How cooperative should a small site moderator be towards a drama queen?

Question

Moderators have thankless tasks including intervening in existing conflicts, or also enforcing rules users were not aware of. Of course, users are unpleasantly surprised at such intrusions, and not all of them react gracefully. Some of them start crying about moderator nazis and whatnot, or deleting their posts because somebody (a moderator or another user) said something negative. Of course, this angers me personally.

But our public site is there for everybody, and I believe that people who have a hard time psychologically coping with (real or imagined) rejection have as much right to use it as everybody else. Besides, I want to be a member of an open and kind community, and reacting aggressively or even just firmly blocking an angry or hurt user goes against these beliefs. And then there is the matter of us being a small community, so it is hard for us to lose users.

I do my best to be patient, but at some point it becomes too ridiculous. I had a case where me and a fellow moderator spent three days frequently communicating with a user over three different channels trying to convince him that two people posting comments doubting the veracity of a minor detail in their post doesn't mean that they are unwanted on the site. In retrospect, this was probably too much effort without especially valuable return.

What are good criteria to decide how far to go humoring a user who is acting up? Especially if he isn't involving other users in the drama, it is hard to draw a line and say that rejecting him and stop giving support has just become acceptable. I don't think that my own feelings are a good guide, because if I stopped cooperating at the first offensive reaction by the user, I'd be no better than them. So, what signs can I use to determine when the user is demanding too much?

Answer 1

Repeated complaints are usually a sign that the user does not feel like they have been heard. If the user you refer to is coming across as a drama queen, it may be that the user wants their feelings validated more than that they want any particular outcome. You can do this and achieve a happy result for all if instead of focusing on the unwanted behavior, you point toward the desired outcome.

For instance, you might head off an argument about commentary by praising the user for their patient response to criticism. Recognize their complaint and that their feelings are hurt, and tell them that you understand that it can be difficult to have others accuse them of being wrong. Then follow that up with a statement that you support them, and you hope that this gives them an opportunity to clarify/expand upon/provide an even better answer.

The effect is (hopefully) two-fold: the user knows that they are valued, and the commenter is responded to. Additionally, you've made it clear to the user that the praiseworthy behavior is to be patient and level-headed when criticized.

If this method doesn't work, you might also try engaging the user positively by asking them what they would like to have happen, and then work out a plan of action together.

In this example, you might ask your user what they think a satisfactory resolution might be. Let's say they want all the comments deleted, but you think the comments are important counterpoints. You might offer to delete some (if there are repeats) and possibly edit the remainder to remove the accusatory-sounding parts, or the @-pings, so that the point remains, but is less inflammatory.

In this case, you are also demonstrating concern for the user and your desire to involve them in the action plan will (hopefully) help them feel empowered and valued as a user.

Answer 2

Said users will often have several signs:

• They will repeat the same arguments over and over.
• They will reject your arguments for dumb reasons.
• They will not calm down even after long minutes of discussion.
• And in many cases, they will whine and rant to other users.

If the user displays these signs, it's best to direct him to a place where the rules are plainly shown, and if he refuses to adhere by them and continue ranting, a timed suspension will usually do the trick.

Don't be afraid to time-suspend, users more often return more well-behaved after a timed suspension, than they return vengeful and full of troll.