Reference
Rules that make a world last
In 2009 the economist Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize for showing that communities which share something — grazing land, fisheries, and yes, online worlds — govern it well when their rules follow eight ideas. Back to the labs anytime: Open the labs →
- 1 Clear boundaries
Everyone knows who is in the community and what the shared world is.
- 2 Fair, fitting rules
The rules match how your community actually plays — and share the work and the fun fairly.
- 3 A say in the rules
The people who follow the rules can help change them.
- 4 Watching together
Members (or trusted helpers who answer to members) keep an eye on the world and each other.
- 5 Step-by-step consequences
Breaking a rule earns a small consequence first, bigger only if it keeps happening.
- 6 A quick, cheap way to settle fights
There is an easy, fair place to sort out disagreements.
- 7 Allowed to self-govern
The grown-ups in charge let your community make and keep its own rules.
- 8 Layered for big worlds
A big world is organised in smaller groups, each with its own rules inside the whole.
Fair consequences are graduated
The fifth principle deserves its own lab. Good communities don't ban someone the first time they slip, and they don't shrug it off either. A first small mistake earns a friendly warning; only a repeat, or something serious, steps up. It's fair, it's predictable, and it gives people a way back.
Staying safe: notice the shape
You don't have to memorise exact words. Unsafe approaches share a shape: wanting to move somewhere with no adults, asking you to keep a secret, asking for your real name / school / a photo, offering free stuff to earn trust, or piling on praise. Any one of the first three, or two of the others together, means the same thing every time:
Stop. Don't reply. Tell a trusted adult. You never have to handle it yourself. If anything ever feels off, there is always someone whose job is to help — how to stay safe & get help →