AMA Request: Scumbag IAmA Admin
I'd like to see scumbag IAmA admin 32bites come around to answer our questions about his arrogant powertripping decision to COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN r/IAmA simply because he's too busy to moderate a 450k-subscriber subreddit and, for some reason, refuses to simply demod himself and hand the subreddit off to one of the hundreds who've already stated their willingness to take over.
His reasoning is akin to a farmer setting all his crops on fire simply because his tractor broke down and he's too proud to ask his neighbour for help.
Posted Aug 25, 2011, 7:11 PM UTC · edited
581108
There's a difference between an admin and a mod.
Admins run the whole site. They take care of the programming and the marketing and the business etc. They officially work for reddit.
Mods are regular users who have some power over a specific subreddit. Subreddits are created by the users, and run by the users. They have the ability to ban someone their specific subreddit, as well as deleting spam posts. Outside of their subreddit, they have no power.
32bytes happened to not only be a mod of IAMA, but also the creator. They basically owned that subreddit. They can allow anyone they want to post there, or they can make it private if they want. Anyone can create a subreddit and put whatever they want there. They can allow people to post or they can make it so you need permission to post. They're allowed to decide what content goes in that subreddit, because it's theirs.
My bad, didn't realize the difference. The point still stands, though.
Why did you delete this post? http://i.imgur.com/Zhw5s.png
I didn't, and it still shows up on mine... think there might be a bit of drama with mods deleting/undeleting it, but I definitely did not delete it.
Oh, okay. Mind screenshotting or pasting it here then? :)
Not really. It was his subreddit, so his decision to delete it is somewhat justified.
Now it's up to someone else to create a successful new one.
I want to downvote you but I can't . . . this subreddit sucks.
Why would you downvote for that?
You downvote when someone is not adding to the discussion. Not because you disagree with them, or because you don't like the factual answer they provided, but because they're being disruptive.
What incorect_idiom said is true. That really is the way reddit works. Sorry. It's not incorect_idioms fault, he's just trying to factually answer the question.
I don't see why you'd downvote him for posting factual information.
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskPeopleAnything/
I suggest you go there.
Downvote button available, no linked posts to prevent karmawhoring and we allow requests and celebrities.
[deleted]
Remember when OP said:
Yeah... he's spot-on. You're just being pedantic.
Exactly. Glad you said this for me, it's too late in the afternoon for me to get my arguing jets all fired up...
Remember when incorrect_idiom said:
Yeah... that's still applicable. It was his subreddit and it was his right to shut it down. You can argue the logic or merit but you can't deny his ownership.
Sorry you got downvoted, dude, but you're completely right.
It's alright. The hivemind can do what it wants to.
Regardless of whether he's a subreddit creator, that is still just a class of user with special privileges. Privileges that the admins are well within their rights to revoke at any time. The only possible negative outcome is upsetting the user base, and I don't think many people would be upset by that action.
Yeah true, but I think it's just that they don't want to be involved in that sort of thing. There are only half a dozen admins to look after millions of users. They've always used a hands-off approach, let the community take care of itself, because if they didn't, they'd need several hundred times the staff they currently have.
I would be super happy if they made an exception in this case, but it opens the floodgates to all kinds of he-said-she-said drama that I'm sure the admins really don't want to deal with.
There's no reason that admin action should have to be completely evenhanded though. I think that for the handful of subreddits with over 100,000 readers, the admin scrutiny should be a bit more severe.
(To drive the point home:)
There are 10(?) admins (reddit employees) and they are these guys.
Everyone else is a user, and maybe a mod of (a) reddit(s).
In a traditional sense, mods are users who are chosen to be moderators by admins of the site. This goes for many forums.
On reddit, you are a moderator of the subreddit you create, and not based on your skills (or lack thereof) in moderating.
You see where this can cause some trouble.