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To Moderate or Not to Moderate

Discussion lists that are unmoderated have no restrictions on how posts can be made to the list. If a member posts something, it goes to all the members of the list immediately. There are also moderated mailing lists. Postings to a moderated mailing list go to the list moderator (there may be just one or more than one) who must approve the messages before they can go to the rest of the list. Messages that aren't approved are deleted so that most list members never see them.

Between these two extremes there are several different degrees of list control -- for example, a mailing list may not be formally moderated but the list owner may exert a high degree of control over what kind of topics might be discussed on a list. (If you're concerned about your moderation skills, information moderation is the best way to go; everyone sees the posts and can see for themselves how off-topic they are.)

The smaller the discussion group, the less difficult it is to control. Smaller groups seem to be cozier, and peer pressure seems to make people behave. Once you get more than a hundred people, however, you have to watch out for fighting, harsh words, straying way off the topic, and so on. (On the other hand, it's also possible for a list to be too small; there's a point at which there are not enough people on the list to keep the list going, so if it's too small it may just die.)

Some of this you won't be able to avoid. It's actually healthy to stray a little off-topic now and then; it helps keep the list fresh. (Without going off-topic a little, mailing lists can fall into a rut of covering the same topics over and over again.) But sometimes discussions can get quite ugly -- fighting wars of words are not healthy and not something you want to happen under the aegis of your discussion group.

Whether you choose to formally moderate a list or not (and if you're creating a list for support of your product or service, we do recommend that you impose some sort of moderation, formal or informal), you will have to keep up with reading your own list. It's like an ongoing editorial process - there's all this content coming and you need to make sure it stays appropriate, focused and on topic. The more you work to maintain the quality of that content, the better and more valuable the list will be. If you do not have that kind of time to invest, an out-of-control discussion group can reflect poorly on you and your company.