When I was originally setting up the message board my only consideration was the technology and managing the technology. I didn't even consider the human side of the equation. But I would say that now i hardly worry at all about the technology side (thanks to VBulletin's relative ease of use) and worry lots about managing the human side. I'm no nerd myself and i've always been more comfortable in dealing with machines more so than dealing with people. As such, community 'gardening' and 'weeding' has been and continues to be a very challenging and educating experience.

Each online community is different and unique, and is amazing how each is defined by differences in purpose, culture and social interaction. Speaking of psychology, it is valuable to understand different human dynamics. I feel that this is an area that hasn't been adequately addressed yet. Neither the moderators nor i bargained for it at the beginning but as we moderate the board, we are intrinsically being forced to learn about the wider (unlimited) area of human behaviour. Therefore i think it is very important to commit resources in the palace guide to provide some education on this subject. This is why i'd like to have a section for discussing the specific psychology surrounding the whole area of online behaviour and particularly how it pertains to message board posting. Boy, if i'd only known what i was getting myself in for......

Mind boggles as to why some grown men wish to act like idiots.

While some site managers and end users may think of message boards as software or an internet technology or destination, they soon discover after they've truly experienced online community or managed one, that humans need to connect, share information and belong to a community. And, as social beings, their behavior sometimes requires mitigation. What i have learned over the years since the community began on 3kingdoms.net is that some people will never be pleased.

Herd Mentality
I'm no psychologist but I think I've learned more about human behaviour through management of the message board than I've ever learned offline. For example the 'herd mentality' is readily identifiable. The forums were dominated by a small number of characters. These people easily built up their own fanbase of members who seemed to chime in supporting their hero at every opportunity. The hero would start a sparring match with another herd leader and soon we have two teams engaged in bitter conflict with the leaders enjoying the limelight and adulation while their sidekicks continually egged them on.

Something Interesting - When 2 Tigers Fight, 1 Is Bound to Get Hurt
The personal combat between Zhang Fei and Ma Chao is the longest and most ferocious during the Three Kingdoms era. The duel started in the daytime and dragged into the night with a break during the sunset. Both men earned the respect of the other for his superb fighting skills despite being enemies.

Zhang FeiVersus Ma Chao

Adjudicating
As you can imagine is tough being the adjudicator in all of this. Explaining to one member that what he considered an unacceptable point of view from another member, was really only a bit of light hearted banter (in some cases), can be a thankless task. And of course, being human myself, i'm sure i have made character misjudgements and unfairly interpret the words of members at times.

US Versus Canada
Another case of herd mentality only that it is country versus country. Americans bash Canadians and Canadians bash Americans. Soon members from these two countries would join in to the defense of their respective countries and the bashing would escalate. Being an outsider as a Singaporean i don't quite understand the bashing though i read in the papers that some Canadians don't like the way Americans impose their way of life on them. Having the longest undefended border in the world is a blessing to both nations compared to the demilitarised zone between North & South Korea.

I've also noticed some very interesting differences between various nationalities. There is a suprising difference in tolerances for banter between the races. Members from one country tend to throw alot of jibes at each other without ever falling out while members from other countries are very easily insulted. Of course there are many exceptions to this rule of thumb and i wouldn't pigeonhole anyone nationality but i've been very interested to note this pattern of behaviour.

Veterans
Veteran members of the board often get to know each other well and each other's foibles after a while. As such they begin to relax, post less formally and generally speak to each other in more "forward" language. Then they start to feel at home and almost forget their manners when a visitor calls! For example a new member will join in with a rather dry, formal, genuine query and will get an answer like, "hey dude, don't be so uptight...... blah, blah, blah....." This is not a bad reflection on the veteran member (who is otherwise very well behaved). It just seems that people forget themselves when they get comfortable and familiar with each other.

Huang Zhong

Huang Gai

Deng Ai

Yan Yan

Zhang Liao

Lu Meng

Communities help consolidate, better manage and effectively use information. There are human factor issues as well. Information overload is becoming more of a problem. Think about it, the forums are amazing, large amounts of information, the option to efficiently manage information, real time response from people, all work to improve our need to efficiently manage information and learn about it from trusted sources. But, as we're discussing, humans are part of the interaction and their behavior can even effect this particular value. Community managers not only are working with technology but also challenged by the members (people!) to effectively implement a community and support their needs. And, no two of us are alike even though we like to herd.