Larry Wilson25 said:Oh man, Michelle Alvarez8, you really hit the nail on the head with this one. You’re totally blowing my mind here. 😠 ---
I honestly just love seeing mods who actually show up—maybe I was just being a bit too sensitive about it earlier, who knows? 😁
It would be nice if they actually felt some sort of urge to chat with the "residents" of their little PDF world—you know, like they're part of a social community or something rather than just... well, whatever this is. 😬
I mean, look at the stats: there are 77 people online right now, yet it feels like nobody is even out there to shovel the snow off the driveway! Why is human psychology such a lost cause sometimes? 🤔
(Seriously though, I just want to talk this out—I'm genuinely curious, and no, I'm not part of any weird forum cliques or anything.)
Hey, take that as a compliment! Whenever I drop a post, you know it’s actually worth reading. 😁
Do you think I could actually be a good fit for psychology school? I've got a written recommendation from my former moderator calling me—no joke—a genius. 🙂
Instead of leaving compliments here, I’ll just go ahead and like your posts on Facebook—though my DMs are always open if you want to talk business over at the Democratic Party.
Look, speaking as a former moderator myself—I’m voting to bring them back. Why wouldn't I throw my support behind you when I'm already hanging out here with Trkeljanje?
I wanted to give the crew posting these updates a heads-up, but since I can't reach them on the official news feed, I guess I’ll just say it here. Honestly, the lack of a response isn't what surprises me—it's the total absence of any penalties.
The article "Why Humans Tamed Animals" over at BiologyOnline.com is such a trip—and don't even get me started on "Why Forgetting Is Actually a Part of Learning."
So, I was wondering—is there any way to actually change a user ID (the one that gets auto-generated when you sign up)? If it's possible, what kind of price tag would we be looking at? And would the site admins even consider selling user IDs as a premium feature? Or maybe even renting them out for a set amount of time? You could call it a "vanity user ID" service or something—who knows!
I’m super interested in buying or renting this specific number: http://www.example-forum.com/member.php?u=1337. It looks like it's wide open, since the site throws an error whenever I try to click the link. 🤷
Traffic and posting. High traffic means huge bandwidth costs (the sheer volume of data being moved around because of all the reading and writing). For instance, everything I'm typing right now represents "data" that the owner has to pay for in server space.
Advertisers. There are very few "real" advertisers (maybe some announcements for concerts, local events, or even humanitarian stuff). Most advertisers find a Reddit totally unappealing precisely because of how free people can write. Like, you can't expect someone like Walmart to want to advertise on a site where people might be tearing their business apart in the comments. So, big-name advertisers aren't really a thing here. Just look at Google Ads—you have to actually click the link just for the owner to scrape together a few cents.
Profit. When you crunch the numbers, after paying for servers and admins, the owner isn't walking away with a mountain of cash. In principle, they make way less than you'd think, maybe even just breaking even.
Moderators. I'm pretty sure most of them do it just to help people out. If you started paying them, the whole vibe of the platform would change; it would lose its sense of freedom, and everyone would feel it. And what's next? Paying users to post? 😉
I wouldn't say the bandwidth is actually *that* huge.
Sure, the forum has thousands of users and a ton of posts going up every single day, but if you really look at it, it's all just plain text. And text? It barely touches bandwidth. The real bandwidth hogs are images, docs, and multimedia. Since we can't use attachments here, everyone just hotlinks to other sites for photos, and there isn't even any video content anyway. Plus, avatars are tiny and signature images are banned. It's pretty lean!
Still, wondering about how much bandwidth this forum burns through daily, monthly, or yearly is a fun thought. It would be cool to see some rough numbers, wouldn't it? Though, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Gary Lewis5 said:A question for those of you who aren't flying solo in your moderator roles:
Do you ever get that nagging sense of guilt—where you realize you’ve spent more than an hour glued to your screen instead of actually spending quality time with your partner? I wonder if, in the grand scheme of things, those lost hours end up taking a toll on the relationship itself. I'll apologize in advance if this feels a bit too personal; please feel free to answer in whatever way feels most comfortable to you. 😉
My moderating definitely impacts my relationship, yeah. We actually end up laughing together at some of the absolute nonsense I read—honestly, you wouldn't believe the stuff people type online!
I spend way more than an hour a day moderating and just browsing the forums. My partner doesn't mind one bit, though—mostly because she’s right there with me, messing around on her own computer. She'll let me know when she's ready to jump into a dungeon in a game, and even while I'm deep in a massive trolling session, she's totally fine with it. She never gets mad; she usually just spends the next day reading through my epic trolling and cracking up. 😁
Hannah White2 said:It’s a damn shame you guys cluttered up this thread with all those posts—honestly, one of you plus the mods should've been the only ones posting here, like maybe goldengull3. I was scrolling through that one other thread where people were supposedly trashing the mod just to make the PDF visible... I didn't stick around too long because, frankly, I couldn't make heads or tails of what they were saying. Is that thread still floating around somewhere?
That was just an April Fools' joke. It was pretty lame, but man, did a bunch of people fall for it! Good times, though.
Lisa Hernandez3 said:In my view, free communication doesn't necessarily mean disrespecting the Forum Owner, discussing things that are mostly kept within the moderator subforum (specifically regarding one-on-one dynamics), or using the Psychology PDF to debate administration with users who don't have access to the Messages, Wishes, and Comments section.
Regarding that controversial post (just the one where Michelle Alvarez called the Forum Owner names), I was the one who deleted it, then restored it, and then deleted it again. Why? Well, because I simply can't—not today and not generally—protect users from insults in one thread while allowing the exact same thing in another just in the name of free speech. If I did that, I’d be a hypocrite and, frankly, a total jerk, rather than blaming whoever owns this forum.
From the very start of this thread, it was stated that this should be a principled discussion and that the focus should remain on psychology. I explicitly mentioned that we wouldn't be analyzing business operations or how specific PDFs function, nor would we be throwing around arbitrary labels for individuals, though that rule was broken even after my warning: people were talking about business organization, chatting about user questions that were already borderline off-topic, and, generally speaking, just chatting, I guess.
Some current and former moderators stepped up and responded appropriately to the topic at hand, and I'm grateful to them. This thread wouldn't have gone this way if it hadn't been instrumentalized—if I may use the terminology used here—so I should point out: if the thread is actually about how to become a moderator or an admin, such a thread already exists (at least one). If needed, I can post links here, or you could just use the search bar.
If anyone has an issue with this decision of mine, please feel free to reach out to me in the appropriate place.
Look, please don't try to drag my name through the mud with lies and shady accusations. I never called anyone out by name. All I did was answer the thread starter's question—and like always, I gave an honest answer. What you're labeling as "naming names" was really just me sharing my opinion. And as far as the admins are concerned, sharing an opinion isn't against the rules.
If you want to paint me as some kind of idiot or try to intimidate me, then please—just leave my posts alone. Seriously. Because whatever you say about me, the mods will handle it much more effectively than any insults could. They deal in posts, not playground insults. ☕
Maybe you could drop a little compliment to the director? Like, "hey, Michelle Alvarez8 is so incredibly reliable and chill that they haven't even cut off my internet access yet." 😁
Lisa Hernandez3 said:And regarding the moderator PDF—what exactly are we looking at here? 😉 It feels a bit like I’m trying to land an editor position at a major newspaper just because I have a sudden urge to eavesdrop on their staff meetings. Or am I totally off base?
There's a ton of stuff in there that would probably blow the minds of our regular users—some of it funny, some pretty sad, and maybe even eye-opening for a few folks. Though, honestly, not much of it is particularly brilliant. I'm just speaking from memory back when I used to moderate, though—who knows? Things have likely improved quite a bit since then.
Lisa Hernandez3 said:It seems to me that you are handling the business side of things in a rather unusual way—perhaps overemphasizing it—almost as if you see conspiracy theories in the basic functioning of a standard online forum. This isn't exactly a brand-new phenomenon, I think; it’s been around for at least a decade (though, I suppose, don't use that to support your argument about forum ecosystem dynamics).
That is the inevitable "turn-over" I am referring to, which the top-level domain owners clearly take into account.
I believe all employers—even virtual ones—factor in the fact that people eventually pass away or fall ill; I guess that is how far this calculation goes.
So, the sense of "legacy"... the feeling of contributing and leaving something behind... is actually one of the key motivators. At least in your case.
I didn't say it was *the* key motivator, but rather that we might consider that we care about who takes over after us—or at least, that we feel good if it turns out to be someone we consider intelligent and capable.
I agree that simple principles are at play here. I hope you aren't implying that I am somehow "relishing" this matter. If there is any relishing on my part... well, that's just in your head.
I wasn't implying anything—I just meant that you seem to think those who run forums get some sort of satisfaction from seeing people succumb to psychological mechanisms and work for free.
And on that point, we agree. It is clearly a well-organized business with a clear modus operandi. It requires professionals. An unavoidable expense without which the whole thing wouldn't hold together. How many people in the US have been paid? They obviously execute everything and manage the moderator networks... in a way that ensures volunteerism (attracting enthusiasts) without incurring any extra costs.
To me, it makes perfect sense that any business becomes better organized over time. I assume you've heard of business cycles. Professionals in these kinds of industries don't just focus on recruiting new members or psychology; I suspect that isn't even their primary task. They handle technical issues and administrative tasks, literally. It's a job just like any other. To suggest that organized professionals (like you) >I guess in your post) that some people operate on a regional level by basically playing a simplified game of soul-fishing—to me, that feels a bit too presumptuous. And I find it somewhat strange to ignore the fact that we’re talking about small social circles here—people who actually hang out together (not everyone with everyone, obviously, but still...) and have fun. Some of them even turn it into a sort of profession, moving into those roles above the moderators—I'm not quite sure why you're so captivated by what is, essentially, a simple division of labor.
I agree with you. That is precisely what this forum offers its users and what keeps the traffic coming. It isn't something that can just happen... you really have to put in the work. After all, that kind of engagement is highly marketable.
Maybe we should move this discussion over to the economics section so we can see exactly how well that sells.
Are you trying to say the topic doesn't make sense?
It makes sense if we are discussing psychology, but, as you've probably noticed by now, there isn't much more to be said on it. If you're looking for more depth, perhaps you should ask on a different subreddit.
Am I sensing some anger in your "voice"?
Sometimes I do get frustrated with those who take other people's commitments to (for them) free services far too seriously, while being incredibly lax about their own contributions. Or they play these "childish" psychological games—things like, "Fine, I see I'm not needed here, so I'm LEAVING." Or, "I don't talk to the moderators AT ALL anymore, I just have nothing left to SAY to them." Honestly, don't bother if you don't see the point and can't contribute. But that's a different issue, though it also falls under the fascination with power structures and hierarchies.
The thing with the moderators and the active members is that they do things simply because they want to—whenever and however they please. There's no deep philosophy or complex psychology involved in that.
This current version of the site has been live for nearly eight years. If you count the old "discussion.com" era, we're looking at more than ten years total. I'm not 100% certain, though—it'd be worth asking the owner, wouldn't it? Definitely an interesting question to ask.
Ashley Phillips41 said:honestly, people would probably pay good money just to have moderator powers because it’s such an instant ego boost—they get to feel like they actually have some kind of authority over everyone else... it's just pathetic...
It’s honestly depressing that people like that even exist. But you know what’s worse? An employer would actually go for it—as long as there's money involved, right? 🤦
