Will this undermine most of what makes IAmA special? Probably. But Reddit leadership has all the funds they need to hire people to perform those extra tasks we formerly undertook as volunteer moderators, and we’d be happy to collaborate with them if they choose to do so.
Tricky question. But yeah, if you’re modding a channel just for the sake of being a mod and you do it for free. You’re a sucker.
I help moderate a small discord channel, Maybe I’m a sucker too. But I help so our outfit can have a place to hang out outside of the game, share ideas and plan events.
I bet some reddit mods feel the same way.
Your hard work is rewarded with a home for your community. Sounds very worthwhile if you all me. That’s very different from work that gets rewarded by lining the pockets of shareholders.
To be fair, reddit moderation did both (rather than only the later)
Or so they thought until the Reddit admins told them they actually don’t have any authority over their community and can’t run it the way the community wants.
Also the prospect of profit would just pull in the wrong kinds of people.
Tbh moderation is one of those things AI might be able to do pretty well, at least sometime down the line.
I don’t think all forms of free voluntary moderation make you a sucker. I think the only suckers are the ones who do whats basically a full time job for free.