Why the Skoolers Community Uses Vague Rules on Purpose

Jenna Ostrye

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Feb 9 • Posts

I’ve been asked this directly and I’ve also seen a lot of people asking it publicly.

Why are the Skoolers community rules vague?

Some people are totally fine with it.

Others really dislike it.

Both reactions are okay.

Some people prefer things extremely clear with exact limits. Some are used to platforms where everything is spelled out. Others have been part of large communities before and already understand why vague rules exist in the first place.

Here’s the part that matters and why I now strongly recommend vague rules… even for smaller communities.

Hard rules create loopholes.

Vague rules create better communities.

The moment you introduce hard limits, people naturally want to reach those limits. Instead of looking at the intention of a post, it turns into “does this technically fit in the guidelines?”

It even takes away from something that makes a community really wonderful. If a community like Skoolers spelled out exactly what a good post is and what a bad post is, we might never see some of the creativity that comes from someone trying something out. From experimenting. From sharing something that wasn’t done before that ends up being genuinely good.

Vague rules leave room for that.

They also mean that as moderators and admins, we end up having a lot of conversations. We look at patterns. We make decisions based on context instead of black and white rules.

Sometimes there is a new person who is just trying to fit in. A post might technically be questionable, but the right response is to welcome them and guide them. Other times someone is new and blatantly self promoting, which clearly is not allowed. In that case, we can redirect and still welcome them without letting the behavior continue.

Those situations look similar on paper but they are very different in reality. Vague rules allow for that distinction.

They also protect against bad actors.

An example that Andrew Kirby shared explains this well. If people were told they would not be prosecuted for stealing things under $50, you would immediately see people stealing things up to $49. The clear rule creates the behavior.

The same thing happens in communities. The moment you make rules overly specific, people know exactly how far they can push them. If you say someone can post 5 times a week, some people will post exactly 5 times a week.. And those types of posts may or may not even be good. Could end up being a lot of blah fluff posts just for visibility..

Speaking of that a lot of people look at Skoolers as a way to get traffic. When there are hard limits, it becomes common to push right up against them. Posting becomes about exposure instead of contribution. Other members start to look like leads instead of people to connect with.

That is not good for a community.

Yes, people can naturally get visibility by being a good community member. That happens all the time. But the intention is different. One comes from wanting to add something useful. The other comes from wanting to extract something.

Vague rules protect intention.

They protect context.

They protect real connection.

That is why Skoolers uses them and why I now recommend them in any community I am part of. For context, here are the Skoolers community rules: https://www.skool.com/skoolers/-/rules

👇 Does this help with your understanding of why the rules are vague on purpose?

Yes, thank you!

Nope.. I don't get it still.

Sharing my thoughts in the comments.

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