I've found the only way to maintain a nice, helpful community is to be liberal with the ban hammer. If you are early and consistent with it, you don't have to u

I've found the only way to maintain a nice, helpful community is to be liberal with the ban hammer. If you are early and consistent with it, you don't have to use it that often. But people in general fear conflict, fear taking a position of authority, and exercising that authority. I have a weekend Meetup that I have been running for 5 years. I've had to ban three people. The first two were three years ago, after a spat of incidents. The last one was a month ago, and it was an easy and quick decision with little impact on the group. The activity in the group now conveys what sort of behavior is acceptable, so it takes a real, honest to goodness troll before we get any trouble. Being nice is a component of the quality of a community. If "quality" is so important to defend, being nice is important to defend.