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Is it not possible that the situation is a win-win for all parties and that all parties feel like they are well-compensated in terms of the value they've receiv

Is it not possible that the situation is a win-win for all parties and that all parties feel like they are well-compensated in terms of the value they've received, and that therefore no money actually needs to exchange hands? You may as well ask why people volunteer their time at all.

friendlybus 6y ago
Hey I'm not saying money needs to change hands. I'm just pointing out it's work, like in the physics sense. Something valuable has happened, both in the business sense and social sense, but obviously the priority for parent poster is the socializing. Benefitting from socializing is not worth the reddit moderator role is my opinion, under the psychological load they operate in.
oarsinsync 6y ago
Both points are valid I think. It's fair that both parties feel like they're benefiting, so no direct transaction needs to occur. Comparing this to volunteering generally isn't the same. I volunteer with local registered charities because I believe in their mission, and the volunteer work I do is directly impacting and improving the lives of the people I'm working with. Which may be the crux of the GP's question. Why volunteer in the community in a way that results in a for-profit organisation monetising you for their gain, instead of finding a non-profit in your community to be volunteering your time towards? The non-profit / charity in your community's goals are more likely to be aligned with your own, than the for-profit social network.
- toyg 6y ago
  It’s a false dichotomy. A moderator’s work primarily benefits, directly, the users, because it allows them to communicate safely. The platform only gets help indirectly. Charities often have salaried or reimbursed employees; do you volunteer in order to get their salary paid? Of course not, you do it because it helps actual users; the fact that this allows people to get paid, somehow, is an indirect benefit. Same here, really.
  - oarsinsync 6y ago
    There's a difference between a charity and a regular for-profit corporation. If the charity started stalking me to sell my data onto advertisers in order to pay the salaried staff or other stakeholders more money, I'd stop doing any work through them. The charity's mission is not maximising revenue / profits. Any VC/PE backed corporation's mission is to maximise revenue / profits at any cost.

friendlybus 6y ago

Hey I'm not saying money needs to change hands. I'm just pointing out it's work, like in the physics sense. Something valuable has happened, both in the business sense and social sense, but obviously the priority for parent poster is the socializing. Benefitting from socializing is not worth the reddit moderator role is my opinion, under the psychological load they operate in.

oarsinsync 6y ago

Both points are valid I think. It's fair that both parties feel like they're benefiting, so no direct transaction needs to occur. Comparing this to volunteering generally isn't the same. I volunteer with local registered charities because I believe in their mission, and the volunteer work I do is directly impacting and improving the lives of the people I'm working with. Which may be the crux of the GP's question. Why volunteer in the community in a way that results in a for-profit organisation monetising you for their gain, instead of finding a non-profit in your community to be volunteering your time towards? The non-profit / charity in your community's goals are more likely to be aligned with your own, than the for-profit social network.

toyg 6y ago
It’s a false dichotomy. A moderator’s work primarily benefits, directly, the users, because it allows them to communicate safely. The platform only gets help indirectly. Charities often have salaried or reimbursed employees; do you volunteer in order to get their salary paid? Of course not, you do it because it helps actual users; the fact that this allows people to get paid, somehow, is an indirect benefit. Same here, really.
- oarsinsync 6y ago
  There's a difference between a charity and a regular for-profit corporation. If the charity started stalking me to sell my data onto advertisers in order to pay the salaried staff or other stakeholders more money, I'd stop doing any work through them. The charity's mission is not maximising revenue / profits. Any VC/PE backed corporation's mission is to maximise revenue / profits at any cost.