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I mod a technical sub focused on a FOSS project because it's a good place for people to seek advice and share cool tech. I'm doing it for the people, and I'm do
by EdwardDiego 3y ago
I mod a technical sub focused on a FOSS project because it's a good place for people to seek advice and share cool tech. I'm doing it for the people, and I'm doing it because I care about the project. It's small though, only just hit 10K subs, and the moderation load is light, basically just ensuring any vendors who turn up actually contribute to the community, not just a drive-by sales blurb.
- BaseballPhysics 3y agoNo one said you're doing it for Reddit. Most mods are doing it to support their community. The point is Reddit is pocketing profits from you donating your free labour to the benefit of their private platform. Dress it up however you like, that core fact remains true.
- EdwardDiego 3y agoYep. But then, I'm paying $0 to host a 10,000 strong community, so you know, swings and roundabouts.
- skinnymuch 3y agoThis sounds like a bad way of saying things. If everyone agrees Reddit isn’t a great company then the optics of saying you pay nothing to host on a platform/company that isn’t that good doesn’t seem user focused etc. The other persons rationale make perfect sense. Any one can justify anything they want as much as they want, profits still went to Reddit. I stopped modding Reddit by 2019. My politics evolved. I didn’t think it made sense to provide Reddit with free labor.
- EdwardDiego 3y agoI'm not providing my labour to Reddit, I'm providing it to the community of users.
- BaseballPhysics 3y agoStop kidding yourself: You're providing it to both. That's fine. You do you. But it is what it is.
- lokar 3y agoLife is not zero sum. You can structure an exchange so that both sides benefit. Many (most?) Reddit mods believe that was the setup, but it’s being lost now.
- BaseballPhysics 3y agoAs is also the case with Twitter, for example. Maybe the lesson, here, is that private platforms cannot and should not be seen as the "town square" or a place for "community", and that if you make that choice, you need to be ready to move if the platform turns in an unfavourable direction. Of course, what we're seeing with things like Bluesky is that, unfortunately, for many, that lesson continues to remain unlearned.