How to Make Someone a Mod on Twitch, in 7 Steps

Want to take your Twitch channel to the next level? Appointing reliable moderators is a great way to manage your growing community, improve chat, and create a welcoming environment for viewers.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through how to make someone a mod on Twitch using simple tools provided by Twitch. Whether you want to assign mod privileges before going live or promote active viewers to moderator during a stream, I‘ve got you covered.

Let‘s get started!

What Does a Twitch Moderator Do Exactly?

Before jumping into the steps, let me give you a quick rundown of what Twitch moderators are and what valuable role they play.

A Twitch moderator (or mod) is a viewer who is given special privileges and responsibilities by a streamer to help manage their Twitch community. According to Twitch‘s support site, there are over 8 million monthly active streamers who broadcast to an average of over 2.8 million concurrent viewers every day.

With huge communities like this, you can imagine moderators are essential to maintaining order and creating a positive viewer experience.

Some of the key duties Twitch mods may handle include:

Welcoming new viewers and answering questions from chat
Timing out or banning abusive, disruptive or inappropriate users
Moderate chat by enabling emote/follower/sub only modes when needed
Posting important channel announcements or schedule changes
Managing channel point rewards and prediction events
Helping enforce channel rules and guidelines
Assisting the streamer in engaging with their community

In short, Twitch mods are champions of your channel who help create and foster the culture and experience you want your community to have. That‘s why choosing the right individuals for this responsibility is so important.

Okay, now that you know why mods matter, let‘s get into the two easy methods for making someone a mod on your channel.

Method 1: Making Someone a Mod Before You Go Live

The simplest way to designate moderators for your Twitch channel is to assign moderator status to them before you even start streaming.

Here are the steps to make someone a mod through Twitch‘s Creator Dashboard:

Step 1: Access Your Creator Dashboard

First, you need to access your Creator Dashboard on Twitch:

Go to twitch.tv and click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen.
From the dropdown menu, select Creator Dashboard.

This will open up your Creator Dashboard hub. Think of this as command central for managing your Twitch channel.

Step 2: Click on the Community Tab

Along the left side of your Dashboard, you‘ll see a menu. Click on the Community tab.

Step 3: Access the Roles Manager

Under ‘Community Settings‘ this will open up a dropdown menu. Click on Roles Manager from the options.

This is where you can manage custom roles for viewers, like moderators.

Step 4: Add a New Role

Towards the top right, click the blue Add New Role button to create a new moderator role.

Step 5: Enter the Exact Username

In the text field that appears, precisely type the Twitch username of the viewer you want to make a moderator. As you type, you should see their username populate in a dropdown menu. Select it.

Note: Don‘t include the @ symbol, just their unique username.

Step 6: Assign Moderator Permissions

Check the box next to Moderator to assign this account mod privileges.

Step 7: Save Your Changes

Lastly, click the blue Save button at the bottom to confirm the new moderator role.

And that‘s it! By following these simple steps on Dashboard, you‘ve assigned someone moderator status before even going live. Now whenever they participate in your chat, they‘ll have mod powers to help maintain your channel.

While this method is great for designating mods ahead of time, what if you need to mod someone immediately during a live stream? Keep reading!

Method 2: Making Someone a Mod in Chat During a Live Stream

Using Twitch‘s chat commands, you can easily promote a viewer to moderator instantly right from your live chat.

Here‘s how to make someone a mod mid-stream:

Step 1: Type /mod in Your Chat

While live, type the following command in your Twitch chat:

/mod

Then leave a space after it.

This tells Twitch you want to mod someone.

Step 2: Type the Exact Username

Next, after the /mod command type the full username of the viewer you want to moderator.

For example, if I wanted to mod a user named ninjaassassin26, I would type:

/mod ninjaassassin26

Make sure you enter the username correctly.

Step 3: Hit Enter to Submit

Finally, press Enter on your keyboard to submit the command. As the stream owner, this will instantly give mod powers and privileges to the viewer you specified.

The user does need to be present in your live chat at the time for it to work. You can‘t mod offline viewers this way.

In just a few seconds, you can appoint trustworthy regulars as moderators on the fly. Much easier than stepping away or ending your stream to do it!

Choosing the Right Moderators for Your Channel

Giving a viewer moderator status is a big responsibility. You want to select mods who understand your channel‘s rules, values, and the type of environment you want to cultivate.

Here are some important things to look for when reviewing potential mod candidates:

Loyalty – Consider viewers who regularly watch, engage, and participate in your streams. Long-standing supporters often make ideal mods.
Maturity – Moderators need to handle disputes, trolls, and drama calmly and tactfully. Look for mature individuals.
Judgement – Good moderators exercise sound judgement in when/how to use their privileges. They don‘t act on grudges or petty grievances.
Availability – Try to recruit mods who can attend your streams consistently and fulfill duties regularly. Sporadic help isn‘t very useful.
Communication skills – Strong written communication skills are a plus. Moderators need to diplomatically interact with your viewers.
Shared values – Ensure potential mods share your vision for building a positive community. Look for alignment.

Take time to carefully vet candidates before modding them. Granting status hastily to the wrong individuals can do more harm than good. And never feel pressured to mod someone solely based on donations or subscriber status.

Cultivating a diverse yet responsible mod team that believes in your mission takes diligence. But it‘s worth the effort to find Twitch mods you can trust and rely on.

Responsibilities and Tools Twitch Moderators Have

Now that you know how to assign someone moderator privileges, let‘s look at what Twitch mods can actually do:

Time out users – Issue timeouts to temporarily ban disruptive users from chatting. Duration can range from 1 second up to 24 hours.
Permanently ban users – For severe infractions, mods can permanently ban users from your channel‘s chat.
Enable emote-only mode – Restrict chat to emotes only to temporarily disable text. Great for calming heated chat wars.
Followers/subscribers only chat – Restrict chat to only followers or subscribers. This helps manage chat floods from raids or high viewer counts.
Slow mode – Limit how often viewers can chat (ex: 1 msg per 30 secs) to control spamming.
Edit channel title/game – Mods can update your stream title and game category when needed.
Post @mentions – @mention chatters to get their attention or warn them.
Mod view – Special view to identify banned and timed out users.
Mod notifications – Get alerts when a fellow mod takes action like banning someone.

Beyond basic moderation, Twitch also provides additional tools you as the streamer can use:

AutoMod – Automatically filter out inappropriate/offensive words and spam based on severity levels.
Chat filters – Customize words, phrases, and links to block. Teach AutoMod using machine learning.
Moderation history – Review all recent moderation actions like bans, timeouts taken in your channel.
Moderation notifications – Receive alerts when mods ban or timeout users so you can review if needed.

Take time to familiarize yourself with all these tools. The more you customize moderation to suit your channel, the easier it will be for your mod team to maintain.

Removing Moderator Status From Users

There may come times where you need to remove someone‘s moderator status. Common reasons could include:

Repeated abuse or misuse of privileges
Inactivity for a prolonged period
Disagreements that make your relationship untenable

Revoking mod privs is simple:

Before Streaming

Visit your Creator Dashboard > Roles Manager
Locate their username and uncheck the Moderator box
Click Save to remove their privileges

During a Stream

Type /unmod then their username in your chat
Hit Enter to instantly remove their mod status

Hopefully you won‘t have to strip mod status often. But if someone becomes difficult or unreliable over time, you may have no choice but to demote them for the greater good of your community.

Managing and Supporting Your Moderators

Simply designating mods isn‘t enough – you need to properly manage your moderator team for best results:

Set expectations – Be clear about what you expect from mods in terms of duties and conduct.
Train new mods – Walk fresh mods through any tools or commands they should know. Let them shadow veteran mods at first.
Give prompt feedback – Provide praise publicly when mods make good judgement calls. Discretely correct any issues noticed privately.
Check in regularly – Have open communication with your mod team. Ask for input on improving chat or resolving disputes.
Limit mod numbers – Having too many mods tends to be counterproductive. Quality over quantity is best for cohesion.
Show appreciation – Thank your moderators regularly. Let them know you notice and value their contributions.
Keep them updated – Share channel progress reports, milestones, and updates with your mod team so they feel invested.
Host mod-only activities – Arrange special mod chat sessions or game nights as a perk and for team bonding opportunities.

Proper mod oversight requires effort, but pays dividends in the performance and morale of your team. Your stream benefits immensely when you support your mod squad.

Wrapping Up

If you‘re ready to elevate your Twitch channel, appointing quality moderators is a smart move. They‘ll enrich your community, protect your brand, and enable you to focus on entertaining.

Making someone a mod is straightforward using Twitch‘s Dashboard or chat commands. The real challenge is finding responsible candidates who meet your channel‘s specific needs.

Equip your moderators with all the tools and knowledge they require to excel. Guide them, but also support their decisions and growth. With an empowered mod team behind you, you can build an awesome Twitch community.

I hope this guide gave you clarity on how to officially make someone a moderator on your Twitch channel. Now get out there and recruit those loyal, friendly viewers who‘d make ideal chat mods! Let me know if this helps you identify and add trusted members to your mod squad.