In this episode, we’re hearing from Toxic Member in Toronto. Our letter today deals with a toxic community member stirring up trouble to revolt against the community manager.

To better help Toxic Member in Toronto, I invited Andrea Middleton **as my guest expert. She is a seasoned veteran of the community space who loves finding paths to productive and powerful collaborations with opinionated and skeptical communities, which is perfect for our letter today.

So, tune in for a lot of wisdom from someone who’s dealt with a toxic community member or two and some really practical tools on what to do when your community turns against you.

In this episode:

(03:34) When Andrea fanned the flames without a gameplan

(06:21) 3 strategies for conflict de-escalation

(11:57) The communitea: Toxic Member in Toronto’s letter

(15:08) How to protect yourself against toxic community members

(17:49) Having a strong code of conduct in place and tips to get there

(28:32) The diagnostic phase and possible plans of action

(34:44) Fighting fire (conflict) with a vacuum

Expect: Community management best practices and community strategy for conflict resolution.

Resources Mentioned:

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Noteworthy quotes:

“You don't need to agree with someone to understand where they're coming from. But without understanding her goals and motivations, you're never going to be able to form a strategic plan for how to address her behavior.“ - Andrea Middleton

“You don't need to arm yourself with all of these rigid guidelines and rules when really, as “the protector” of the community, your job is to bring forth the spirit of the community, not to just enforce the things people aren't supposed to do.“ - Bri Leever

Andrea Middleton

Andrea is a veteran community organizer who loves finding paths to productive and powerful collaborations with opinionated, skeptical communities. She spent 10 years working in community efforts in the WordPress open source project, and joined Reddit in 2021 — the last 3 years at Reddit she’s had lots of exciting moments, including working with mods and communities through the API protests of last summer. In her spare time, she loves reading sci-fi/fantasy, cooking, fine wine, and goofing with her teenagers.

🖥️ Website

📱 Linkedin

Bri Leever

Bri got her start building a community and growing it to a multi-million dollar revenue stream for a social enterprise in Portland, OR. Now, she supports folks used to running their business on content, coaching, and consulting to create their community offer. She's a Community Strategist by day and a Campervan host by night on the Big Island of Hawaii and you'll usually find her on, in, or under the water.

🖥️ Website

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📹 Youtube

📱 Linkedin

And before you go…

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Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

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