The Community
Friends of Big Bear Valley operates a global conservation community surrounding the famous Big Bear bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow. The nonprofit reports more than 2.6 million social-media followers, while its Facebook presence alone has reached approximately 1.2 million followers.
My Role
As part of the social/community operation, I help manage the enormous volume of conversation generated by this passionate audience, including moderation of the official private Facebook community.
My work includes:
- Reviewing and approving member content
- Enforcing community standards
- Answering member questions
- Managing spam, misinformation and conflict
- Coordinating with other moderators
- Creating engagement content and community resources
- Producing graphics, storytelling and fundraising video
- Helping establish moderator procedures, schedules and guidance
- Supporting communication during highly emotional or sensitive events
The Scale
FOBBV has documented just how quickly its Facebook group grew: 163,000 → 373,000 members in a single nesting season, with moderators handling up to 300 submitted posts per day.
The community has since grown to over 500,000 members, making this fundamentally different from managing a typical brand page. It requires systems, judgment, consistency and an understanding of how people behave inside enormous online communities.
High-Stakes Community Management
This community experiences extraordinary emotional peaks. Major events surrounding Jackie and Shadow can generate thousands of reactions and comments. The Los Angeles Times reported that posts announcing the loss of eggs and the death of FOBBV Executive Director Sandy Steers generated more than 12,000 comments.
That means moderation isn’t simply deleting spam. It involves maintaining a compassionate community while dealing with grief, misinformation, conflict, repeated questions, rapidly changing information and enormous public attention.
What This Work Demonstrates