- Enable this and choose level of strictness
- People that help foster the atmosphere and environment you want in your stream/chat
- TODO
Thanks to @CaptCalli for the following:
The following are loose guidelines to help with finding moderators and being moderator. Pick and choose what fits you best and don't feel these are required.
If you are a streamer, you need moderators (mods), no question about it. A mod is a direct extension of the streamer and should uphold the streamers values. This means that in order to have a good mod, you, as the streamer, need to know what you want from your mods and communicate it.
Over the last 5 years, I have modded on countless channels, some short-term while they got set-up and found their own mods, some long-term until the streamers decided to either stop streaming, or I decided to move on to a different challenge. Here is what I have learned over this time:
- Be careful when choosing your mods.
- Your mods are an extension of you, with that you don't just want to make anyone mod because they seem nice or you feel an obligation to them because you personally know them or because you are on the same team.
- Choose mods that you feel understand what kind of channel you want to build and are there to support you.
- Before modding someone, have a meeting with them to discuss exactly what you expect from them.
- This includes discussing how often you expect them to be in your stream and for how long (don't be afraid to state your expectations clearly).
- Make it clear which type of viewers to time out, which to ban and how to handle conflict resolution on stream.
- Explain to your potential mods if you want them to update commands on your behalf and teach them how to do it.
- Be clear how you expect new viewers to be treated/welcome.
- Explain whether this mod role will translate to Discord and the expectations you have with the potential mod and Discord.
- If the meeting goes well and you both want to move ahead with adding them to your mod-team, go ahead and mod them.
- Once you have a mod, regularly check in with them.
- Check in with your mod(s) regularly, I'd suggest once a week, to go over anything that was questionable (perhaps an inappropriate ban; public conflict that could have been handled differently, etc.), answer any questions the mod may have, update any procedures that need updates.
- Check with your mod(s) to see if they are still up to the challenge.
- If you feel they aren't meeting your expectations, communicate clearly, and, if necessary, unmod them. (There will be hurt feelings, but this is your channel and you have the responsibility to choose the best mods).
- Introduce mods to each other
- Once you have a few mods, there may be some personalities that will clash with each other. Introduce your mods to each other so they know who is on their team and can proceed as a unit, rather than 3 or 4 disjointed sword-wielding knights.
- If appropriate, consider different tasks for different mods, i.e. a mod that welcomes new viewers and does shoutouts, a mod for banning trolls/timing out questionable content, a mod to ask appropriate questions while you stream to keep the conversation flowing, etc.
- You can have too few and too many mods
- Only you can decide how many mods you truly need, but a good bottom line is 1-2 mods for every 2 hours streamed.
- If you stream 4 hours a day, you want at least 1 mod to be in your chat for the entire duration (if chat moves fast/lots of chatters, up that number of mods). However, it would be unfair to assume that a mod will watch you for your entire stream. Expect mods to pop in and out for about 1-2 hours at a time.
- If you are organized, you can assign schedules to your mods. They are more than welcome to watch the entire stream, but their mod-duty starts from hour 3 to hour 5 for example.
- Being clear with expectations will prevent a lot of heartache and headaches.
- On the other side of this coin. Having 20 mods to maybe 5 regular viewers can be seen as extremely daunting to new viewers and may even turn off chatters.
- While it may be fun to mod all of your friends/acquaintances, etc. Don't forget that a mod is supposed to be an extension of you, and in a sense, work for you, support you, to make your life easier. If you need 20 mods because 17 of them aren't doing it but just pestered you into giving them mod status, unmod them! Give viewers like that VIP instead. They still stand out from chat but don't have to worry about the sword anymore.
- Beware of the Mod drunk with power
- A mod may start taking over chat by controlling the direction of the conversations, overtaking the mood of the stream, or simply banning/timing out viewers they don't like.
- This can be malicious or completely innocent (I am guilty of this myself), either way, be aware of this and communicate clearly with your mod to set expectations.
- If the mod does not change their behavior, it is time to unmod them.
- Trust your mods
- If you set up a good group of people, you know you are covered by someone having your back when you stream, trust your mods.
- If you interviewed/met with potential mods, made your expectations clear and picked your mods specifically to meet your needs, you should be able to relax and let your mods do their thing.
- Remember that your mods are (and should be!) an extension of you. If you communicated clearly, they should know what to do in any given situation and take a load off of you.
- Conflict resolution
- DO NOT reprimand your mod publicly. This makes you look just as bad as the (bad) mod.
- If a mod made a mistake, i.e. banning someone that shouldn't be banned, simply unban the person, apologize to them for the accidental banning, and tell your mod that you'd like to talk with them after your stream.
- Make time to chat with the offending mod after your stream has concluded and make sure that either you as the streamer didn't miss something that happened (i.e. the viewer was being a jerk in chat and you just missed it), or that the mod wasn't just banning by accident or out of maliciousness. Understand the situation and figure out a way to resolve it.
- Again, make your expectations clear and either give the mod another chance, or unmod them if they can't follow your guidelines.
- Have fun!
- Your mods are there to make your life easier. What this means, is up to you. Have fun with your mods, and enjoy that you have a team of people who have your back!
Q: Should I pay my mods?
- That is entirely up to you. However, if a potential mod wants to be paid or will only do it if they get paid, that is a red-flag, get out of that conversation and find a different mod.
Q: How should I handle unmodding someone?
- Talk to them!! Do not unmod them and hope it goes away, that is blindsiding and makes for a cringy (Seriously cringy) stream when the mod finds out they have been unmodded without notice.
- Simply tell them that your expectations don't align, if you like them as a person, VIP them instead!
Q: Let's be honest, do I really need mods?
- YES, at least one, even if you are small. Even if you haven't encountered trolls yet, just imagine how much easier your life as a streamer can be if you have a supporter that can commands, shoutouts, welcoming new viewers and more, for you!
Q: How do I find potential mods?
- As you stream, make notes of people that you like, mesh well with, and that are friendly and welcoming towards new viewers already (even as a normal viewer themselves). If you want to offer someone - follow step 2 above.
- Take some time to discuss your mod duties with the streamer. Ask them what their expectation is of you and what their guidelines for their channels are (are they keeping it family friendly? Are dirty jokes allowed? Etc.)
- Get to know the other mods. Ask the streamer for introductions or introduce yourself. Once you are part of a mod team, understand that you are all working together to support the streamer.
- If there is a “Senior” Mod, someone that is the original mod or is clearly the leader of the mod team, communicate with them often (though not on stream, ideally on Discord or similar) and follow their lead
- Ideally, by the time you have been made a mod, you will know the streamer and their stream well, but if not, take some time and watch the streamers’ previous vods to get a feel for what they are trying to do and how they are doing it.
- Ask the streamer to be open about channel settings (what is the automod set at, does the streamer have words in the blacklist, does the streamer allow links, did the streamer set a nonmod chat delay – giving the mods a few seconds to delete messages before general chat sees them, is email verification to chat turned on or not, etc.) Knowing the channel settings will allow mods to understand what falls to them and what should automatically be taken care of.
- Respect everyone and be positive!
- Greet new newcomers, but don’t call out lurkers!
- Maintain professionalism (or at least the tone of the stream). While being a mod, you are representing the streamer you are modding for, not your own brand/stream.
- Present a united font with your other Mod-Team members, don’t fight or argue publicly. If arguments or discussions with other Moderators need to happen, take them off Twitch and onto Discord or similar.
- Try to avoid spamming and what is known as “Mod Wall” – Mod wall means that only mods show up in chat, this can send a negative message to new viewers and discourage chatters.
- Keep chat lively, ask open ended questions, i.e. “How is your day going?” or “How did you find this stream?” to a new viewer/chatter.
- Don’t get into (heated) arguments with viewers. Follow your streamer’s guidance, but generally speaking you want to avoid getting into arguments with viewers and thus taking attention away from the streamer. If you have a combative viewer, time them out or ban them (as directed by streamer in off-stream discussions).
- Know the mod-specific commands (/ban, /unban, /clear, /timeout, /uniquechat, etc.)
- Know the chat commands – ask the streamer or other mods about them (off stream).
- If the streamer has sponsors, familiarize yourself with them and make sure you do not talk badly about those sponsors!
- Do NOT ban chat members for fun – UNLESS it is part of the streamer’s set up (follow your streamer’s guidance.
- If a fellow mod bans a viewer and you don’t understand why, message them outside of Twitch (i.e. Discord or similar) to discuss.
- If you are unsure whether to ban or timeout a viewer, discuss with other mods or the streamer outside of Twitch.
- If you have any questions, make sure you ask the streamer after (or before) their stream.
- Communicate as a team often, encourage the streamer to update every mod on any policy changes they may make (i.e. now family friendly, or dirty jokes are now allowed, etc.)
- First and foremost, keep in mind that everyone is (likely) volunteering for this position.
- Keep in mind that you are representing the streamer, making them look good should be your highest priority!
- Be polite to fellow mods
- Listen to each other, especially if a “Senior” mod is around.
- The streamer gets to decide who they want to mod and who they don’t want to mod, don’t question their decisions.
- If tensions run high on stream/in chat, do your best to provide a united front and tackle the issue at hand (ban where needed, steer chat into friendly waters). Utilize of stream discussions (via Discord or similar) to discuss what’s going on in chat and how to address situations.
- If technical difficulties arise, try to keep chat entertained by asking open-ended questions and acknowledging the situation within reason.
- Don’t engage with trolls. It is not worth it. If they are not breaking auto-mod/your streamers’ mod rules, simply ignore them, otherwise time-out or ban them!
- If someone from the mod team is being goaded into an unproductive discussion, please remind them (in Discord) to not engage in that kind of behavior and change the direction of chat conversations.
- Do you feel that a mod is not pulling their weight or is actively trying to derail chat or participating in behavior not suitable for a representative of the streamer? Broach the subject carefully with the streamer and let them know why you feel that way. They may do nothing about it, but you should bring it up.
- If you feel no longer comfortable modding for a streamer, or don’t have the time available that’s required, communicate with your streamer! They may feel the same and you come to the mutual decision to unmod you, or they may ask you to remain a mod even though you can’t fulfill your duties anymore. Either way, BE OPEN AND LET YOUR STREAMER KNOW!
- If the streamer unmods you while live, DO NOT CALL THEM OUT IN CHAT, discuss with them after their stream to understand what happened. But respect their decision! It may have been you; it may have nothing to do with you, but either way, show them respect by understanding it is their decision.
- Communicate often, both as the streamer with your mod team, and as the mod with your streamer and fellow mods.
- Grow together, adopt an understanding that this is a process that is going to focus on continuous improvement!
- Have fun!