r/IAmA•
reseph

Dear mods: Why haven't there been any verified post in days? There's been multiple people who sent proof in.

I don't see a single IAmA marked verified or anything non-default in... days at least. Below are some examples (or people who posted proof) and a number below said they said in proof to mods and are waiting for verification (and nothing happened).

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/imwos/iama_trapeze_artist_in_cirque_du_soleil_ask_me/

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/im2hp/malcolm_barrett_w_lem_phil_reunion_ama/ (check out here for new IAmA)

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/im0u7/iama_guy_who_has_helped_develop_vrar_concepts_for/

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ilr7d/iama_professional_eulogy_writer_ama/

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ikyum/iama_4kids_entertainmentproductions_employee_ama/

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ikmyl/i_am_the_guy_in_the_master_troll_vs_orlando/

(The latest verified post was ~~~a day ago. flyryan verified it. But the OP later deleted it~~~ this post)

I understand people have lives and can be busy. The issue is that after 24 hours, the IAmA starts to drop off and becomes inactive.

**[EDIT] New announcement from mods, please read. **

Oh, people asking for proof to verify this. Circlejerk complete: http://i.imgur.com/TyG5N.png (crappy webcam is crappy)

Posted Jul 12, 2011, 3:17 PM UTC · edited

1K532
[deleted]•

The mods are not very good. I don't even visit IAMA very often and it is easy to see that.

453
Crizack•

It's pretty obvious the mods in most subreddits just want to be glorified redditors or power users and not do their jobs. They just want a little internet authority and not actively improve or moderate reddit. The only major subreddits I would exempt from this criticism are askscience and truereddit.

298
alcimedes•

I say cut their pay in half!

209
[deleted]•

Not enough! Slash their bonuses for the year!

119
jjbay•

Slash their tires, too!

65
IPoopedMyPants•

Look at the list:

Poromenos
qgyh2
maxwellhill
PhilxBefore
karmanaut
BritishEnglishPolice

They're all good redditors and they all add a lot to the community, but but look at their karma. Anyone who has that much time to devote to searching for links, reading links, and making witty or informative comments doesn't really have the time to spend looking at individuals and verifying that they're legit.

Chromakode is an Admin and sure as shit better not have time to spend on putzing around in here until the damned site has more stability (though it has been better, so props to the Admins for that).

That leaves:

32bites
nitrousconsumed
and
deskrabbit

deskrabbit hasn't posted anything in 4 months. Toss him out the window.

Now we've got 32bites and nitrousconsumed.

nitrousconsumed makes a comment every couple of days and 32bites comments even less frequently than that.

TL;DR: THERE ARE NO FUCKING MODS

126

Can I say that I haven't posted something in weeks, nor posted a decent amount of comments at all in ages? All I do on reddit is moderation it seems now; and with my absence owing to family issues and internet problems I can't do much.

47
rkcr•

All I do on reddit is moderation it seems now

Maybe it would help if you didn't moderate 33 subreddits? (Source)

You can definitely take on less of a load, and it might improve subreddits if they depended less on one overworked mod and instead used people who only moderate a single subreddit. I don't mean this to be a slight to your abilities, but it just seems to me that we could use a few more independent mods, rather than a few supermods who are stretched thin.

83
[deleted]•

[deleted]

11
gaia12•

Whats your opinion on creating a team of limited mods? Not those who can ban users or major powers, just those who will look for evidence and verify. Another tier could take care of verification and 'suspected fake', and so on. That way we can get a lot of mods, not have to worry about over policing or modding the mods, they won't have too much work to do since it just requires browsing ,checking, and verifying.

verifying really takes no work. Typically by the time a mod sees evidence, the hivemind has already scowered every possible detail to make sure its true. In those cases, weak mods should just be able to quickly verify the threads.

8
Orbixx•

I have offered in the past, with no response. I'm more than willing; I have good prior and current credentials to prove I'm not a massive power-hungry chode.

6
[deleted]•

[deleted]

4
[deleted]•

BEP, let me help you,I can do verification and shit like that.

2
squilla•

Umm if you're having issues being a mod, give up the position to someone who can actually do it.

2
Atheist101•

hey about your post about new mods, you should make the detectiveinspectors the new mods.

1
apoq•

Step down.

1
zinc55•

Would nominate another mod then? Thats okay you're having problems, but a replacement or two for the inactive mods would be nice.

1
trisight•

I CALL FOR A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE!

27
Arbusto•

I'm not confident in you.

5
webby_mc_webberson•

On who? The mod who the responded or the ones who didn't?

3
morkoq•

I mod several small to midsize subreddits and i have to say there are plenty of days i spend on reddit dealing with spam, banning issues, abuse issues and formatting issues where i make no posts or comments. Doesn't mean I'm not helping improve my subs and the overall reddit experience.

8
chengiz•

Yeah everyone knows to be a good mod you need to make exactly one submission and ten comments a day.

3
[deleted]•

Not having posted in a while doesn't mean they're not doing their moderation job.

3
IPoopedMyPants•

True, but not having posted in 4 months is a pretty good indication that you've lost touch with the community.

4
Kerfuffly•

Not having verified so many IAmAs means they're not!

2
thelittleking•

The gameofthrones subreddit is also well moderated.

46
Zalenka•

It's probably moderated by paid hbo interns.

34
JoinRedditTheySaid•

I'm not complaining if they keep me from seeing spoilers.

11
DrunkenJarJar•

Hmm, I´d never thought of that.

3
syuk•

/rimshot

0
GyantSpyder•

Came here to say this. They've done an exemplary job handling spoilers.

2
internetsuperstar•

It's pretty obvious the mods in most subreddits just want to be glorified redditors or power users and not do their jobs. They just want a little internet authority and not actively improve or moderate reddit.

This all sounds so familiar.

21
Scary_The_Clown•

Yeah - I heard it just last year in every moderated forum ever.

11
abandonedNL•

It's pretty obvious the police in most countries just want to be glorified citizens or public servants and not do their jobs. They just want a little authority and not actively improve or moderate society.

Somehow I think that's what internetsuperstar was going for.

1
[deleted]•

Usenet was impossible to moderate and it (the discussion groups) turned into a cesspool of concentrated trolldom.

The inmates took over the asylum for so long that they convinced themselves that it was the non-trolls who were trolling. Feels bad man.

But yeah, the alternative is dealing with douchebag power-trippy mods on web forums. On balance the web forums are better simply because 1 tenth of 1% can make a forum unusable.

1
[deleted]•

There are many instances of reddit moderators doing all sorts of douchebaggary. Thumperings banned me from DIY, because I chewed him out for not helping me because I sent him a note through his regular mail.

It was a mistake on my part to send a message to his regular mail. That was done out of sheer ignorance on my part. The douche move part was choosing not to help me because I made that mistake, and I let him know I thought it was a douche move to not help me in retaliation. In response to me letting him know exactly how I felt about that, he retaliated by using his mod powers to ban me.

Does the dude give a fuck about DIY? He doesn't even regularly contribute to DIY, whereas I, as a long time handyman and tradesman do. Petty moves like that lower the quality of reddit. His task is to improve it, not degrade it. He fails on all cylinders. In fact, most of his commentary is inane. I'll bet he'd want mods to delete this post.

People like that should never, ever, be put in a position of power anywhere or work at something like customer service. Wrong mindset or attitude for that kind of work. There was the Saydrah issue, the BlueRock/DonManuel censorship issues, the violentacrez using his mod position to troll issue, and a lot more nefarious shit.

The solution is simpler than dealing with spammers. Just ban them at least from being moderators.

13
Thumperings•

lol this guy again. I was a founder of a few moderately popular / populated subreddits, and in 4 years I've never banned anyone permanently aside from I believe one user threatening a decapitation and knowing this other users address, and or habitual spammers. I specifically inform any moderators I "hire on" to basically leave the subreddits to their own devices. (let voting take care of the instigators etc)

I had to remove all the moderators once in one large subreddit for abuses of power. I had noted that It ran better almost unmoderated, This character here messaged my inbox for some subreddit issue, and I asked him to try and use the moderator mail for issues like he was having, and not the private inboxes of moderators. Instead of saying: : "Oh ok sure I didn't even know there was a distinction, he said basically WTF!? WHY DON'T YOU RESIGN ASSHOLE! abuse of power abuse of power!" and.. "that If I was going to be a huge dick about such a small issue i had no business being in a "position of power" on and onnn and onnnnn which is pretty ironic considering as i stated before i have always used a very hands off approach. Just a real sweet talker. :)

I've had exactly 2? or 3 fights with other members in 4 years in the 10 or so subreddits I opened. This guy being either the 3rd or the 4th I believe (If one swants to call it a "fight" He was so nasty and insulting over me merely asking him to understand a basic Reddit function. I finally had enough of his barrage of insulting messages bombarding my inbox so I told him I was putting him in "time out" lol. (He never did switch over to Moderator mail LOL. But even this type of unusual assholery doesn't bother me too much. Really the only thing I would perma-ban someone for would be for a threat of violence, or hate speech type stuff. This guy is just a goofball.

That's all I'm saying on the matter. I wasn't even going to respond because he's just an attention seeker but It's fine. He actually just messaged me pointing me to this post of his LOL. I love the ego. We really do need an iggy feature over here. ;)

3
[deleted]•

Rather than outright lie, why don't you post the actual conversation, and for fun, we'll compare it to the hyperbolic version of what you just typed. It'll be a showcase of why folks like you can't be trusted in a position of power.

If you were a cop, you'd be the douchebag cop treating someone like shit because they didn't bow down to your authority, used your powers of authority to abuse their rights, and filled your police report with exaggerations and lies.

he said basically WTF!? WHY DON'T YOU RESIGN ASSHOLE! abuse of power abuse of power!" and.. "that If I was going to be a huge dick about such a small issue i had no business being in a "position of power" on and onnn and onnnnn which is pretty ironic considering as i stated before i have always used a very hands off approach. Just a real sweet talker. :)

Come on, do it, I dare you. Lets compare what you just typed above to the actual conversation.

That's not exactly how the conversation went, and you don't use your position of power to ban someone because they put you in your place. This had shit to do with anything I did in DIY, I just didn't take your rudeness on the chin without saying anything. You had the choice of mentioning that I shouldn't message you in your PM box, and then helping me, or being rude by punishing me for making the error. You chose the latter and got rightfully a piece of my mind for it.

Had you done such a thing to a paying customer of a business I owned and you were an employee, you'd be out of a job. Someone innocently not following some minor protocol out of ignorance is no reason not to help them.

0
Serinus•

You're pointing out why it's so hard to add moderators.

1
[deleted]•

Without an explanation, I can assume you mean any number of things.

1
hoodatninja•

Have you been to most subreddits? Don't make generalizations that large unless you have. Yes there are crappy mods, but you only notice the crap ones, not the good ones. It's like trying to notice how for 10 weeks the lights worked in your house. You don't actively notice it, it becomes the background. Only when something is wrong or bothers you do you notice it (and I mean the royal "you," not just you specifically).

I'm a mod of a tiny subreddit and I do my job. Most of the subreddits I subscribe do have mods who either keep things stable or go out of their way to up the quality. I rarely encounter the "power hungry" people you are describing, though I would never deny that plenty probably exist.

13
Serinus•

and I mean the royal "you," not just you specifically

"One". It drives me nuts that we have a completely functional, extremely useful word for this, yet we can't use it without sounding pretentious.

WELL I, FOR ONE, AM TAKING IT BACK! One should be able to use the word "one" without being elitist. Never again will one feel the hard, anti-intellectual, evil stares of his peers. One for all, and all for one!

1
hoodatninja•

It's about readability. If I'm writing a paper/article, sure, I use the third person. When I'm talking to people i.e. a conversation, I tend to use the second person. Example:

Only when something is wrong or bothers someone does one/he/she notice it.

  1. It can be perceived as condescending.

  2. Like I said previously, one (haha) quickly loses the tone of it being a conversation. I feel like on Reddit I'm having a conversation more than writing a formal paper.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

11
fuckshitwank•

You're just doing that to avoid the children. We need you at home.

4
hoodatninja•

As someone who posts on r/relationships frequently I can confirm this with gusto

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

10
[deleted]•

That's because the community accepts them and their authority.

F7U12 has a pretty big anti-mod feel and I think if we tried to be as tight as AskScience the community would go ape-shit. The silly thing is that what they'd revolt against is exactly what we need. Small steps, I guess.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

3
NukaCoffee•

Nice try askscience and truereddit moderator!

6
anirdnas•

this is not their job, this is something they do voluntarily.

6
[deleted]•

Exactly. Mods do work of their own accord for no money and, often, no thanks.

2
iglidante•

It's pretty obvious the mods in most subreddits just want to be glorified redditors or power users and not do their jobs.

It's a little difficult to tell someone to "do their job" when it's completely volunteer and not formalized in any way.

5
[deleted]•

This.

I'm currently on day 6 of waiting for a new sub that I created to be unspammed, r/ballparks. (Sent 2 messages requesting updates only to hear crickets so far.)

I asked to be a mod on r/baseball because there are only 2 mods for 8k users! They were all like, "naw, we're good bra'." But I think it's because I had slightly different opinions on how to upkeep r/baseball and they didnt care for them. I'm actually a little peeved, the more I think of it. I know a shit ton about baseball (played in college, coach high school) and yet those 2 mods decide everything.

5
iglidante•

I asked to be a mod on r/baseball because there are only 2 mods for 8k users! They were all like, "naw, we're good bra'." I know a shit ton about baseball (played in college, coach high school) and yet those 2 mods decide everything.

Probably because they made the subreddit. It's theirs. You can't just come along and exert authority on someone else's sub. If they like you and think you'll be a good fit, they'll add you. Otherwise, it's their decision.

1
[deleted]•

A lot of times mods take over for inactivity. I dont know their story, I just know that I think I could be of assistance in making that sub better, and I was re-buffed.

If I have so much authority, how come Im on the outside looking in? It's their choice, I respect that, but it is kind of a bummer.

1
PhedreRachelle•

I am more than willing to work on mine! But it's a bunch of pot smoking lesbians, so there's not any moderating necessary :P

4
rmm45177•

Which sub is that?

r/potsmokinglesbians or something?

2
PhedreRachelle•

even better. r/lesbients

It's still new, but there is some activity :)

2
Skitrel•

Hey man, some of us work.

/r/gamernews /r/relationships

/shameless plug

4
notharley•

Gamernews is one of my favorite subs. They do good work.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
ChaosMotor•

Mods are barely more than janitors. The question is, are you paying them?

2
skookybird•

It's pretty obvious the mods in most subreddits just want to be glorified redditors or power users and not do their jobs. They just want a little internet authority and not actively improve or moderate reddit.

See: No pics day.

2
wacrover•

I'd also like to nominate TodayILearned for an exemption from this statement.

2
abasss•

Yes, I had a problem submitting and two mods offered their help. In the end my entry was rejected but both were so nice, I wasn't even upset.

2
wacrover•

Glad you had a pleasant experience. Hopefully you'll submit again if you find something TIL-ish

1
morkoq•

As the mod of several small to midsize subreddits i cant help but take offense.

2
[deleted]•

Seems true of people in real life too.

1
TerpWork•

will you do an ama?

1
texture•

I run a subreddit, though not a popular one. It's more like... I just don't think about it every day.

1

Do you really think this? I protest at this false impression.

1
rickulous•

Sounds like Congress.

1
SkullFuckMcRapeCunt•

I am so proud of reddit right now.

You two rock.

Fuck the mods, childish twats, trying to wear a monocle and top hat and dance around with dreams of superiority.

Pathetic.

I welcome it, I say keep putting pressure on them to live up to their idiotic assumptions and attempts to circumvent the popular vote.

Fucking lol.

1
[deleted]•

Wow. I do not agree. r/science mods well. And almost all the other subreddits where I have messaged the mods have responded rather quickly. As I understand it mods volunteer. Let's ask for them to keep hours and what not, but let's not over do the hate speech.

Meaning you can post constructive criticism without trying to psychologically profile the reason for wanting to be a mod.

I support asking about the mod activity in IAma, just try to not over do the hate speech.

1
ramp_tram•

The job of a mod is to keep a subreddit from being chaos. Approve/delete reported comments/posts, delete spam, enforce the rules.

It is nothing beyond that. If anything, you have to be more careful what you do in your regular non-mod comments, because that determines how people react to your official shit.

I think the name should be changed from 'mod' to 'janitor,' since it's a more accurate title.

1
[deleted]•

This is the same for mods everywhere on t'internet

1
lounsey•

I think that askreddit, barring the amount of relationship questions they allow (when they should be redirecting the user to r/relationships) try hard to strike a good balance between allowing everybody to express their views while trying to keep the quality in the subreddit up... unfortunately with any subreddit that size there are a lot of idiots.

1
touchcoma•

I wish I had this job, I dont really care about Karma or popularity. I will improve the shit out of AMA & IamA.

1
eXiled•

This is bullshit, they do a lot more work then you think, whenever my posts get caught in the spam filter they respond within 5 minutes. It's probably possible that they don't want to verify posts unless they get solid proof, because they have had troll IAmAs in the past where they accepted sub-par proof.

1
karmabore•

BEP, among others is a fascist with a life? You don't say!

1
fliphopanonymous•

I love askscience. s/mods/gods

0
mackmgg•

So... Like Congress? If US politicians don't do their jobs, why should reddit moderators?

-9
what_american_dream•

This is the worse comparison in the history of comparing.

3
[deleted]•

That comparison was like making chocolate pancakes.

1
kleinbl00•

That's an extremely unfair allegation.

r/IAmA has roughly the same population as Oakland or Minneapolis. By way of comparison, the size of the team running it is the size of a little league team. I just counted; in the past two hours there have been twenty submissions, not including requests. And not all moderators are on all the time, and all moderators are being paid nothing, and all moderators have lives and responsibilities and a dire fear of getting caught up in the witch hunts that are invariably launched within r/IAmA the minute one of them guesses wrong about whether or not they should be verified.

Remember that kid that donated a kidney and got pilloried because someone said "I call fake?" Y'all shat down BritishEnglishPolice's neck for not taking the post down, and then shat down his neck again when the kid came up with (entirely TMI, entirely heartbreaking) proof that yeah, he actually was a kidney short. So that's one guy, doing this for love, having an internet hate mob after him twice in one day for doing exactly what the mob asked him to.

Remember that guy who pretended to be the chick from Game of Thrones and passed off a photoshopped driver's license and got verified? And then everyone figured out she was fake two hours later? Ever really looked at the spillover from that? So we've got maybe three guys who know just as much about photoshopped driver licenses as you or I do, except when they fuck up it makes it into Salon, Entertainment Weekly, Gawker, Daily Beast and the bloody Times of India.

Remember that girl who was giving her hair to cancer research and people called bullshit on it and doxed the fuck out of her? The mods were in the middle of that too and Gawker used it as a reason to smear Reddit.

So again - a dozen people, none with any experience doing this or any reward for doing it, whose decisions are "not to be missed" according to CNN.

What's your response?

"Oh, they're not very good."

Moderating IAmA is probably the highest-pressure task on all of Reddit. It is wholly and completely uncompensated and wholly and completely thankless. Every moderator up there is one bad decision from you thankless fucks demanding their heads for every little thing. And should they maybe shy away or have a life or otherwise not pander to your every instantaneous whim, it's obviously because they're "not very good."

Cut them some mutherfucking slack. IAmA, more than any other subreddit, is the place where shit goes pear-shaped. How badly do you really need to know that that guy is really a professional trapeze artist? How badly do you really need to know that that guy is really a professional eulogy writer? How badly do you really need to know that that guy is really an employee of Bing?

(And did you notice he verified it himself?)

The mods are "not very good" because they aren't quick enough in putting green dots in front of someone's names? Get a life. Presume everyone's a troll unless otherwise specified and remember that even if they get a green, the mods aren't the mutherfucking Supreme Court.

You wanna see "not very good" mods? Keep trying to chase away the ones you have. See what you end up with then.

171
[deleted]•

I fail to see why a moderator position should be anything but a thankless job you do for free. That is kind of what internet moderation is all about. I've moderated large forums before, and it can be a tough job. But you either do it or you don't. There is no time to consider what people think of you because, quite frankly, it doesn't matter. You spend however much time you can allow doing the job because you want to make the place better for the community. If people don't like you doing your thankless job, that's too bad. But that's only if you actually do it.

And I don't join in on the witch hunts.

16
FOcast•

I fail to see why a moderator position should be anything but a thankless job you do for free.

kleinbl00 agrees with you. It is a thankless job you do for free, and keeping it a thankless job you do for free is what keeps out a majority of people who shouldn't be moderating.

All he's asking is you refrain from casually insulting their effort in the thankless job that they do for free, considering how much work they put into making your reddit experience better.

21
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-2
[deleted]•

They don't.

-5
kleinbl00•

There's a world of difference between "thankless job you do for free" and "job that leads to constant castigation and derision that you do for free."

15
resephOP•

If you're doing something on the internet and there's a considerable following, it's pretty much guaranteed shit like that to occur.

Hell I run a few MUDs and they aren't even that popular and I still get shit like that.

If you're going to get into something like being a mod here or anything where you help run a community, you should not let this get to you. It's expected.

If I let it get to me, I would have shut down my MUD a long time ago.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-4
rmm45177•

Seriously, the witch hunts are what ruins this subreddit.

They are so much worse that finding out that a couple posts were fake. It seems like 50% of the time, the witch hunts are wrong anyway.

7
okfine•

Well said.

3
Grizmoblust•

That's what I'm talking about. Moderator can never able to manage more than thousand of people. You are better off just leaving it alone and let the redditors do their work by researching and such. If you want to verify that you are the real IMA then give us your verification to show that you are the real deal on your thread. If you want to keep your verification private then don't do the IMA. Simple as that.

In addition, I would love for everybody to read this article about Techniques that moderators uses and the forums. I know this forum is very different than others but there are still some corrupted mods on this site, aka r/politics.

http://www.picassodreams.com/picasso_dreams/2011/04/cointelpro-techniques-for-dilution-misdirection-and-control-of-an-internet-forum.html

3

Goddamn, you're good at putting forward things in a coherent manner.

3
SkullFuckMcRapeCunt•

What a pathetic display of being impressed by a long comment.

It was full of rhetoric and bullshit.

0
Serinus•

Wow. Excellent points and examples. I didn't think about the broader implications of representing reddit to the media (inadvertently or not.)

Is it just me, or does a surprising number of people have a severe lack of empathy. Can these people complaining not imagine what it's like to be a mod? Especially after the first few weeks of it when the novelty wears off.

THERE ARE TWELVE OF YOU; WHY HAVEN'T YOU VERIFIED IN A HOUR?

Do you think they have schedules? Do you think karmanaut is scheduled to be on reddit from 4am-8am est until maxwellhill comes to take over his shift? Did you ever consider that maybe BritishEnglish actually has real work to do today or that chromakode might be at the beach with his family today? I imagine they don't exactly find someone to take over some imaginary shift. Did you ever consider what happens if they choose incorrectly as in the examples kleinbl00 gave? Those were pretty tame IAmAs compared to the celebrity ones. I wouldn't exactly expect a bunch of media attention on "giving my hair to charity." It might seem obvious to you when you don't have to answer for the results in any way.

3
[deleted]•

You deserve an infinite amounts of upvotes.

1
NorthernSkeptic•

Then add more mods.

0
[deleted]•

the mods are not very good, dude. it's plain to see for anyone with eyes

0
SkullFuckMcRapeCunt•

You are a stupid cunt. Go fuck yourself. What drew your attention to this comment?

You are a delusional moron who just wants to try and rely on some assumed ability to ban users instead of your own dim wit.

And needing to know? That needing to know was instilled by... THE MODS - who wanted to give themselves duties to do. They thought it would be fun to sit there like a panel of judges, shooting people down. But then shit got real, people actually held them to it, and they decided they were clueless fucks.

0
[deleted]•

Oh fucking stop it, kleinbloo, you self centered, overblown asshole.

IAMA implemented a stupid confirmation strategy that I and countless others told them at the very beginning was not only 1. utterly unsustainable but 2. would prove to be entirely ineffective from the start, even when it had the appearance of sustainability.

So take your bullshit, kleinbloo, and stick it up your arse. You are no longer relevant.

-3
[deleted]•

I do not think that moderating IamA is a very high-pressure task.

Considering the mods are consistently not giving a fuck about anything mods would have to do.

-5
kleinbl00•

I do not think that "what you think" and "the examples listed above" have ever met in space-time.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-4
gibson_•

Spot on.

And to be clear, we are asking a lot of them, so being "not very good" is completely understandable -- there are over 300,000 people that 13 mods are all trying to police.

This is an unpopular opinion, but things have been going downhill since mercurialmadnessman left about a year ago (or was forced out?).

That guy was an outstandingly good moderator.

4
MercurialMadnessMan•

Thanks.

I've tried raising concerns, but nobody seems to care.

We spent so much time verifying posts in the past. When this 'new' verification system was brought in, ALL the old verifications were deleted.

My pride and glory, Roger Ebert is "default unsure" instead of "verified". Look at the top posts of all time, and you will see that most of them are no longer verified.

3

Therefore you cannot say that. If you don't visit a community often you cannot say sweeping generalisations about how it is run with such confidence, can you?

3
[deleted]•

That I only need to visit it once in a while to see how poorly it is run says it all. I truly don't mean to sound like a dick or anything but that's just how it is.

4

I don't believe that. If I said "I've only visited two cities in America and I saw they were shit." and claimed that I could see the entire country was shitty from my small view, would you think that'd be fair? There's a lot more action behind the scenes than you'd know.

3
trisight•

There's a huge difference. Here you can look through several pages of history to confirm your opinion. If you haven't visited in a week, well you can spend a lot of time going through lots of posts.

Your argument goes way out into left field in an attempt to divert the attention. If you were to visit two cities in America, what you saw was shit, and then come back a week later able to see video/pictures of what occurred during that week and still thought it was shit would be a better comparison, but unfortunately would work out in his favor as opposed to your own.

4
vito_corleone•

Well...I visit the sub-reddit everyday. This sub-reddit has become a joke. If there's more going on in the background...this post might be a good place to start communicating. (I see that you're doing that). If the mods aren't doing their jobs because they've become disinterested, perhaps it's time to cull the dead weight and get new mods.

3
[deleted]•

I'll agree with the second part, but that's a pretty shitty analogy.

1
[deleted]•

you suck at modding, don't get mad about it

1
[deleted]•

Yes you can lol. How much time do you think he would have to spend lurking before he was allowed his opinion?

-1

No you can't, and why use that 'lol'? I'm not here to judge how much time you can spend before voicing your opinion but to say that you barely visit somewhere but can still voice an opinion generalising on the behaviour of those who run it is quite frankly illogical.

1
[deleted]•

Yes you can. He just did. If I walk into a dirty bedroom I don't need to be there long to know it's a dirty bedroom. Same with this subreddit. I don't need to be here long to see it has a problem with moderation. If the guy has a 188 upvotes, he has an opinion that is agreed upon by around 188 people. It doesn't matter how long he has been lurking he can generalize all he wants as it hurts no one. I commented because I thought it was funny that you seemed to take offence to this guy having an opinion and not being as hardcore as you may be with participation in this subreddit.

Edit: I would agree with you if he was generalizing about the people who frequent the subreddit and contribute, but since he is generalizing about the mods who run it, well, I gotta agree with him. There are not that many mods and they have not been running things and that seems to be the majority opinion. Work, school, family and other things can stop mods from coming online so you can't blame them but you also cant blame someone for having an opinion when he walks into a community and sees off the bat that it's broken.

3
elaksation•

MOAR

1
SkullFuckMcRapeCunt•

kleinbl00 commented here because Crizack's comment was too damning.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-2
dearsomething•

You realize that IAmA not being good is you're (plural) own damn fault, right?

You've (plural) been under the impression that 12 random internet strangers are in charge of what you believe. You're (plural) leaving a decision of validity, for something that is to be of entertainment and commentary value, in the hands of 12 random internet strangers. You're (plural) constantly and actively looking for "verified" posts while attempting to vilify all "the trolls". You're (plural) always changing your (plural) minds on what constitutes verified, valid or villain.

Why do you (singular and plural) feel it's OK to be so damn dependent on a handful of internet strangers to make your (singular and plural) decisions?

-2
[deleted]•

You (singular) need to get the stick out of your (singular) ass.

1
dearsomething•

I WILL CONSIDER IT DOING SO WITH HASTE. THANK YOU GOOD SIR. I WILL BE SURE TO ASK THE MODERATORS TO VERIFY THE PROCESS SO YOU CAN FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT.

-1
[deleted]•

your, not you're

fucking moron

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
dearsomething•

Your a pleasant character.

1
[deleted]•

YOU'RE a fucking moron

1
BritishEnglishPoliceMOD•

I can see your concern and say that I shared it when I helped create this latest verification system with user-backed detective teams. In the end most initiatives without the right amount of care and input from new people lose their drive and end being relevant or kept up. One thing I can do for the community is add a shit load of new moderators. The more moderators we have the easier oversight is not to mention less rogue moderation.

Another upside of having a lot of moderators means that hopefully for every hour of the day, there will be at least 3 or 4 moderators active and absences of one or two mods will not affect the entire subreddit.

You see there are 375,039 readers on this subreddit with around 12 moderators and one admin? How would you like it if I doubled that amount, even tripled the amount of moderators? I'm being serious.

Edit: please don't pm me asking to be a moderator, I'll lose your reply among the dozens I get in a few hours from commenting on a popular post.

177
resephOP•

Someone commented saying "MOAR MODS" and I was going to reply "The real solution here is more mods who have time to verify."

Adding a fuckton of mods isn't exactly an elegant solution, but there really aren't many other solutions.

I would say go with it and create a private subreddit for the mods where they can discuss verification etc (if there isn't one already).

There's going to be a lot of people who would be willing to mod and I think you need to narrow it down to those who know CSS, mod elsewhere, think they have the time and you could consider trustworthy.

55

Adding a fuckton of moderators is not an elegant solution and will not be entirely done. Hopefully we can add a bunch of people who have the drive, motivation and will to help improve the subreddit as well as being picked from different time-zones to cover all parts of the day.

13
MisterCroyle•

I've got GMT+10 covered, but alas, I'm a. 16 and b. not a well known name on reddit, meaning I've probably got no chance.

3

Well, it really depends. If you can show us one day that you have the drive and the intelligence to mod then I don't see a problem.

6
Brisco_County_III•

Doesn't matter if your comments get karma, just comment. If you're applying for moderator, they'll probably look at them. What you say lets people know how you think. If you aren't saying anything, how on earth could you expect them to know whether you're suitable?

2

Get some people from r/skeptic. They'll make sure NO ONE gets verified.

1
[deleted]•

There's IRC for discussing verifications.

4
resephOP•

I guess that works, kind of a weird thing to use considering the mods aren't all around at the same time and verification is somewhat time sensitive.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-5
resephOP•

Some people can only verify with some personal information and that should not be posted to reddit, so I don't think this is the way to go.

4
[deleted]•

It's quality you need, not quantity. I'd suggest taking a look at the current mods first, see who hasn't been taking their modding duties seriously, and cut them loose. Then look at creating new mods, but trim the fat every month to keep people on their toes.

17
gaia12•

I agree with you, but I think quantity is also important. We can have 5 of the best mods, but chances are there will still be times where they are not online.

I believe keeping the top mods to do most of the mod work, but allowing more mods to cover the verification would be best. That way a new team of say, 5 to 10 mods can just focus their time on when thye see proof. One task, not much work, and really easy.

10
Brisco_County_III•

I'm inclined to disagree. A person's attention will wander around, but if you've found someone you can trust with moderating the subreddit reasonably, it's worth holding on to them even if they aren't there all the time.

Yes, they need quality. They need quality of moderation, not quantity, from an individual as well.

Of course, you do need a core group that are there regularly, or some sort of general coordination among the mods to see when people are going to be there.

3
appointment_at_1_am•

you're taking away the mods lifes and wives if you take a break, vacation etc you're fucked

1
nitrousconsumedMOD•

I like this idea, and suggest we pool from r/di, but a lot more mods isnt all that effective eg. r/askreddit.

Like others have suggested I think we need to add mods that arent busy w other subs and are from different timezones.

10

Agreed, but a lot more mods will cover more people.

4
Sexist_Roman•

Whoa, I forgot how well you guys can disappear into a crowd.

5
appointment_at_1_am•

despite my reaction above, i don't like travelling. I am living in gmt+1 (now gmt+2 because of the summer time)

1
Hello_Again•

I'd like to volunteer my services. I live in mountain time, and I am constantly on Reddit. I tend to lurk more than I actually comment, so it would be easier for me to see the information than a popular mods.

Just a thought.

-1
syuk•

How would you verify the moderators are discreet and responsible enough to deal with (in some cases) IRL info?

If it is someone notable in their field and they put stuff on their own site / blog then that is surely a different level from someone saying "my house just burnt down, my wife left me and my dog died" or "I was raped by X"?

7

It is, and it's up to the submitter to decide how much information they're comfortable with giving but bear in mind that moderators are vetted to some degree and not chosen randomly.

5
syuk•

I think its an impossible task you guys have, but you didn't give your opinion on what to do about cases where the submitter updates their blog / verified twitter or website and the evidence is clearly there?

1

Then it's easily confirmed.

2
SidtheMagicLobster•

Could you tell us a bit more about the job? How it's different than other subreddits, the work it entails, etc. I'm intrigued, but I also don't want to suddenly be in over my head here.

5

There are lots of jobs. One is collaborating with the user driven detective teams over in r/detectiveinspectors for looking at verification of new IAmAs as a backup to moderators constantly doing it. Another is following the constant stream of modmail posts asking for help with posts stuck in the spam filter or asking for verification. Another job would be maintaining the CSS; one more could be responding to general users' queries… the list doesn't really end.

7
alixxlove•

I think you need to at least double it, see how that goes and add more as necessary.

4

I'm definitely thinking of tripling it.

2
alixxlove•

Well then, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my services as IAMA verification personnel.

1

You may have to wait for the thread we'll make.

3
[deleted]•

Adding more moderators sounds like a great idea. Why hasn't this been done yet? Are there reasons against it? This is a huge subreddit that requires attention.

4
resephOP•

Trust is a big issue. Any mod could easily do things like wipe out the CSS, etc.

21
nitrousconsumedMOD•

Not so much that, but rather the handling of all the personal information that we receive. Any recent mods that have been added have been vouched for by other mods and have a proven record of being trustworthy.

18
resephOP•

Indeed. At the same time one should never send extremely sensitive personal info to anyone on reddit though.

4
Brisco_County_III•

This is a serious consideration.

1
nitrousconsumed•

To at to Reseph's trust point; we receive a ton of personal information so we need to be sure the person that we're modding isnt going to go around and steal peope's identity or just post their shit on imgur.

1

You need to pick the right guys for the job, ones that aren't braggy nor dickish about being moderators.

0
PeeBagger•

So..... not AndrewSmith1986 or ProbablyHittingOnYou. Got it.

2

Why aren't they okay?

2
just_some_redditor•

Wouldn't you need to get approval from the other 12 mods before adding more? I think this might work, but it might also just turn into a worse situation.

More mods = "Oh, there are 30 others, they can handle it."

I'm glad you're at least trying to remedy the situation though, you have my respect.

2

Yes, I'm currently starting a discussion with the other mods before I make a post asking for more moderators.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2

That's a point. It would most likely start out with a doubling in about a week and end up with a tripling in another.

4
[deleted]•

With how active the current moderators are in this subreddit, I think you would have to.

And to clarify a bit more on something I said earlier:

I used to think IAMA was one of the coolest ideas for a subreddit, but it has turned into nothing but a troll fest (minus some good ones like Ken Jennings), so I have never had a desire to visit this place much after I realized that.

2

Agreed. We need to start thinking of what IAmAs are appropriate for this place in a way without outright censorship.

2
[deleted]•

and absences of one or two mods will not affect the entire subreddit.

There are only 2 mods for 8k users of r/baseball. I offered to help, they denied me. I doubt each of them is on for 12 hours each, sharing duties.

I'm also currently on day 6 of waiting for a new sub that I created to be unspammed, r/ballparks. (Sent 2 messages requesting updates only to hear crickets so far.) There are only 3 mods there apparently not doing a whole heck of a lot, as the requests are piling up.

2
V2Blast•

Post to r/redditrequest if they haven't been active on reddit at all.

1
[deleted]•

I did. 6 days ago

I then waited the requisite 3 days before I PM'd the mods, and Im now on day 6. A lot of people are in my shoes, I dont know what is the problem...

2
V2Blast•

PM an admin?

1
stellarecho92•

How might one go about obtaining such a position?

2
ETP•

u can have 500 moderators doesn't mean its gonna be done... I personally appreciate the offer however even with the 12 moderators that were around plenty of these AMA should have been verified....

I'm personally more for quality over quantity.

1

Quality and quantity need to both be considered. 12 moderators is not many at all for a subreddit of three hundred and seventy five thousand people.

2
demooo•

Why don't we have a system where people nominate themselves for a moderator (see F7U12)? We then vote accordingly.

We add 2+ moderators that will have the same vigor as a boy discovering his first erection.

1

Because the popular vote in F7U12 did not necessarily bring good moderators to the table and doesn't often work well in real life.

12
[deleted]•

The popular vote on reddit is often useless as the admins found out when they asked people to vote on the "header name" for reddit.com.

It inevitably becomes a meme contest or picks the most outrageous redditor rather than the best person for the job.

Frankly the best people for a job like this would not want it. I don't envy you the task of finding people to keep up with the tags. Given the stature of this subreddit and some of the high-profile people who have posted here I think reddit is stone-dead stupid not to hire at least a part-timer to do verification (maybe two to cover a couple of time-zones).

10
demooo•

Put them on a 1 month trial or an apprenticeship: before they can approve something, they must go through an original. If activity is reduced, remove them.

How were the original moderators chosen? I'm sorry, but the same moderators seem to run many of the large subreddits. It appears that you were all chosen for your uncanny ability to accumulate karma and possess the time to do so.

4

I could never accumulate karma well, but I was originally a novelty account who got moderatorship in one subreddit and I guess I showed enough activity that the admins asked me to take on some more popular ones and it snowballed from there. Asking them to go through an 'original' whilst in a test phase would not alleviate our problems, merely put more strain on the burden of verification having to go through two or more people instead of just one.

2
gabjoh•

It appears that you were all chosen for your uncanny ability to accumulate karma and possess the time to do so.

This sounds surprisingly similar (though not identical) to the qualifications needed to be a good mod.

1
32bitesMOD•

How were the original moderators chosen?

When I originally made the subreddit I added desk_rabbit, a good personal friend of mine from when I was in high school (when I made the subreddit), at the time the subredit only had a couple thousand subscribers.

While it was still small I messaged a number of redditors I have seen around and felt where trustworthy. For the most part the others are either people I felt would be good for the job, people who asked or those another moderator knew and felt was responsible.

1
brownboy13•

If you need a volunteer for a mod, I'm in if you'll have me.

1

You may have to post in the thread we may make soon asking for mods.

2
Reductive•

Yes, many more mods. You're gonna need 100 mods dude: there is a constant stream of posts, and people doing work for free on the internet are rarely reliable. For every moment that there are 10 moderators on verifying the same post, there will be another moment where nobody at all is on and the users conclude the mods are lazy. Then for every post that gets marked, let's say half of them get downvoted and scrubbed, so nobody will ever even see evidence of moderator work for those. It's a huge task considering the limited tools for mod coordination available here...

1
ajdrausal•

I think that once can be more efficient in the gathering wether or not the post is true or not, Maybe google Docs Forms?

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1

Even if a moderator is available six hours of the day that is still fine. Some people just don't comment nor post like me, and prefer to stay behind the scenes.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1

:)

2
superanth•

Count me in for joining a user-backed detective team.

1
Andrew_Would•

just saying, even though u said not to, me, like MANY people, spend WAAAAY too much of our lives on reddit.

1
Major_Dick•

I volunteer myself ol' chap!

1
[deleted]•

I have a lot of freetime during the day at work, so I would love to be a mod.

I don't want to make it appear that because of my job I have freetime, it's just that our systems suck and there's a lot of waiting around so I browse reddit during that timeframe. The chance of us improving infrastructure is slim-to-nil until 2014 minimum.

1
G3m•

I wouldn't consider hiring anyone who asks to be a moderator, but that's just in my experience.

1
x2sean1x•

i can mod from work if needed I wont PM you but let me know if you need

1
x2sean1x•

i can mod from work if needed I wont PM you but let me know if you need, i have never been a mod on reddit but was a forum mod for 8ish years on another forum I can pull references if needed, EST Time zone

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
seeasea•

adding a crapload of mods could backfire, as we need mods who can be trusted with sensitive information...I think we need to appeal to well known people to be a mod, perhaps hueypriest, as community manager can do some sort of irl verification thing for mods, to be mods...

1
lemonadegame•

MOARMAODS

0
cole1114•

Trying his best impression of the scary black guy from the boat in the Dark Knight

Give me. The moderator power.

0
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-2
1358765435234•

No one wants you to.

2
[deleted]•

I've been wondering this too! Especially since there are so many trolls here and people are always suspicious of them. I thought applying the green and red dots would be a priority around here.

134
Coriform•

And so many mods! There are 13 moderators for thus subreddit; you'd think at least one of them would have been around in the last few days.

58
IPoopedMyPants•

The more moderators, the less likely any of them are to do anything. There are some people who are mods on 50 subreddits. It's a meaningless honorary title to them and they just pop in, pretend to be cool, and move on.

If you mod more than one subreddit, you're doing too many.

91
Deimorz•

This is a real problem. A lot of mods of the big subreddits are mods... because they're mods of some of the other big subreddits. Which (like you said) is the exact opposite of the way things should be, you can't really be heavily-active and tuned into multiple big subreddits, it's just not feasible. Multiple small ones, sure, but not really the highly-active/default ones.

I wish that there was some way to show "moderator action" statistics. So you could see, for each mod, things like the number of mod-mail messages they've responded to, the number of submissions they've pulled out of the filter, the number they've removed, etc. Split it out a little by time so you can see how much they've done over the last month, 3 months, 6 months, year. It would be extremely useful for determining which mods aren't holding up their end of things, and determine if some new people need to be brought in.

This probably shouldn't be publicly-viewable, but let the other mods see it. They can already see all of the individual actions taken by other mods, it's just not easily aggregated into statistics.

50
kartoos•

Exactly, who's modding the mods?

9
[deleted]•

I think that would be a great idea. It would help to prune the mod list every one in awhile if someone stops pulling their weight.

8
TellMeYMrBlueSky•

try posting in r/ideasfortheadmins

5
wardrox•

I've yet to see statistic-based targets in a useful context. If you make mods all have specific usage tracked, than you're saying that those are the specific things mods should be doing if they're good.

Say you measure messages responded to, the "best" mods will be those who reply to a shit-load of messages with one-liners. Where the actual best mod may respond to a few, but in depth. Same goes for the spam filter and what not. Those things measure how active a mod is, but not how good a mod is. You need to be so careful with this sort of thing as it can skew things really badly.

Though saying that, we have this one more in r/gaming, Dmoriez or something, and he just does nothing.

[/hilarious joke]

3
ridl•

this is a great idea. could you post it to r/ideasfortheadmins

1
emmster•

But what would you compare those numbers to?

I have mod status in multiple very small reddits, and one medium sized one. There's lots of spam in the largest one, but the filter is well-trained now, so there aren't a lot of false positives. We've gotten a critical mass of good contributors who tend to run off the rare trolls all on their own, and they have lovely discussions in comments amongst themselves. When I comment, probably half of them don't even know I'm a mod, because I almost never have to say so. Two of them are private, so there is literally not a thing to do except add people who request to be added, and discuss just like any other user.

So it wouldn't look like I was doing much, but that's because there really isn't much to do. They regulate themselves.

1
rkcr•

In case you're wondering about top moderator stats: I've been gathering some data on subreddits and their moderators. You can view the data here (thread on it here).

The top moderator in my data mods almost 80 subreddits, quite a few mod more than 10. Some of the top moderators millions of users. So yes, some of them are probably way too stretched out to actually be effective.

19
the_range_boss•

jesus. 47 for r/relationship_advice? what the hell is going on there that requires 47 mods?

also: 26 mods for r/anarchism? really? really?

8
bondagegirl•

That's really interesting. What are you planning to do with the data?

3
[deleted]•

Reddit has desperately needed different levels of moderator for ages. A subreddit in the default set should have probably 100s of mods but they should all belong to different groups. There should be a dashboard where when a mod is added then can be assigned to various responsibilities.

The idea that one mod has all the power of every other mod makes people reluctant to add more. If it were possible to add someone just to do modmail then you could give them a trial run doing just that without worrying they will fuck up your CSS or ban people left and right.

3
wardrox•

TIL: I mod for a total userbase of 1,928,041

I find that somehow creepy. Then again, I view the userbase I mod for less as cool redditors I'm helping and more as the size of the lynch mob I get when I inevitably fuck up.

2
[deleted]•

We've just added another mod to F7U12, by the way.

1
SarahC•

I don't see crossdressing, or goneWildCD in there. =(

1
Skitrel•

r/relationships is made up of more than one subreddit. All of them are heavily moderated with far more rules than anywhere else on reddit. Moderators usually get round to things within 10-20 minutes.

We're also very diligent over on r/gamernews.

Please don't paint all moderators with the same brush.

17
Jwoey•

Please don't paint all moderators with the same brush.

Generally speaking, generalizations are in general, and do not generally refer to every specific instance.

30
Measure76•

If you mod more than one subreddit, you're doing too many.

In some ways I agree, in other ways I disagree.

I agree that you can really only focus on one reddit at a time as a moderator.

On the other hand I dislike too much active moderation, as I think users should be empowered to make reddits what they want them to be.

I understand in this case, there is something only moderators can do, and the mods should either step up and use it, or do away with it entirely.

3
Deimorz•

"Active moderation" doesn't imply censorship or anything like that, it's more about being available when needed. I'm generally an extremely active moderator, but it's responding to mod-mail, checking reports, and going through the new/spam queue, investigating submissions to see if they're legitimate or not. If I'm more active one day than another, it doesn't mean that more posts will be removed that day, just that my response time will be lower, it should be exactly the same actions taken in the end.

Legitimate submissions getting filtered and spam or rule-breaking posts getting through are the opposite of users being empowered to shape the subreddit, because they have no way to fix those themselves, you need regular moderation to do that.

1
[deleted]•

My experience as a mod has been 80% positive moderation to 20% negative, maybe an even more disparate number. Most of my mod time is helping people - taking their submissions out of the spam queue, whitelisting them, responding to questions, marking posts at NSFW. Rarely do I have to remove a post or a comment i.e. take negative action.

I think we need more active positive moderation like making sure posts are visible and spambots are squelched, but that the community can generally take care of other issues most of the time.

1
smoothcam72•

that's a bit drastic, there has to be a reasonable middle ground. i think it would be ok to mod as many subreddits as you can devote time to. if you can handle being active modding 50, more power to you. picking a number out of the air (whether it be 2 or 49) is arbitrary, and as such, an invalid choice, imo.

3
IPoopedMyPants•

Excellent point. I did regret picking a specific number, particularly one so low.

2
EntEnebrete•

bystander effect

2
SarahC•

Hey!

r/crossdressing and r/gonewildCD are always insta-modded, when needed... otherwise the moderators are invisible and let people make what they want of the community.

Don't roller-paint all moderators with the same roller!

1
IPoopedMyPants•

I didn't paint all mods with the same roller. I said there are some who just hold the position for their e-penis, not all.

1
[deleted]•

If you mod more than one subreddit, you're doing too many.

Oh really? I manage just fine. Some subreddits I'm more active in because they require more attention, the others don't need me so much because there's little work to be done and we have other mods who share the load.

For instance, I do do work at r/news, however it's not all the time because there isn't always that much work to be done.

I do a shittonne of work in F7U12 because that is what it needs. It's size, obviously, contributes but size isn't everything. I was, for a time, a mod of AskReddit and it didn't need as much attention as F7U12. Ask BritishEnglishPolice for a comparison and he'll say the same.

It's a meaningless honorary title to them and they just pop in, pretend to be cool, and move on.

Is this in subreddits you moderate? It doesn't sound like it. How can you prove the mods you have seen do this (assuming this is based off of something that you've seen) are inactive in their duties? Do you see all of the modmail? Do you see what they do in the spam/report filter? No.

-1

That's not many. Many would be sextupling that amount, meaning effectively a 1/5000 ratio.

0
xyroclast•

I think someone needs to start the TrueAmAs subreddit. It could have terms of use that include "discussions will not begin until they are verified"

0
syuk•

Why not just volunteer to be a mod for IAMA and do a bit of due diligence on verification rather than splinter this further?

If you start an alternative sub then eventually you'll lose interest / be busy for a while with life as well probably. Just message the mods and offer to help with the burden.

3
xyroclast•

I'm afraid I can't practice what I preach on this one. I don't have the time to spare, myself.

0
beyron•

Ever since the mods added the verification buttons they have been very inactive in doing so. The mods just aren't keeping up with the IAMAs, actually almost seems like they aren't doing anything at all.

61
[deleted]•

It seems like several of them haven't posted in days. This doesn't mean that they're not reading, but it makes me suspicious that they're not very active here or on reddit these days.

So uh...can we have a whole bunch more mods who want to do stuff?

21
BritishEnglishPoliceMOD•

Yes, you can.

16
sicilianhotdog•

I'm down.

4

Please reply to the inevitable thread asking for mods once I've discussed this further with others behind the scenes.

4
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
cheshire137•

Like a clown?

0
syuk•

I think one of the main problems was that anyone wanting to be 'verified' was essentially 'decloaking' and giving IRL info to the mods, so those that were responsible for verifying any claims had to be reliable and discreet themselves, something went wrong and it all went tits up, but that was about a year ago.

Thats essentially the problem with this whole thing. Anonymity.

If people want to post their own 'verification' (id, pictures etc) then people will say 'That's shopped' (they do anyway), there is no real way of sorting this out.

Just take them as being interesting stories or discussion starters, thats all it is.

3
[deleted]•

Lazy mods have plagued this sub from the beginning.

8
polar69•

Perhaps they have been raptured?

8
[deleted]•

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!

49
niton•

This is the kind of reply that pisses me off. This subreddit is filled with trolls and this thread addresses a legitimate concern.

18
syuk•

there is no answer to the concern.

4
hiphophippopotamus•

RABBLE RABBLE THIS REALLY PISSES ME OFF RABBLE RABBLE

-1
Mr_ODonnell•

DEY TERK ERE JERBS

7
preggit•

DEY TERK ERRR MODS!

8
LowSociety•

LOUD NOISES!

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-2
Zimyver•

I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE ARE YELLING ABOUT!

-3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-4
TheHaberdasher•

I got extra pitchforks, who needs one?

6
Pitchforksales•

ಠ_ಠ Not cool, man. I have kids to feed.

20
Scary_The_Clown•

TORCHES!!! GET YER TORCHES HERE!!!!

3
Lunchables•

Needs more rabbling.

0
dhaft88•

Honestly, that's all that could help us right now.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-11
[deleted]•

Twitter users: JURY Y U NO CONVICT CASEY ANTHONY ON CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.

8
eaglebtc•

Please post proof that you actually posted this.

29
resephOP•

I'll post a picture of myself in front of my monitor when I get home? Circlejerk go!

15
polar69•

Upvote! No proof = not true!!!

4
TheSuperSax•

I concur, I think the verifications are a crucial part of this subreddit and therefore failure to follow through with verification is a failure at one of the most important duties of a mod of r/IAmA.

To the mods: are you simply overloaded? In that case, shouldn't you consider vetting an extra mod or two to take care of this? There are 13 of you, but some (like Karmanaut) seem rather inactive (he hasn't posted in 5 days).

22
resephOP•

Even if they were overloaded, they'd be catching up on the backlog... which doesn't seem to be the case. :/

10
TheSuperSax•

That's what I thought too, but I like giving people (especially redditors!) the benefit of the doubt, so I thought I might as well ask.

5
resephOP•

Agreed. I'm not trying to blame anyone, I just want to know.

4
BritishEnglishPoliceMOD•

I verified this post as it is an important concern. Please read my top-level reply.

8
[deleted]•

[deleted]

20
piratepixie•

Relevant username. Well done.

1
syuk•

bravo! summed up pretty much everything.

1
[deleted]•

mods are on google+

13
ConwayPA•

lol, no one is on google+

5
samcbar•

just you aren't on google+

10

I am.

5
JMaboard•

If I am elected mod I will do my darndest to verify posts that send in proof.

12
[deleted]•

If I am elected mod I will be just as good as all the other mods.

God damnit people, stop voting for me! My buddy put me on the ballot as a joke, this isn't funny any more.

8
JMaboard•

POP POP!

2
pzer0•

The mere fact that you call making love "Pop Pop" tells me that you're not ready.

4
just_some_redditor•

I have Pop Pop in the attic!

0
rubicon11•

Can you also promise to get us a candy machine in the school cafeteria?!

2
JMaboard•

I can promise to give everyone free candy forever...and free universal healthcare.

AND puppies

2
squid418•

Communist.

1
JMaboard•

If I am elected mod I will end communism everywhere for free.

3
resephOP•

I just looked over the mod list. Some mods haven't been active in a few days, so that's fine. Not trying to blame anyone here.

  • 32bites: Not active in 4 days.
  • Poromenos: Barely active in last couple days.
  • qgyh2: Not active in 3 days.
  • nitrousconsumed: Not active in 4 days.
  • maxwellhill: Actively submits linked, not a single comment in 2 days.
  • PhilxBefore: Somewhat active in last couple days.
  • karmanaut: Not active in 5 days.
  • desk_rabbit: Not active in 4 months.
  • chromakode: An admin now, probably won't be doing verification.
  • BritishEnglishPolice: Active (but seems busy with other subreddit modding).
  • verdammt: Barely active in last couple days.
  • flyryan: Somewhat active in last couple days.
12
Reductive•

When you say "active" do you mean "commenting and posting?" Because they don't have to make a public comment to free stuff from the spam queue, ban nasty posts, and verify submissions.

I mean to say, if they're commenting elsewhere you could legitimately construe it as them not moderating. But if they're not commenting anywhere, you could also legitimately construe it as them not moderating. And if they're posting submissions, they might not be moderating... It's unlikely you're going to get a full picture of mod activity from looking at user pages.

14
resephOP•

It's the only way I can see if they're active, so yes.

4
[deleted]•

Like Reductive just said, it shows if they're actively posting. Obviously, actual tasks relating to moderation don't show up there.

1
resephOP•

Uh, I said "yes".

2
squilla•

Because the mods in here clearly aren't able to do their jobs properly.

9
napoleons_penis•

MOAR MODS!

8
abyssinian•

This is probably the answer. And why not? I'm sure there are many Redditors who care about the integrity of this sub and would like to help out.

4
generic-name•

You don't necessarily need more mods, just mods that are capable of doing their job.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
christopherologist•

More Off-road Action Redditors?

1
Royd•

Yeah, I noticed this too. It's kinda disappointing how it's actually safe to assume that the AMA is fake (until it gets greenlit, of course). Thx to those who ruined AMAs for us.

7
SomeCollegeBro•

.... this one is verified! This guy is truly angry, and is not faking it! What's it like being angry? Does it interfere with your everyday life?

6
resephOP•

I'm not mad, just curious.

5
Alaukik•

can i ask you anything ?

5
resephOP•

Sure.

5
peno_asslace•

nude pics?

-5
resephOP•

And apparently this post is verified now. <_<

5
ETP•

maybe they are conjuring up a response...

1
PhedreRachelle•

I'll ask a different question:

Mods, would you like an extra mod that does nothing but verify AmAs? I frequently find myself aimlessly browsing reddit and am not one of those that spends the time trying to find good submissions, so I may as well contribute some way other than my often liked but sometimes hated comment contributions

5
WalnutSoap•

I DEMAND ANSWERS

4
dubear•

After 106 comments, 0 Mods have replied. Shouldn't that be a forecast of the mod activity here?

4
resephOP•

It's only been an hour. :/

10
dubear•

Just read your comment about the mod activity. So I guess that explains it partially.

1

Not really. You know what I really like? When people bring stuff directly to my attention that needs to be. I heard of this post as someone told me about it on IRC; and I do not mind people PMing me about these sorts of posts as they do need to be responded to.

7
dubear•

Noted. I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but I guess I just had the wrong idea of how mods operate. I just read your other post about increasing the amount of moderators and that seems to be the most viable solution to a subreddit with such a large number of posts.

1

Moderators such as me, qgyh2, Poromenous, karmanaut -- we have a lot of subreddits under our moderating hand and as such we often miss one or two. I compensate for it myself by paying attention to one at a time, bringing in ideas or moderators to improve it and keep it ticking over until next time. I've been quite busy with r/politics recently and had no idea that r/IAmA was suffering this kind of problem.

0
dubear•

I'm just glad it's been addressed now. I mean, I'm sure the average redditor can use common sense as to whether or not these AMAs are true or fake anyway, but it just makes me not want to sift through this subreddit when I see a large accumulation of gray circles.

1