During Cyberbullying Awareness Month 2024, BridgeMakers collaborated with Educators in VR (EDVR) to host a panel discussion addressing the complexities of community management in social VR. Moderated by Dr. Ruth Diaz, creator and core leader of BridgeMakers, the panel featured seasoned professionals who shared insights on managing trolling, fostering resilience, and envisioning empowered virtual communities.
Below is a summary of the key questions explored during the event, enriched with real-world examples and references that underscore the points made.
1. How do you define your role as a community manager in social VR?
Community managers serve as bridges between users’ needs and platform goals. Their work requires fostering engagement, listening deeply, and translating community insights into actionable feedback for developers. Social Champ describes the role of community managers as integral to creating meaningful relationships and maintaining vibrant online spaces (Social Champ, n.d.).
Panel Insights:
• Community managers serve as the grounding force for users, ensuring they feel seen and supported.
• They navigate internal platform goals while advocating for user needs.
• Success hinges on their ability to listen deeply and adapt strategies to evolving challenges.
2. What initial steps do you take when addressing disruptive behavior?
The panel agreed that listening, validating, and assessing are the first crucial steps in addressing disruption. Community managers must understand the root causes of conflicts before taking action, which might involve mediation or escalation. This aligns with guidelines outlined by CommunityLedGrowth, which emphasizes the importance of approaching community conflicts constructively to maintain harmony (CommunityLedGrowth, n.d.).
Panel Insights:
• Validating user concerns builds trust and sets the foundation for resolution.
• Tailored responses ensure a balance between mediation and community safety.
• Thoughtful, deliberate actions are essential for maintaining credibility and fostering positive outcomes.
3. What are your strategies for de-escalating trolls and volatile situations?
De-escalation involves empathy, boundaries, and creativity. Trolls often seek reactions, so maintaining composure and using humor can diffuse tension. As highlighted by Invisioneer, humor and balanced moderation are effective tools for navigating online conflicts (Invisioneer, n.d.).
Panel Insights:
• Humor can disarm trolls, reducing tension and shifting the dynamic.
• Clear boundaries help establish limits while preserving trust.
• Empathy transforms volatile moments into opportunities for connection and understanding.
4. Where do current technologies fall short in supporting community management?
While AI tools and sentiment analysis hold promise, they often lack nuance and struggle to interpret the complexities of human behavior. TaskUs explains that while technology can assist in moderation, it requires human oversight to address subtleties like coded language or cultural differences (TaskUs, n.d.).
Panel Insights:
• Sentiment tools often oversimplify complex emotions, missing subtleties like coded language.
• The high cost of implementing real-time AI moderation creates barriers to adoption.
• Transparency and user input are critical in designing tools that meet diverse community needs.
5. What are your hopes for the future of community management in social VR?
The panelists envisioned a future of empowered communities equipped with better tools and stronger collaboration between platforms and users. FasterCapital underscores the importance of trust and collaboration in fostering thriving online communities (FasterCapital, n.d.).
Panel Insights:
• Adaptive tools that evolve alongside trolling tactics are essential for sustained success.
• Transparent communication between platforms and users fosters collaboration and trust.
• Empowering community members to self-moderate builds scalable systems and promotes collective responsibility.
6. What lies on the other side of the bridge trolls live under?
The panelists reflected on the metaphor of trolls living under bridges, envisioning a future where empathy and engagement transform them into productive community members. As Hogonext notes, fostering connection and understanding can turn even the most disruptive individuals into contributors (Hogonext, n.d.).
Panel Insights:
• The other side of the bridge represents the future of community, where trolls can transition into constructive members when met with patience and opportunities for engagement.
• Vibrant, inclusive communities await on the other side, built on connection, understanding, and shared humanity.
Introducing the Panelists and Their Contributions
Andy Fidel
A virtual and social strategist at Spatial Networks, specializing in community-driven spaces, Andy Fidel has collaborated with platforms like Microsoft AltspaceVR and Rec Room.
On engagement and empathy:
“The best way to spark engagement is by being human. Empathy and authenticity go a long way in building trust.”
Tupper (Charles Tupper)
As Head of Community at VRChat, Tupper has extensive experience scaling community management in rapidly growing platforms, underpinned by a data science background.
On modeling healthy behavior:
“People act how they see others act. If kindness is the norm, new users will mirror it.”
Llamarawk (Molli Aronce)
A former community manager for Meta’s Horizon Worlds and a leader within BridgeMakers, Llamarawk focuses on creating grounded and connected communities.
On fostering resilience:
“Walking with communities through conflict teaches resilience and builds stronger bonds.”
Fae
Fae is the community manager for BanterVR, with a legacy of leadership in AltspaceVR, Rec Room, and Meta. She is passionate about empowering communities to create meaningful and thriving digital spaces.
On engaging disruptors constructively:
“I often ask, ‘Do you really want to lose access to this space?’ It’s amazing how often that works.”
Dr. Ruth Diaz (Moderator)
Dr. Diaz is the creator and core leader of BridgeMakers, focusing on fostering inclusive, resilient communities in social VR. She framed the panel with themes of empathy, transformative justice, and the vital role of community managers as bridges between people and platforms.
On transformative justice:
“Transformative justice isn’t just about addressing individual actions—it’s about asking how the system itself can evolve.”
Conclusion
This panel, led by Dr. Ruth Diaz, underscored the unique challenges and opportunities in managing communities in social VR. By addressing trolling with empathy, advocating for scalable tools, and fostering collaboration between platforms and users, the discussion offered a roadmap for building resilient and inclusive digital spaces.
The panelists’ insights highlight the power of human-centered leadership, adaptive technology, and shared responsibility in shaping the future of community management. By empowering users, fostering dialogue, and meeting challenges with creativity and compassion, we can create thriving virtual communities that stand the test of time.
For more events, insights, and tools to foster inclusive communities in social VR, visit BridgeMakers.world.
Social Champ. (n.d.). The human bridge: Community managers as connectors in social media spaces. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://www.socialchamp.io/blog/community-manager
CommunityLedGrowth. (n.d.). Conflict resiliency in digital spaces: A guide to managing online disputes. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://www.communityledgrowth.com/community-conflict-resolution-7-steps-for-solving-conflicts-in-your-community
Invisioneer. (n.d.). Empathy vs. escalation: Navigating online trolling. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://www.invisioneer.org/cmxarticles/onlinecommunities/managing-conflict-in-online-communities-a-guide-for-every-user-r221
TaskUs. (n.d.). The limits of AI moderation: Why human oversight matters. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://www.taskus.com/insights/social-media-community-management
FasterCapital. (n.d.). Scaling trust: Empowering communities in social VR. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://fastercapital.com/content/Community-management–Conflict-Resolution–Harmony-Online–Conflict-Resolution-Strategies-for-Community-Managers.html
Hogonext. (n.d.). Bridging the divide: Transforming trolls into community members. Retrieved December 10, 2024, from https://hogonext.com/how-to-de-escalate-conflict-in-online-forums-and-communities
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