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The way I moderate, is to be unashamedly selfish, with a sprinkling of impartiality.
Basically, I do whatever I would want "the mods" to do if I were a user. Obviously, there are other users, but since the point of me bothering with the whole thing is to facilitate the kind of activity I personally enjoy, considerations for people who want my communities to be something different, is simply not a priority.
Unless I joined a mod team that existed already, I decide.
If someone complains or has a suggestion, I do make an effort to actually consider what they are saying, but then I still decide what will or won't happen. I'm doing the work in order to have communities I actually like, not the adoration of a bunch of thankful users. If you compromise on the former for the latter, why even put in the effort? Either way, there will be a set of people who like what you do, and a set of people don't. So why please other people at the expense of pleasing yourself?
Unless you actually open things up to be voted on, the goal is to be a benevolent dictator. You can't please everyone, but that doesn't mean you have to make yourself one of the unhappy ones. You may be a mod, but we're ALL users. That means what you want to do, even as a mod, matters too.
I think you just accidentally articulated the theory of virtue ethics. How do you know what you should do? Do what you think a good person would do. ๐
Yea, I agree you can't please everyone. I have seen in so many subreddit rules that we are running dictatorship not democracy xD.
Also, Entire this rule bending come to my mind after you got banned in touhou community. But thanks.
Exactly.
So the best way IMO is to do whatever you think is right (and like another commenter said, make the only real rule be "don't make me ban you"), and as long as you aren't being insane, you'll probably be pleasing the majority of users just by coincidence.
I'd add that you should always be ready to change a decision, based on new events and arguments, or if you missed something. The biggest reason I think some mods go a little insane, is that they try to be infallible, but when they inevitably fail, they try to pretend the decision was correct anyway.
twist balls counterclockwise willy-nilly