Moderation Guide
Running a group is a real responsibility. Here is what that looks like.
What Moderators Do
Moderators are trusted community members. You become eligible at Contributor level (level 3) and then get assigned to a group.
You are not a cop. You are the person hosting the room. Set tone, de-escalate early, and make it easy for new people to stay.
Day to day: review local cases, restore or confirm content decisions, add context, and escalate severe or sensitive behavior to platform review.
Community Decisions
Moderation here is not one person making every call. Community voting does real work.
Any Regular (level 2+) can vote content off-topic. At 5 votes, it is auto-de-emphasized. Moderators can override when context requires it.
Reports create moderation cases. Group-local issues may be reviewed by group moderators. Platform-floor, account, critical, and sensitive cases go to platform review.
How to Earn Moderator Eligibility
Eligibility starts at Contributor level (level 3). That means sustained participation and trust, not a quick application.
Moderators are assigned, not self-appointed. If you want to help, raise your hand in your group or in Base Camp.
New groups are often co-moderated with circlefinder admins until local governance stabilizes.
What Stays and What Goes
Start with the Community Guidelines. They apply to everyone.
Level-5 groups can propose context-specific moderation overlays through Basecamp votes. Sensitive or free-form topic policies require platform approval before activation.
Group moderators can resolve non-floor local cases. Account holds, bans, legal handling, and critical safety cases stay platform-scoped.
Protecting Yourself
You do not have to moderate alone. Base Camp exists so moderators can compare notes before making hard calls.
Decisions are reviewed. Good-faith action is supported. Harassment tied to moderation duties should be escalated immediately.
If it feels bigger than one moderator, it is. Pull in help early.
The Philosophy
We are not trying to run a tight ship. We are trying to run a welcoming one.
People should feel ownership of the group, not fear of the moderators.
Good moderation is mostly invisible, and that is a compliment.
We don't share your data with advertisers because we don't use advertising. We use cookies to track your progress and preferences on circlefinder, and do not share that data. See our privacy policy for more details.