Article · 8 to 10 min read

Community Guidelines

Richard Millington (FeverBee) · FeverBee Free Beginner

FeverBee is the most credible voice on running online communities, and this piece makes the honest case that written guidelines rarely reach the people who cause problems, so the tone comes from what your moderators actually model. That is the exact reframe you need: stop drafting a rulebook nobody reads and decide what behavior you want to make visible. A starting point for keeping moderation light without letting the space go feral.

• The people who read your rules are almost never the ones who break them, so guidelines alone do little to shape behavior.
• Moderators set the tone by example: what you highlight, reply to, and reward teaches members what this space is.
• Decide the culture you want first, then let a small set of visible norms carry it instead of a long formal policy.