> I'll never forget having to be a moderator for a somewhat popular forum back in the day
Similar experience, though I'll say that the worst was dealing with other teenagers that threatened suicide when you banned them. That always took a lot of effort to de-escalate and was a complete drain on personal mental health.
I could deal with porn, shock images, and script kiddie defacements, but having people threaten to kill themselves was human and personal. It hurt, especially when the other person was legitimately having a personal crisis.
I still think about some of these people and wonder if they're okay.
Several years ago a popular gaming forum with a significant teenage audience I used to read had declared a simple policy toward threats of suicide. If you were threatening to kill yourself, do it, and stop messaging the mods, they are not here to talk you down from a ledge. It seemed pretty effective.
Most these threats weren’t serious, just some problematic teen looking for attention. Showing them that some strangers don’t give a shit about them or their antics could be a real eye opener.
Similar experience, though I'll say that the worst was dealing with other teenagers that threatened suicide when you banned them. That always took a lot of effort to de-escalate and was a complete drain on personal mental health.
I could deal with porn, shock images, and script kiddie defacements, but having people threaten to kill themselves was human and personal. It hurt, especially when the other person was legitimately having a personal crisis.
I still think about some of these people and wonder if they're okay.