The science community has had a lot to be excited about.

If you’re a community leader on the Internet, chances are you've been accused of censoring those whose comments you've deleted. Of course, you probably don't want to come across to your site visitors as an authoritarian dictator-type, and you probably don't refer to yourself as "Big Brother" in your About Me page. But after enough accusations, you might start to wonder… “have I gone too far as a community moderator?”

There’s a golden age in every nascent community. A period when social norms are still forming, the membership is small enough where you can still keep track of who’s who, and the interactions still feel very personal.

We love talking with communities. It’s even better when we get to use our own product to talk to customers in real-time. That’s why, we’ve recently been jumping around to our favorite communities to host AMAs (ask me anything) where we answer all of the burning questions people have about our product.

At Disqus, we love using Slack for team communication and collaboration. And based on recent conversations and survey results from publishers, a lot of you do as well. In this post, we’ll provide some examples of how you can use Slack to help you better moderate comments on Disqus.

Illustration by Luigi Savino

Getting help from an Internet stranger is a pretty surreal experience. You open a browser tab with beads of sweat trickling down your brow, and find your way to a support forum in hopes that your burning question will be answered by some noble human who has more knowledge than you.

Are you a moderator of multiple Disqus communities? Chances are you’re handling a fairly large volume of new comments on a daily basis. Perhaps you check the Disqus Admin to monitor for recent comments or maybe you prefer email notifications of new comments.

I’m Jim, I’ve been working with startups since the mid-’90s, most recently helping publishers be more successful with Disqus. I may also be the most active commenter currently employed by Disqus.

Earlier this month, Disqus was in New York for Business Insider's IGNITION conference which brings together folks in media and technology to explore the future of digital. As one of the sponsors, we built a discussion channel for attendees to encourage people to start and join discussions about topics covered in panels and interviews.