far more likely to be offended by my distaste for something they treasure than they are to care what I think of health care. :p

In the next forum I will take a read on the apparent temperament of the future members before deciding to participate myself. If they are judgmental about others' opinions, or accepting and relaxed about debate.

Long ago, pre-internet, in my very first month in a management position I was taught that more weight is given to what is said by leaders and high-profile persons than is deserved or wanted (management, city council, star performer, celebrity, etc.) People don't always hear things the way they were intended, they give it too much importance and they are slow to forget what they think they heard.

 

I have learned a lot here. I am finding that I can maintain a strident no-holds barred stance on things that steer the entire community that melds with our community goals and culture, and as for involving myself in conversations about outside issues, like religion , I will stay as neutral-ish as possible or only position myself in a "help me understand your point of view". Or if it is just too far out for me to understand, I just keep it shut. (I just spent 2 minutes looking for the tape over mouth smiley we have on our board.)

 

You always have to be careful with your exact wording and/or phrasing - it's amazing as to what some people with nitpick at to no end. Remaining neutral will generally ease any sort of tension that could be created, but it could also spark a bit of unwanted "interest" (i.e. members questioning why you're so neutral).

It really does depend on what's being discussed (and more importantly, how it's being discussed).

 

id def be the wrong person to ask about this lol
i got a big mouth and like to run it

 

:lolspit:

Me too actually. But it seemed I had less impact when there were 1000 of us. Now that there are nearly 10,000, somehow my voice got LOUDER. How did that happen?

So, I would rather save my diatribes for things about the topic of our forum, like being anti-stalkers to the band, and leave not lose their respect because I have a different opinion about gay marriage.

But I don't like it.

It's kinda like being put on a pedestal and then get rocks thrown at you.

:shrug: