A team of admins will approve people and posts into every YesTribe Facebook group. The posts you approve are initially your responsibility, in as much as providing an instant response to anyone who asks a YesTribe-related questions.

Often new members will enquire whether there’s a regional tribe near them, so once you’ve approved their post head to the wall and reply in a comment with something like, “Welcome! Try out @The YesTribe X

If there isn’t a region near them then “There isn’t a region near you, but if you’d like to start one up we’d love that!" Just get in touch”

Culture

Thankfully, we’ve instilled a really positive culture which attracts supportive people who understand what the tribe is all about and don’t share with malice, rudeness or entitlement.

Now and then of course, one slips through the net. There are plenty of other parts of the Internet where people can express anger and righteousness, but the YesTribe is not one of them. Any comments considered to be rude, insulting or incendiary may be hidden (wonderfully, why an admin hides a comment, it will not be visible to anyone but the person who wrote it in the first place).

As a Moderator of the group, lead the way with supportive comments, thanks to people sharing, and answers to questions (if you feel able to give them).

And of course, the occasional bravo post, celebrating a win for someone in the tribe, never goes amiss.

Safe Space

The YesTribe is a safe space.

We don’t tolerate bullying, aggression or trolling.

We also don’t let any posts that involve money onto the walls. These include adverts, promotions, ticket sales or even fundraising posts (although sometimes we post a thread below which folks can share their fundraising links). We like the groups to be focussed on questions, answers and decent discussion and support, and if we allowed sales we’d be inundated with endless ads!

These group rules form the background of tribe moderation. Use them to guide your decisions and interactions, as well as approving new members and posts.

Biteback

As mentioned above, sometimes there can be less-than-positive posts on the YesTribe. It’s a natural urge to sometimes respond with force, over-firmness or even sarcasm, but take a breath.

We’re here as moderators to ensure the groups are negativity-free, and biting back only increases tension.

It’s your responsibility as a moderator to not elevate a situation. This actually starts, most often, with post approval.

Letting through a post about politics, diet or scandal will likely lead to raised voices as people feel the need to defend their corner.

Simply, do not let these posts through if you’re in any doubt.

If a post does blow up feel free to let us know, but we trust you to respond well. There are a few options, including deleting the post, stopping further comments (which is sometimes the best way) or, in only the worst scenario, blocking a member.

Remember, every person reads and writes differently, so what might seem to you to be argumentative may not be the intention.

Give people the benefit of the doubt and assume positive intent, until you’re in no doubt that action is needed.