Comment by Cthulhu_
5 years ago
I think #3 ("don't moderate away dissenting voices") is a pretty good line / tactic; it makes the community look more independent, instead of a "my product, my rules, I am absolute" community. I mean by all means be on staff, but stay out of forum politics - you are inherently biased towards e.g. criticism. Get some staff to help enforce rules / CoC / etc - if people are being dicks then ban them, but if they're providing feedback you don't like then just... leave it?
Having a community as a third party of sorts helps keep you unbiased.
Of course, that doesn't mean that you allow straying too much out of the topic. Competitor's product that does it better? That's for your improvement, don't shut off critics. Geopolitics? Well, you need to draw a reasonable line sooner or later.