How to Set Clear Guidelines for Your Online Community

Hey, Community Managers, here is another interesting article about Community Management. In today's article, I will cover a topic that is so dear to me because I struggled with it as a new community manager back then: setting clear guidelines for your online community.

Over the years, I have realized that a vibrant online community thrives on a foundation of clear expectations. Establishing guidelines promotes a welcoming and productive space for members, whether it's a product-based community, social media group, forum, or online course platform. But how do you create these guidelines that are easy to understand and effectively maintain a positive and welcoming online environment?

• Before developing specific rules or guidelines, consider your community's purpose. What kind of interactions do you want to encourage among your community members? User-generated content? Lending help to other members? Mentoring others? Sharing Knowledge? Understanding your mission will help shape guidelines that resonate with your target audience and the values you want to cultivate.

• The next thing you need to consider is understanding your community members. As an experienced Community Manager, I believe knowing your audience is critical. It might not be easy at first, but trust me, there are ways to get around this. One of the significant things you can do is to conduct audience research. This will help you to gauge their expectations and potential concerns. You can do this through surveys or polls to ensure the guidelines address their needs. So you see, it is not rocket science; you just need to know the right tools and copy to get your members to participate.

• Next, outline clear expectations for your community. Think of it as a code of conduct document that outlines the behaviors of your community members and how they will be dealt with. Focus on the positive actions you want to see, like respectful communication and sharing relevant content. Measures should be implemented to address negative behaviors but avoid overly broad language and unrelated terms. Instead, provide specific examples of what constitutes unacceptable behavior, such as hate speech or harassment.

• Next, you need to learn how to establish guidelines for user-generated content. Specify what content is appropriate and what will be moderated or removed. Address issues like copyright infringement and privacy concerns. Remember, the goal is to build a community where your members feel heard and safe enough to express themselves freely. Transparency is crucial. Outline your data privacy practices and how you ensure member safety online. Let users know how to report inappropriate behavior and what steps you will take to address it.

• Overall, remember to maintain balance. While setting boundaries is necessary, remember that the goal is to build a positive environment, not a place where people feel scared to voice out because they know they will not be attended to. Keep your guidelines concise and easy to understand. Write your guidelines as if the people reading them are five years old.

• Finally, your community guidelines should not be static, except you want your community to be static. As your community evolves, revisit and revise your guidelines to reflect its changing needs. Consider incorporating feedback from community members to foster a sense of ownership and shared responsibility. Community Members tend to participate more when they realize that what they suggested has been implemented.

These insights are from my personal experience as a community manager. I am pretty sure that other community managers may have more or different opinions on this, so I will always say that as the community is constantly evolving, keep reading, keep experimenting, keep gathering feedback, and keep implementing, and you will find what works for you.

If you are a Community Manager reading this, are there other guidelines you currently implement in your community that work for you? I would love to hear from you in the comments. Hopefully, I will be able to open-source these articles soon so that all community managers can contribute. Anyways, Ciao, Amigos!

Till I write to you again, xoxo Lady Bella 💞