All In Moderation: How To Write A Utopian Moderation Comment

As Utopian.io moderators, our job has several aspects. In my new position as Utopian's chief content officer, part of the job is improving the overall quality of both posts and moderation comments under the Utopian banner. So let's talk about what makes a great Utopian moderation comment.

The Why

The first thing we need to understand is the purpose of moderation comments. Why are they there? Moderation comments serve two major roles.

• Let the contibutor know that their contribution has been reviewed.
• Give the contributor feedback on the post
  
  Image credit: GDJ on Pixabay

And here's the important part: That's it.

Usually, moderators write the comment immediately after filling the questionnaire about the post and getting the score. It is very natural to connect the two. Natural to think: I've given the score, and now I have to explain it. And that is not what we're doing.

We need to realize that while some folks write their posts because Utopian is there, this is not true for all. It's not, in the end, about Utopian. It's about the contribution itself, and the value it brings.

The What

Feedback can take many forms. But first and foremost, it must engage with the post. The details depend on the category, of course. If it's a blogpost, the language and quality of the writing become more important. If it's a Development post, the technical side becomes pre-eminent. And the egagement should be constructive.

Image credit: GDJ on Pixabay

We are here to help contributors create better contributions. And so, we bring our own relevant skills to the moderation comment. That's why I, as a professional writer and editor, can't write moderation comments for Development posts. We've got developers writing those.

So what we do is this: We read the post carefully, and find things we can commend and things where we can offer suggestions for improvement. And that's what we post in our comments.

The How

Always start with the positive. Any criticism, even the most post positive and constructive, is hard to take for most people. So start with something positive. Be truthful. Don't make up a positive. But there's always something. At the very least, there's "thanks for the contribution." That's a positive statement you can make without any value judgement.

Image credit: GDJ on Pixabay

Next comes the critique. Be constructive. We are not there to judge. We're there to help. Again, be truthful and honest, but do it with kindness and thoughtfulness. To quote a random background NPC in Mass Effect Andromeda: "There's a difference between being honest and being an ass." Don't cross that line. Not only is that being kind, it is also much more likely that folks listen to your critique and take it to heart if it is palatable.

As a moderator in the Blog category, I have found that not everyone reacts well to specific examples of grammar and style errors. Initially, I thought the examples were critical. Without them, to my mind, just saying "there are issues with the style and grammar" was useless. But some folks don't take well to seeing them. So I've changed tactics. Now, when there are issues of style and grammar, I offer to cite examples in a follow-up comment. I've found many people are happy to get those examples. I've also found that the folks who are happy to get the examples are the ones most likely to learn from them going forward.

To Sum Up

Here are the core moderation principles I've distilled. This is an ongoing learning process for me and the rest of the Utopian community, so these may change, but this is what I have so far:

• The feedback is not about the guidelines, it's about the post
• The feedback is not about the poster, it's about the post
• Start with a positive
• Be constructive
• Be specific
• Be kind