How you can support games industry Community Managers (+ FREE training and resources)

To recognise Community Manager Appreciation Day, Safe In Our World unpack how employers and players can give back to the guardians of the games industry.

🔗 Download FREE Mental Health Guide for Community Managers
🔗 Book Now for Mental Health Awareness for Community Managers

Community Managers serve as the bridge between players and developers, relaying feedback, providing updates, and moderating community spaces. It can be a rewarding role, but it’s also a job that never stops. As one time zone goes to bed, there’s another just logging on.

Finding a good work-life balance can be tricky for anyone working in the games industry, but it’s especially challenging for those who care for our online communities. For Community Manager Appreciation Day, we’ve explored the ways communities, employers and colleagues can support our Community Managers.

Supporting Community Managers as a Player

• Be mindful of time zones (and check the rules on pinging in Discord servers)
• Check the FAQ before asking your question (to save CM from repeating themselves)
• Be patient as CMs get to your question (they’re juggling a lot of responsibilities)
• Be descriptive when reporting a problem (include reproduction steps if you can)
• Approach Community Managers with good faith (they want to help!)

💡 You can help Community Managers by modelling the kinds of behaviours you’d want to see in the community. Being kind, friendly and helpful with other players (and the devs) is a quiet but impactful way to help CMs nurture a healthy, non-toxic community.

One great way to help us CMs is by listening to and respecting our moderators. They provide invaluable support, allowing us to take the time we need to recover. We’ve chosen them because we trust their judgement, so please trust them to look after you and keep the community safe.

Supporting Community Managers as a Leader

• Set a good example with your work-life balance (leave loudly, remind them to take breaks)
• Encourage every team member to turn notifications off when out of office
• Discuss a plan for cover when your Community Manager goes on holiday (so they can fully switch off)
• Send your CM on our free Mental Health Awareness for Community Managers course
• Read our Mental Health Guide for Community Managers (to have a better idea of how they can look after themselves)

💡 For some, switching off from work isn’t just difficult – it can cause anxiety. Worrying about what might go wrong in their absence, or how big their workload will become when they’re back. We’ve got a blog about absence anxiety with recommendations for how to overcome it. It’s a good read for any employer or manager.

CMs shield dev teams from the worst of the toxicity in games communities, but we bear the brunt of it in doing so. We’ll have likely already softened feedback, so please take it in good faith. We’re bringing it to your attention because we believe it’s important – it’s not an attack.

Supporting Community Managers as a Colleague

• Follow your company’s social media guidelines and procedures (if in doubt, ask!)
• Offer to support on communication channels for when your CM is on leave
• Help to develop the process for player feedback so your CM knows what you need (and what to ask your players for)
• Send our Mental Health Guide for Community Managers to your CM(s)
• Consider joining our free Mental Health Awareness for Community Managers course (even if you’re not a CM yourself)

💡 Community Managers take your wellbeing very seriously. Sometimes they go to great lengths to soften feedback and criticism – so it’s important you don’t undo all that effort by doom-scrolling. We’ve got a blog about doom-scrolling and protecting your mental health online, to help you stay safe and avoid harmful behaviours.

Unfortunately there are always some people in communities who are looking for a fight. Don’t give them one. It’s so tempting, and you might think you’re helping us out, but it only makes the situation worse, and it can harm your wellbeing and that of the community.

Training and Resources for Community Managers

We have refreshed our Mental Health Guide for Community Managers, which highlights actions you can take as a CM to maintain your wellbeing in your role, achieve work-life balance, and set effective boundaries. You can download this for free.

We’re also announcing four new Mental Health Awareness for Community Managers courses in collaboration with Mind Fitness. If you’ve done this course before, consider recommending it to your community moderators – it’s free and open to all! Share it with a fellow community manager or your team. Pop it in your community Discord server! See you there.