Kind of related to my previous toot about moderation...

Probably the most common mistake I see inexperienced moderators make, is trying to moderate by "fairness". This just doesn't work.

"Fairness" assumes that every party in a disagreement is acting in good faith, and so the concerns of each party need to be taken into consideration. But usually, the situation that one party is *not* acting in good faith is the reason you are called in to moderate in the first place!

Effective moderation always revolves about shaping a community, about working towards a certain experience for its members. This goal can be many things; maybe your priority is to make it a safe space, maybe you intend to 'rehabilitate' difficult folks, maybe something else. All of these are valid goals to have.

But crucially: you need to *pick* one. And only one. This is something you need to have figured out *before* you start a community, and *before* you do moderation work. You cannot have, for example, a safe space that is also a rehabilitation space; these goals will conflict.

Your moderation policy must follow the goal you have set, and you must be able to explain that goal to your community members, and how that has played into your decisions.

Sometimes this can mean banning people who "can't help it". Sometimes it can mean giving space to people who are being assholes. Sometimes it can mean other counterintuitive moderation decisions. It depends on what your goals are.

But those things should always be informed *by* your goals, not by complaints about "fairness". Approximately nobody ever thinks that action taken against them is fair, and basing your moderation on perceived fairness will only result in inconsistent moderation where the most aggressive and abusive users get to stay.

When challenged on a moderation decision, the conversation should thus not be about "was this a fair decision?" - it should be about "was this decision in line with the goals of the community?". You shouldn't assume that you always get it right, but you also shouldn't cave under pressure of chasing something that wasn't your goal to begin with.