Let’s talk about the “unspoken rules” that must be understood and faced in community operations work!

There are three forms of rules: explicit rules, implicit rules, and meta-rules. Explicit rules are rules that are clearly defined and have limitations that need to be constantly improved; implicit rules are rules that are not explicitly defined and are unlimited by convention, and can make up for the shortcomings of explicit rules; meta-rules are rules that solve problems through violent competition, which are a mixture of good and evil and a civilized way of life that is not based on moral principles.

From an operational perspective, explicit rules are common to everyone, and as long as you interpret them carefully, they are generally not too difficult. We generally don't talk much about meta-rules, and we won't advocate or promote them. Our operational approach will be as soft and flexible as possible. Simple and crude methods and fighting violence with violence will only be used in extraordinary circumstances (such as malicious destroyers of community rules). Users will get bored if we talk too much, and we will often lose more users if we use them. Although unspoken rules are different on each platform, they do exist. The older the community and the more culturally rich it is, the more unspoken rules there are. As an operator, you must know the basic rules. If you are engaged in community operations, it is even more necessary to collect these rules. In addition, you must also be responsible for guiding users, creating different ways of playing, and forming some fixed "unwritten rules."

Generally speaking, there are the most unspoken rules in small circles and niche communities. Precisely because there are fewer people, it is easier to form some commonly accepted rules, and then there are many interesting ways to play. When newcomers enter, they must be "honest" for a while, and slowly get familiar with everyone before they dare to show their true colors. After years of operation, these communities can form a relatively deep cultural heritage, and these rules can be slowly passed down and will not be lost. However, there are many unspoken rules and routines involved. If you study it carefully, you will find that many large communities actually developed from such niche communities in the early years. To put it bluntly, they were grown slowly. However, there is an inevitable result: after they become big, many fun things are lost because newcomers cannot inherit them and old and newcomers cannot play together. Many communities face this problem.

In its early years, Maopu was a game BBS, mainly discussing TVgames. After 2004, Maopu became bigger and bigger, and its members became more and more diverse. Many old Maopu members mainly gathered in two places, one was the inner room, and the other was the WC. The later Maopu hodgepodge was also called the outer room. The inner room retains the most original pages of Maopu and some common gameplay and routines. It is maintained by Mop (webmaster Tian Zhe) and some old administrators. You will find that the replies to many posts are very pure, and the quality of participation in many activities is very high. Of course, entering the inner room requires an invitation code, so ordinary people cannot enter. What's more regrettable is that the inner room seems to have been closed in 2015. WC, also known as toilet, once prospered several times. The threshold was 100,000 mp. In those days, countless people saved up mp just to enter the WC. After 2012, its popularity gradually faded, and now it is even more deserted. Whenever I think about it now, I can’t help but sigh!

Nowadays, many people research products and communities, and often use the popular large communities on the market as benchmarks. This is actually very unwise. Copying an identical product is a piece of cake, but it ignores the growth process of others, especially the growth process of operation culture and user culture. After the product is launched, you will find that there are a lot of things you didn't expect, so failure is natural. A more pragmatic approach is to refer to some niche communities or vertical communities that are doing well and absorb more of their strengths, which will increase your chances of survival.

There are also some unspoken rules that exist in user organizations, such as the moderator system. The moderator system can be said to be the most important tool and effective means to support the BBS product form in the Internet for many years. Every mature community has some different unspoken rules, and each community is very different. Here are some unspoken rules I know about on Mop (many of them in the early years have been lost):

No matter how high your level is, you cannot show off it, whether through text, voice, screenshots, etc. On the one hand, you show off, what will other users think? Do you think you are awesome? Furthermore, since you are given the authority, it is meant to serve everyone better, not for you to use it for demonstration. To put it bluntly, this kind of behavior is likely to leave a very bad impression on most users. It’s better to keep a low profile!

I have seen quite a few users being punished for this, including some older users.

Moderators represent semi-official groups and are different from ordinary users. They should set an example and speak more carefully, especially in the core user groups such as moderators. Disagreement, verbal abuse and endless quarrels, this kind of thing needs to be strictly stopped. As an official, once discovered, we will kick them out of the group and the topic will end there. The two people should calm down first, and the official will mediate. After the problem is resolved, they can return to the group.

Everyone understands this point. Now that your status has changed, you can't speak so casually. Insulting and attacking others is tantamount to slapping the official in the face. Users will think: Is this the quality of your moderator? Who will come to play in the future?

This includes communication platforms and must not be disclosed outside. Some communities will build platforms specifically for moderators to communicate, but not all work is done in the community , because the group is only a communication tool and cannot accumulate effective information.

This is actually the same as in reality, is it possible for the government's internal communication information to be leaked outside? As a moderator, you should control your mouth. Of course, this is also directly related to the operators, and they should control their mouths first.

One is between users. Generally, moderators are not allowed to joke with each other, as many users are extroverted in character. However, if the words go too far, or if there is blatant malicious teasing or provocation, it is absolutely not allowed, and there will be education or punishment depending on the situation.

The second is between users and official personnel. It is absolutely unacceptable to provoke the authorities without reason, and there is no room for negotiation. Regarding teasing, I must say something. The operation staff are often mostly girls, and nine out of ten moderators are girls. I have to admit that excellent female operators have a huge advantage over boys in this area, and user stickiness will be much better. But this also brings up a problem, because in many communities, there are many "beautiful women operators" and being teased is a common occurrence. Therefore, in order to protect themselves appropriately, some platforms will also establish some rules in this regard and emphasize them in the moderator group.

But the good thing is that in the moderator teams I have experienced before, teasing and provocation rarely happen. Our operation girls have become more generous and tolerant over time, and have developed a strong character, and they can handle this very well.

In the early years, various BBSs generally prohibited external links, especially obvious advertising external links and links used for traffic diversion. Regarding this, the actual situations encountered are very numerous and complex, and very difficult to judge. It is impossible to define and restrict them with a unified standard. Not everyone has experience, so everyone simply agrees to do so. The moderator does not allow people to bring things like hair, otherwise they will be punished.

Later, as the Internet became more and more open, especially after the emergence of Weibo, people began to expand the scope of this area a little, but all communities were very cautious in this regard.

Of course, there are many other unspoken rules, and I won’t list them all here. The actual situation of each community is different. Many things can be passed down, but many are lost. I'm just telling you guys.