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Unpaid and Abused: Moderators Speak Out Against Reddit (engadget.com)
In a joint investigation, Engadget and Point spoke to 10 Reddit moderators, and all of them complained that Reddit is systematically failing to tackle the abuse they suffer. Keeping the front page of the internet clean has become a thankless and abusive task, and yet Reddit's administration has repeatedly neglected to respond to moderators who report offenses. From the report: "I've had a few death threats," said Emily, who asked to be referred to by her first name and her Reddit username, lolihull, to prevent the online harassment from spilling over into her real life. [...] "I had three death threats this past month," said abrownn, who moderates r/Futurology, with more than 13 million subscribers, and r/technology, with more than 6 million subscribers. abrownn asked only to be known by their username. All the moderators interviewed confirmed they had received death threats, which they said can take a toll.
[...] It's hard to pin down how many moderators there are: Even the moderators themselves don't know, but most estimate their numbers are into the tens of thousands. Some spend hours each day working for free on the site. Whatever the actual figure, they far outnumber the higher-ranking and paid administrators, whose job it is to respond to the evidence that the moderators collect.
[...] It's hard to pin down how many moderators there are: Even the moderators themselves don't know, but most estimate their numbers are into the tens of thousands. Some spend hours each day working for free on the site. Whatever the actual figure, they far outnumber the higher-ranking and paid administrators, whose job it is to respond to the evidence that the moderators collect.
If you wouldn't say it to their face then don't say it online. What's wrong with people?
.. like 90% of the channels you can tell people of low education and people who are young tend to be moderators. AKA people with lots of free time.
The reason reddit is so popular because it is a confirmation bias wonderland for people who are not very bright and that is most of our species. So reddit is a wonderland of egoboost for the none too bright and uninformed. It's just 100% drama generating machine between the informed, uninformed, young and old and it has to do with the karma and moderation system. Reddit is just one monkey ego war where opinions no matter how dumb are fought and defended by drive by upvoting and downvoting of whatever subgroup is most dominant on the sub unfortunately for our species .
The whole thing thrives off putting people of various ages and education backgrounds together and watching them go at it. It's just a battle royal, to a large extent.
... A great deal more is said than done.
I've been getting death threats since the FIDONET days, and once in a while one of the losers trying to scare me has mentioned where I was living or working at the time in their threat, but not one of them has even showed up to TP my house, let alone try anything dangerous.
If you can't ignore the Internet Tough Guys, then get off the internet, for fuck's sake. If you actually believe that any of them will show up, get a pump-action shotgun: problem solved.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
So many people are willing to do a job for a web site (in this case reddit) and not get paid for it. Suckers.
It's the power and control they get from being moderators. Some people deal with this good feeling by becoming politicians. Others become message board moderators. It feels wonderful to slap people you don't like with bans, doubly so when you get to attach a shitty little message to it that the recipient can't reply to. Especially when your life offline is nothing.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
There is something wrong with people who are moderating 100+ subs. Often they have an agenda/axe to grind and moderate for the sake of power. Some subs are moderated very well but many have mods that are completely missing the point of their being there. Paid shills are rife in some subs where other people are banned for posting unambiguous facts that don't line up with the moderators tastes.
But unless there is a sub for people who spend 150 hours a week on redit moderators need to be cut way back in what they can do. Limit the number of subs any individual can moderate. Have a team who replace moderators who are clearly abusing their power.
And if that team has any spare resources, fight the shills, especially the chemical company shills.
Reddit is what Usenet was. With a worse interface and images. It also made it impossible to follow a discussion.
And the majority of groups are not interesting to you. So concentrate on the ones thar are, if you can find them.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
You mean like people who moderate Slashdot?
People want to build communities, for companionship and socializing or for free and open debate in a marketplace of ideas. Both of those things require moderation, and for people who get a lot from those communities it's a reasonable trade to make.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
You clearly enjoy posting your outrage to Slashdot, otherwise you wouldn't keep coming here to do it. Slashdot is like it is because it has a user run moderation system. Clearly you get some value out of that.
It therefore doesn't seem unreasonable to thank the people who invest their time in making Slashdot/Reddit a better place to post and debate, and try to address their concerns lest you lose that resource that you use regularly.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
The difference is that on Slashdot, all you really do is mod them down. You can still read all the app apps and all the GNAA, not to mention the cosmonaut Golden Girls.
No idea why anyone would, but you can.
The information is still there. That's the difference.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
People desiring the power of a moderator that much, have historically rubbed people the wrong way ie. the kid who helps the teacher enforce rules.
I am 100% for worker's rights. However, being that they can leave at any time, with zero penalty (other than, you know, not getting to moderate), I struggle to sympathize here. People who crave the ability to exert power over others to the extent that they will endure death threats, for nothing, have issues of their own. It's kind of unsurprising that they evoke strong emotions from those with an equally strong hatred of being controlled. I mean, wars have been fought for less.
Have to jump in here.
> It's the power and control they get from being moderators. Some people deal with this good feeling by becoming politicians.
I know it's all the rage to dump on politicians. But there are so many, many problems with where things are headed.
For example? Can in imagine if you're an *honest* politician? And one that just wants to solve a few problems, wants to generally 'fix' something they see broken? Not in it for the power, or money, but honestly just want to make things better.
Sure it's somewhat selfish in the end, because they want to make it better for their family, their friends, their community. But that's the sort of selfish we want!
So you have a TV interview. Or, say something on twitter. Welp. Everything is completely distorted out of context, quotes are taken and slapped together with other quotes, the list goes on. If you tell the truth? It will be distorted, taken out of context, and if you discuss something for an hour? They'll take a 4 second quote and slap it on the air.
Things I remember a Prime Minster I *didn't even like*, but couldn't believe he was being harassed for:
- he wore a sweater, and was mocked because it looked a little off
- he shook his son's hand one day, when he left for school -- everyone called him a cold, calculating bastard because he didn't hug his son (I didn't want hugs from my dad when 10!)
- his hair was too neat (boy, he sure must use a lot of hair spray!!)
- his smile is a little funny, he must be a psycho
I could list a 100 of these. What. The. Fuck.
How about people actually commenting on policy?
But no you become a politician, and every single aspect of your life is examined. People think death threats on the internet are bad? Well I wonder what sort of vile crap gets thrown your way, if you're a politician? I'm sure death threats would almost be preferable to some comments sent via no-return address letters, or phone calls, or whatever.
Yet, let's say you put up with all that. The threats, the vile spew coming out of people's mouths, the criticism for the smallest things, and hell -- even being criticized for doing what you said you'd do in campaign speeches?
Well, you put up with all that -- and you STILL get no-where often with the things you WANT to genuinely help with.
And then everyone dumps on you. Again. Because the opposition and sometimes even your own party works against you.
I don't know. I'd have to say that being an honest, open, caring politician is the worst job on the planet.
And this is what disturbs me. Because all day long, every day, I see little cracks like the one you made about politicians. I see them regarded as scum. I see what they do equated to a waste of time. I see them assumed as thieves, assholes, pricks -- when people aren't even aware of the person behind the office, nor of what they've done -- good or bad.
If people want things to REALLY turn around, then people need to create an environment where an honest, caring, loving GRANDMOTHER would be happy being a politician.
Why?
Because -- if only scum can stand the job, wtf!
Personally, I think that many people prefer to live in an echo chamber where they see their own views reflected by those around them. That can be the case in boards and forums where those with conflicting opinions (conflicting with those of board ops) can easily be eliminated. Finding unbiased boards that actually allow a sensible exchange of diverging ideas has become rare. On many of the more insane ones, "diverging idea" already means "didn't drink the whole jug of kool-aid alone".
And that's sad. I mean, let's be honest here, we often found ourselves on the opposite ends of opinions. And yes, I do enjoy it. I already know my opinion, I don't need anyone else to have the same. That doesn't help me, it's great to feel supported, but in the end, it's not going to allow me to see a different angle. And I have to verify my view against that presented by another one. That's not always comfortable, because it just might give one input one didn't consider when forming an opinion.
But it sure leads to a better view of the whole picture.
And yes, that also means dealing with fringe views like religious nuts or nazis. Although, I have to admit, that's more a guilty pleasure of mine rather than trying to get sensible input, because usually what I take from a conversation with one of them is "Well, I might not have everything right. But at least I'm not THAT wrong."
It's a bit like watching afternoon TV with dysfunctional families.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.