Moderating People

There is a really good article in the San Francisco Chronicle today about the Community team at flickr – run by Heather Champ. The article discusses the dilemmas and decisions the team Heather leads makes when confronted with millions of people interacting and sometimes misbehaving. Part art, part rulebook, a lot of gut on just what is flickrness.

There is a great quote in the piece:

“People become disassociated from one another online. The computer somehow nullifies the social contract,” she says. In other words, people sometimes go nuts amid the anonymity of the Internet.

I think this is so true and something to keep in mind when developing social sites. When you are looking to create a social site and the framework for social experiences, you need to be ready for people to go a little nuts.