4 ms·

It'll be interesting to see if this works. If it does, it means that Reddit mods can gain full ownership of their communities and do something more than just ru

by msvan 8y ago

It'll be interesting to see if this works. If it does, it means that Reddit mods can gain full ownership of their communities and do something more than just run a volunteer subreddit. If you run a popular sub, I think it's reasonable to ask why you are spending countless unpaid hours tending to a community when someone else reaps all the profit. It's natural to say: "Okay, I have hundreds of thousands of users here on Reddit. That's gotta be worth something." This does open the Pandora's box of monetizing a group of people that really dislike getting monetized. (Reddit users, that is.) And if it does work, maybe Reddit communities will start to be seen as a way to start community-based businesses/organizations.

jasonhansel 8y ago
This may be an interesting way of turning Reddit into a less centralized system
ssnistfajen 7y ago
I mod a large-ish subreddit and I disagree with moderators "gaining full ownership of their communities". Not every mod was around since the very beginning or did most of these mods spend considerable effort marketing their communities like one would do in an actual company. Even for communities with a clear theme and set of behavioural rules (e.g. r/CMV), a lot of that is enforceable via AutoMod. Most of what moderators do are barely more than Internet janitors. A volunteer position is voluntary. There is no contract or minimum time commitment (though some subs have minimum mod action requirements). If a moderator no longer likes to commit their time, they can either go on a hiatus or leave. Monetizing individual Reddit communities or paying moderators will create a whole plethora of financial and ethical issues which Reddit HQ is obviously unwilling to address at the moment. I'm pretty sure they've thought about this and decided keeping the status quo is the best choice for the time being.

by msvan 8y ago

jasonhansel 8y ago

This may be an interesting way of turning Reddit into a less centralized system

ssnistfajen 7y ago

I mod a large-ish subreddit and I disagree with moderators "gaining full ownership of their communities". Not every mod was around since the very beginning or did most of these mods spend considerable effort marketing their communities like one would do in an actual company. Even for communities with a clear theme and set of behavioural rules (e.g. r/CMV), a lot of that is enforceable via AutoMod. Most of what moderators do are barely more than Internet janitors. A volunteer position is voluntary. There is no contract or minimum time commitment (though some subs have minimum mod action requirements). If a moderator no longer likes to commit their time, they can either go on a hiatus or leave. Monetizing individual Reddit communities or paying moderators will create a whole plethora of financial and ethical issues which Reddit HQ is obviously unwilling to address at the moment. I'm pretty sure they've thought about this and decided keeping the status quo is the best choice for the time being.