Chat: A reflection of yourself

 Chat and you

Chat can be an excellent place or a toxic nightmare, and sometimes it is both simultaneously.  All kinds of people will come into your stream and there is no way to predict or know what someone might say. Although you can set up bots to block certain words, there is also no surefire way to prevent people from saying bad things. Your chat is a reflection of yourself and as such, you are responsible to set boundaries and monitor the activity taking place, to help you build the kind of community you want to cultivate. No matter how enthusiastic you are about having a certain kind of viewership filled with positivity, negativity and trolls are unavoidable. Whether you are starting a community or are attempting to shape an existing one, it takes patience and dedication. Always start with the simple stuff before expanding and that is exactly what we are going to discuss today. 

Rules 

The first step to setting up any community is to have the most basic rules in place. Most rules are pretty easy to come by: no racism, be kind, no hate speech, etc. These are objectively improper topics that will lead to a timeout or instant ban. 

Once you have those out of the way, you will want to determine the more subjective rules for your specific stream and this will all depend on your comfort level and how you want your channel to be represented. Will you allow swearing, and if so what level is ok? Do you allow backseat gaming? Is self-promotion ok? Set as many rules as you believe are necessary but don’t be too strict, especially at first.  You actually want people to break these more subjective rules. Although this might seem a bit odd, this all comes back to concepts we discussed in Don’t fear Failure. Having the humility to harness your failures, will help you shape and mold the kind of chat you want thus helping you succeed much quicker. When someone breaks one of your rules use it as an opportunity to let people know where they can locate your channel rules and why the rules are in place. One of three things will happen: the majority will be understanding, some might become disgruntled, and a select few will become hostile. Knowing how to proceed in each case then becomes more crucial to maintaining control over your chat. 

Considerate Chatter

Most people viewing your streams just want to be entertained and have a good time and the last thing they want is to create problems on someone else’s channel. It is important to realize that viewers might not have seen your rules and that people make mistakes.  Don’t be too quick to judge and listen to the person if they explain why they didn’t follow such and such a rule. This information is valuable and can really help you in the growth of your channel. You don’t need to implement every suggestion or react to every mistake, but pay attention and use the information to improve.

Testy Chatter

Remember that people can become irritated and defensive when they don’t believe they did anything wrong. Do your best in these cases to defuse the situation by explaining that no one is mad at them for breaking a rule and that it happens to everyone. Most importantly don’t allow an argument to come up about the validity of your rules. All too often people explain and argue why they don’t believe they didn’t break a rule, and it erupts into a big situation that could have been avoided. Keep a level head in these situations and usually, the individuals in question will simmer down. If you believe they are reasonable, you can consider sending them a DM or whisper after thanking them for their feedback and asking for their advice on how to avoid these situations in the future. 

Hostile Chatter

A chatter who comes in and starts an argument or who is immediately toxic needs to be dealt with right away. If you see any potential bad behaviors coming don’t hesitate to address the matter and issue warnings as needed. This will set a precedent and let the rest of your chat know that it isn’t a one-strike-you-are-out kind of environment but one that is serious and wants a good atmosphere. If a viewer for example starts openly arguing about an established rule such as you need to be a regular to play with the host, explain why the rule is in place and let them know that they will be timed out if they continue. When someone is timed out they usually calm down, but it is your responsibility to make sure you are not openly talking about the person and to not allow your chat to gossip about them. Remember just because the person is in time out doesn’t mean they aren’t watching or that they are a bad person and that they don’t deserve respect. If the person doesn’t immediately leave they might come back and be better and if not keep that finger on the ban button just in case they come back with the intent of revenge.

Strong foundation

The foundation of your more subjective chat rules should not be unbreakable but instead should be adaptable and open to change. Your rules are valid and are to be respected however, pay attention to which rule chatters are having difficulty with. Is it the same person or is it, a variety of people? Is it new people or longtime community members? Keep in mind that even the most perfectly worded rule will be accidentally broken once in a while. Never assume that just because the wording of a rule makes sense to you that it will make sense to everyone.  Be willing to think from the perspective of the viewer and adapt to whatever is causing the problems on your streams.  Whether the criticism is constructive or not, you need to have the humility to actually take note of it. 

Final thoughts

Don’t be afraid to take a step back and reassess and realize that you are responsible for your chat and your rules.  You won’t get anywhere if you assume the first version of a chat rule you wrote is correct and that everyone else is wrong. However, remember that it is equally important not to compromise on your boundaries and your personal comfort and safety when streaming.  Take responsibility, as your chat is a reflection of yourself, so make sure you create a community you can be proud of and that is inviting newcomers to your channel.