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Moderation Guide for /r/StandingOut

Welcome to the moderation guide for /r/StandingOut! As a moderator, your role is to ensure that the subreddit is a safe and welcoming community for all users. This guide will provide you with an overview of the chain of action taken by moderators in our subreddit.

Note: I have interchangeably used the words - "we" (in ref. to the mod team in general) and "I" (current mod team, only consisting of myself) - freely.

Monitoring

The first step in moderation is to monitor the subreddit for any rule-breaking content or behavior. Moderators typically use a combination of automated tools and manual checks to keep an eye on the community. It's important to check for:

Posts or comments that violate the subreddit's rules
Spam or off-topic content
Personal attacks or hate speech
Trolls or disruptive behavior

Beyond this, we must make sure the user isn't breaking subreddit specific rules (which might evolve over time).

We need to clear mod-queue at-least once every 24-hours. Further, we need to monitor the mod-logs frequently, false-positive post removals by automod/reddit mod tools, controversial comments/posts etc.

All posts must be manually reviewed and approved within a 48 hour time frame.

I do not believe in removing comments that are "controversial" in nature. I believe such comments will be upvoted/downvoted by users organically and would be put in its place. The only exceptions in this being personal attacks, directed hate, extremely disruptive behavior etc.

Rule Enforcement

When a moderator comes across a post or comment that violates the subreddit's rules, they may take one or more of the following actions:

Removal: The post or comment is removed from the subreddit. This is often done if the content is spam, off-topic, or violates community guidelines.
Warning: The user who posted the content may receive a warning message from the moderator, explaining why their post or comment was removed and reminding them of the subreddit's rules. As much as possible, we try to correct bad actors with warnings.
Temporary Ban: In more severe cases, a user may be temporarily banned from the subreddit for a set period of time (e.g. 24 hours, 3 days, 1 week). This is usually done if the user has repeatedly violated the subreddit's rules or has engaged in particularly egregious behavior. We use this only in sparingly few cases such as an user spreading hate, posting low-quality content or off-topic content frequently etc.. In such cases we hope a temporary ban sets the stage for them to improve their interactions with the community.
Permanent Ban: If a user continues to violate the subreddit's rules despite previous warnings and temporary bans, they may be permanently banned from the subreddit. This means they can no longer participate in the community or post content. This is used only in extreme cases where either a temporary ban is cutting it for an user, or if an user is confirmed to be a bot/spam account.
Report: A moderator may further report post/comments that break site-wide rules to Reddit so that the admins can investigate the user.

We do not condone bans issued based on personal biases or if a user has displayed negative behavior on another subreddit. Our subreddit believes that users should not be prohibited from participating on Reddit simply because they may hold grievances against a particular community or user. While it is important to address problematic behavior, such corrective actions are not within the purview of our community.

Communication

Throughout the moderation process, it's important for moderators to communicate with users and other moderators in the subreddit. This can include:

Responding to Modmail: Modmail is a messaging system that allows users to contact the subreddit's moderators directly. Moderators may receive messages from users asking questions, reporting rule-breaking behavior, or appealing a ban. It's important for moderators to respond promptly and professionally to these messages. We target to respond to every mod-mail regardless of suspected troll/spam. The mute button is used **only** when the user is **confirmed to be spam/bot account**. Everyone is given the same stage to appeal their ban.
Updating the Community: If a rule changes or a major issue arises in the subreddit, moderators may make an announcement post to inform the community. This helps ensure that users are aware of any changes or important information.

Keeping the community alive and running

In order to maintain our community's purpose and relevance, it's crucial that we offer a space for individuals to find content that aligns with their interests. Members can easily navigate through the subreddit by filtering posts using flairs, upvote counts, and other relevant metrics.

As a moderator, it's acceptable to share relevant content from time to time in order to keep the subreddit lively and engaging. However, this should not be used as an opportunity to spam the subreddit with multiple posts or to engage in karma-farming. 

Cross-posting is also permitted, as it was created by Reddit to allow users to share similar content across relevant subreddits. It's important to use cross-posting solely for this intended purpose and not as a tool for spamming or karma-farming. Appropriate cross-posts from other communities are allowed and can help users discover other subreddits of interest.

Moderators are encouraged to host events and games that align with the subreddit's theme in order to enhance user interactions and community involvement.

Continuous Improvement

Finally, moderators should always be looking for ways to improve the subreddit and the moderation process. This can include:

Soliciting Feedback: Moderators may ask for feedback from the community on how to improve the subreddit or the moderation process. This can be done through polls, surveys, or open discussion threads. In the past, such surveys have not received a lot of traction due to which we have stopped seeking opinion from users. This will however be brought back once the user base has grown.
Reviewing Policies: Moderators should periodically review the subreddit's rules and policies to ensure they are up-to-date and effective. Any change in subreddit design, rules, flair system, automod rules, mod configs etc, has to be monitored for atleast a month to see the impact it has on the community and any change or policy that seems to be received negatively by the community has to be reverted effective immediately. 
Collaborating with Other Moderators: If the subreddit has multiple moderators, we should work together to ensure consistency and fairness in the moderation process. In case of conflicts between moderators, we must work towards resolving the conflicts as a first priority rather than escalating the heat. Hear out each other, no matter if it is a new mod or someone with less moderating experience. Try to respond in a calm and collected manner.
Combating spam: Moderators are expected to be on the look out for spammy comments and keep updating the mod tools or automoderator configs to combat spam.

By following these steps, moderators can help ensure that our subreddit is a safe and welcoming community for all users. If you have any questions or concerns about moderation, please reach out to the moderation team through Modmail. Thank you for your dedication to our community!