How Many Moderators Do You Need To Moderate a Forum

by James on August 23, 2010

I get asked this question a lot in my emails so I thought I would run a blog post about to share my thoughts on this subject.

First off, let me say there is no exact answer to this and most people will think differently when it comes to this subject.  But I like to think that you should hire a moderator when they are required.  When you can no longer fulfill the moderation duties of your forum alone.

Less Active Forum

When your forum is less active but still too much for you to fit moderation and administration duties in then I would assign a moderator to two or more forums. This keeps expenses down if your pay your moderation team and also keeps your forum clean.  You don’t need to hire more moderators if they are not needed so stick to one and see how the plays out.

More Active Forum

If your forum is much more active than you may wish to assign at least one moderator per forum. This will help you keep on top of your forum and you will effectively combat the spam.

Conclusion

There is no right or wrong way to this problem. I follow the basic structure which is outlined above. When ever I cannot handle the moderation duties, I hire a mod. Whenever we both can’t handle the moderation I hire another and the process is endless. You keep repeating the process until you can cover all the moderation duties.

What’s Your Say?

When do you think you should hire a mod? Does your forum have specific guidelines on when to hire a mod? Post your comments below I would love to hear your thoughts.

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

dre25cole November 5, 2010 at 10:37 am

hi ! thanks for the info. I always thought what is behind the forum sites.

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Sharon from Spa Party November 29, 2010 at 6:29 pm

Well I think you covered it. Hire moderators according to a need for them, otherwise you will get diminishing returns.

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colored contacts March 7, 2011 at 1:09 pm

Sometimes moderators could be annoying. Moderators should come from a customer service background who are objective.

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Alpha 1 Antitrypsin April 1, 2011 at 1:40 pm

Good moderators are really rare. Most of the time, moderators really annoy me, like colored contacts above me already wrote.

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