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ChatteParfaitt -> RE: What can we do to [train] new posters? (12/22/2013 7:27:58 AM)
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FR:
I'd like to take the bar analogy a bit further, since I think the group dynamics are quite similar.
Let's say the regular posters are the regulars in the bar. They come in often, know and understand the unspoken social mores of the group, and to a certain extent *create* the social mores by the very act of having adopted the existing social mores by being in regular attendance. (More on this later, since people and thus groups are in the constant state of change.)
In this example, the mods are the bar owners, bouncers, and bartenders.
New people coming into the forum are the new visitors to the bar.
To address the issue of what to expect in this bar by appearance alone, let’s say it's in a red light district with strip joints flashing overt pictures, though the venue itself is non-sexual in terms of appearance.
Logic demands that, due to the location of the venue, a certain number of drunks will wander in, be oblivious to the social mores, and get tossed out on their ear. There is little difference between this example and what happens to people who wander in from the profile side and make assumption about what kind of place the forums are without taking a bit of a look around.
When people venture into a new place w/o taking a look around, they run the risk of not understanding the required social standards.
Let’s push the analogy just a bit further and say some new people wander in from a neighboring strip joint, and assume they can fondle or sexually harass the regular members. They get shown the door as well, but with perhaps more force. In this instance some of the regulars will join in, and even more will stop what they’re doing to watch. For a time at least it is a form of entertainment.
Expecting the regular patrons to ignore such behavior, especially when the bouncers, bartenders, etc are not addressing the issue, is not a realistic expectation in my mind.
If the ‘bartenders & bouncers’ want the social more of the venue to be that new patrons are to be shown the utmost respect no matter what their own behavior is, then they have to be the one enforcing that behavior, as they do in the intro section.
It’s my perspective that in the forums the mods leave much of the enforcement of the social mores to the regulars. This is how it would be at your neighborhood local.
If the regulars are seen to get out of hand, they are banned for a period of time and in severe cases forever. The mods, just like the bartenders in my local pub analogy, have to be careful about doing this. Because what happens when certain people leave is that you open the group up to change (and in some instances major change) to the social mores.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say ‘Mike’ (I am not referring to anyone in particular, okay?) is a regular at the bar, is well liked, often gets a game of darts going, and has the strength of will and personal charisma to be one of the people who sets the ‘tone’ of the place. But he has a tendency to drink too much at times and get a bit too out spoken. The bartender has the choice of having the bouncer toss him out, giving him a warning, etc. If ‘Mike’ is tossed out permanently, they run the risk of having no one else capable of filing ‘Mike’s’ shoes. His friends follow him to another venue, and no one starts dart games, a source of much camaraderie in the past. Within a few weeks the tone (social more) changes from ‘this is a friendly bar where you can get a game of darts going’ to ‘this is a bar where you keep yourself to yourself, or you might get bounced.’
Each new person entering or exiting the group has the potential to change the tone. Most will adhere to the current social more, only a few have the personality to alter the tone. But if you lose too many of them, you change the group forever.
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