That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.
- Marcus Aurelius -
When I began THE WEEKEND community I did so to have a place I could drop my own weekend-related content and to invite others to do the same. I didn't expect it to develop into anything other than a storage area for myself however it did. It's not as large as some of the other communities but with over 3100 subscribers, ten percent of whom are active, and a fairly broad spectrum of people and nationalities represented I'd say it's reasonably healthy.
I've maintained it myself, along with my two other communities. I monitor it constantly as I don't want it to become a place where undesirables harbour. I mean spammers, plagiarists, abusers and others of that ilk. They are not welcome and I have, and will continue to, mute, downvote and address them. Of course, I help people who make mistakes as well and I've had some reasonable success in doing so.
I've decided to bring on a couple of moderators and have taken care in determining who they are. I felt the need to bring on people to keep an eye on things when I cannot, I do sleep you know, and their location on the planet means they're awake when I'm not. They are responsible and intelligent people who have lived some life, not judgemental, biased or prejudiced and I believe will represent the community well. Indeed, they are representing me in their duties as moderators and in my lengthy discussions with them I have come to feel comfortable with my choices and the faith I put in them.
Maintaining the look and feel of THE WEEKEND community is their main function. They will ensure posts adhere to the community rules and address those that don't.
They're here to help guide people to post better quality content and to work within the parameters of the community rules. Their interactions will be polite, courteous and helpful whilst maintaining the standards and rules I've set for my community. Of course, I'll expect any return-communication aimed their way to be polite and courteous also.
The moderators will also help me facilitate the #weekend-engagement topics over the weekend and any other contests or concepts I run in the community. I will ask them to suggest winners, posts to promote to curangel and those I should source additional rewards for which I do through my own network. I will retain the final say, however I have confidence in these two moderators and will defer to their judgment mostly.
I've selected 
Both have made it through THE WEEKEND bootcamp selection process similar to the selection course people undertake to become Navy SEALS called BUD/S, but of course my selection course is far more difficult and gruelling.
The moderators will not be eligible for prize-rewards in any contests or concepts I run in the community however I urge you to take a look at their post-feeds as both post with passion and effort across varied topics and you'll find something interesting there I'm certain. They also comment broadly and that's one of the reasons I decided to ask them to help me in THE WEEKEND community. If you like what you see throw a vote their way as I will be doing the same.
A while ago I wrote a posting guide for THE WEEKEND community which you can find here. I suggest everyone reads it and familiarises themselves with the community rules. They are there to keep the community looking good and the content relevant and, because it's my community, are also there because I want them to be.
I've always maintained those standards and have felt no remorse on those occasions I've had to address those failing to meet them. With the two community moderators looking at the community feed also there maybe be a few additional people exposed and I'll be addressing them of course.
The bottom line is: Follow the guidelines and it's all good. Follow them not, and don't be surprised when I address it.
...plagiarism, recycling one's own content, self cross-posting, stealing of other people's images, using images that have copyright over them or images that have not been correctly link-sourced, spam-posting (posting in rapid succession many times a day), abuse of others, comment-spamming, copy-paste posts, spinning of other people's work, cyber-security threats and other such nutbaggery. All will be punished. There may be a warning, but there may not be. You're allowed to cry about it if you like, but don't cry to me.
I've noticed some users peppering their posts with many stock images which I don't feel is legitimate. One is ample, and link-source to it. There's no need to have multiple stock images in one's post; One is sufficient and more doesn't add value for me it takes it away. Use one stock image to punctuate your post and leave it there, and even better, use your own image!
Worse though, is a trend towards users posting images that have copyright over them or that which have been lifted from other Hive users posts. It is image theft and is not acceptable.
I'll be downvoting those who do it and will probably mute users also - It's not the look THE WEEKEND community wants to present and so I'll eliminate it. Besides that, if you're doing it you'll probably get addressed by the community at large and it'll not work out so well. Copyright means the image is not free so don't use it. Pexels, Unsplash, FreeImages, and Pixabay are legitimate alternatives but link-source any images you use - the owner deserves the credit. There's no substitute for using your own image though and I urge you to do so.
I didn't expect I'd need to moderate the community as I set it up just for myself but, in hindsight, that was naïve of me. Considering I hold myself to high standards it fits that I do the same for others and maintaining standards takes effort, attention and a lot of time.
I want my community to be a place people want to come to post about weekend things, share their experiences and showcase themselves to others. It's supposed to be fun, a place of enjoyment for all; myself included. That's why I want it to look good and for users to apply their best efforts to deliver quality and relevant posts and engagement on other people's posts which will ultimately help accounts grow and develop.
I'd like to thank the two moderators and look forward to working with them to improve the community for everyone. If you take a look at the THE WEEKEND community posting guide you'll find all you need to know and if you have specific questions you can ask me or one of the moderators.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
The image is my own
