How moderators should be chosen

Brenda Hayes16 said:Voting exists specifically to curb moderator bias.
If the site needs two mods because, say, demand is high, then they should just say: "Hey everyone, this time we're voting for two out of these four candidates."
It's not exactly rocket science.
That way, we actually eliminate that sense of moderator unchecked power.

And believe me, if you look at how things are actually moderated right now, there's no shortage of potentially decent candidates. You can't just claim beforehand that someone won't do a good job.

The fact that you didn't know anyone is irrelevant. The bottom line is we need to reduce moderator favoritism and create some balance.
Give the actual users of a sub-forum a vote in who represents them.

How much longer are you going to keep repeating stuff that nobody even said and isn't true?

- No, there isn't "high demand." It's not like there's a massive horde of interested candidates.
- And I didn't say a single thing about how well any specific person would do the job.

People are inherently impossible to please. You could hand-deliver perfection to every single person on the planet, one by one, and they'd still find something to gripe about.

Dealing with people—that’s the real grind. 😢

Sophia Thomas7 said:Sure, it *could* happen, but it doesn't *have* to be taken as a given. Of course, it's a possibility.

I'll say it again regarding this famous list. You're claiming there need to be several candidates. Right now, looking at my own PDF, I only see one. I'm not going to go out of my way and add two more candidates just to satisfy your obsession with "transparency" just so people have someone else to vote for.

Get it?

And I'm telling you, the issue lies with you, not with this subforum.

Anyone in power can claim there isn't a decent alternative—except for maybe that one person who's almost as bad as you lot.

I've already explained why this is your problem twice now, in a couple of posts just a little while ago.

Fine. Let's try this: why on earth do you think everyone else is too incompetent to be a moderator, aside from that one guy and, obviously, yourself?

Brenda Hayes16 said:And I'm telling you, the issue lies with you, not with this subforum.

Anyone in power can claim there isn't a decent alternative—except for maybe that one person who's almost as bad as you lot.

I've already explained why this is your problem twice now, in a couple of posts just a little while ago.

Fine. Let's try this: why on earth do you think everyone else is too incompetent to be a moderator, aside from that one guy and, obviously, yourself?

I just feel like they're all inferior choices compared to that specific candidate, so I don't see the point in nominating them.

In other words, aside from that one person, nobody really stood out to me. So what? According to you, I'm supposed to nominate people I can't actually get behind.

dustyranger64 said:How much longer are you going to keep repeating stuff that nobody even said and isn't true?

- No, there isn't "high demand." It's not like there's a massive horde of interested candidates.
- And I didn't say a single thing about how well any specific person would do the job.

No one's interested?

Now I'm genuinely curious if that's actually true.
Let's just start threads in every sub-forum titled:
"Who wants to moderate this section?"

Just to see what happens.
Besides, I haven't really gotten the impression that mods find it easy to just peel themselves away from their desks once they settle in.

Sophia Thomas7 said:I just feel like they're all inferior choices compared to that specific candidate, so I don't see the point in nominating them.

In other words, aside from that one person, nobody really stood out to me. So what? According to you, I'm supposed to nominate people I can't actually get behind.

No, you have to nominate a few others who, in your eyes, come closest to that "extraordinary" quality that one individual has.

That’s literally the whole point of an election. Not everyone is equally qualified, but people still get a choice.
Just look at any election around the world—governors, presidents, whatever.

Brenda Hayes16 said:No one's interested?

Now I'm genuinely curious if that's actually true.
Let's just start threads in every sub-forum titled:
"Who wants to moderate this section?"

Just to see what happens.
Besides, I haven't really gotten the impression that mods find it easy to just peel themselves away from their desks once they settle in.

We can do that. But then what? Who actually decides which applicants make the cut? Is it just the mods? Honestly, you aren't gaining anything there. You’re just spinning your wheels. It usually ends up being the same old loop—we look around to see who seems decent, and once we spot someone, we just ask them if they want to moderate. That's it.
That way, anyone who actually wants to moderate could step up. Then we could see who’s actually decent and how many good ones we've got!

So, picture this: ten people apply—let's say they’re all just spammers or trolls, right? If the mods look at that group and decide none of them are actually fit for the job, everyone’s gonna start whining. They'll claim the mods are being narrow-minded or just don't have an eye for talent. It's always something!

Brenda Hayes16 said:No one's interested?

Now I'm genuinely curious if that's actually true.
Let's just start threads in every sub-forum titled:
"Who wants to moderate this section?"

Just to see what happens.
Besides, I haven't really gotten the impression that mods find it easy to just peel themselves away from their desks once they settle in.

Just like everything else, it’s all about people connecting with people. Simple as that!

Brenda Hayes16 said:No, you have to nominate a few others who, in your eyes, come closest to that "extraordinary" quality that one individual has.

That’s literally the whole point of an election. Not everyone is equally qualified, but people still get a choice.
Just look at any election around the world—governors, presidents, whatever.

The issue lies right there with that word "have." I don't *have* to, and I certainly don't intend to.

A system where a moderator is forced to list several candidates just to satisfy some idea of transparency—even when they don't actually agree with those choices—isn't any better than the current setup everyone is complaining about.

Brenda Hayes16 said:No, you have to nominate a few others who, in your eyes, come closest to that "extraordinary" quality that one individual has.

That’s literally the whole point of an election. Not everyone is equally qualified, but people still get a choice.
Just look at any election around the world—governors, presidents, whatever.

Look, you clearly feel like this isn't a real democracy and that we can all just take a hike. But if a suggestion hits the admins, and then makes its way to Anderlon and he doesn't like it, what happens then? Nothing.

The whole idea of forcing nominations just for the sake of having a vote? It's just bad.

dustyranger64 said:How much longer are you going to keep repeating stuff that nobody even said and isn't true?

- No, there isn't "high demand." It's not like there's a massive horde of interested candidates.
- And I didn't say a single thing about how well any specific person would do the job.

That might be exactly why any amateur—any total nobody—can stumble their way into the fashion scene these days.
The bottom line is this—they’re just desperate to land those moderator roles—but you have to wonder if they actually possess even a shred of expertise regarding the specific forums they're trying to run.

But before we even get to this:

dustyranger64 said:Look, you clearly feel like this isn't a real democracy and that we can all just take a hike. But if a suggestion hits the admins, and then makes its way to Anderlon and he doesn't like it, what happens then? Nothing.

The whole idea of forcing nominations just for the sake of having a vote? It's just bad.

So, they’re actually suggesting we let some mod take charge who doesn't have even a shred of connection to a specific sub-forum? It’s almost funny—the administration and Anderlon apparently know the inner workings of those sub-forums better than the actual users who live there every single day. Typical. 🙄 And once again—they’ve managed to find some "groundbreaking" new trend in fashion.

dustyranger64 said:We can do that. But then what? Who actually decides which applicants make the cut? Is it just the mods? Honestly, you aren't gaining anything there. You’re just spinning your wheels. It usually ends up being the same old loop—we look around to see who seems decent, and once we spot someone, we just ask them if they want to moderate. That's it.
That way, anyone who actually wants to moderate could step up. Then we could see who’s actually decent and how many good ones we've got!

So, picture this: ten people apply—let's say they’re all just spammers or trolls, right? If the mods look at that group and decide none of them are actually fit for the job, everyone’s gonna start whining. They'll claim the mods are being narrow-minded or just don't have an eye for talent. It's always something!

Just like everything else, it’s all about people connecting with people. Simple as that!

Or maybe twenty people apply and three or four are actually okay. Either way, one thing is certain: we won't know until we try.

But your whole point was basically that volunteers don't exist, or whatever. Personally, I maintain that even on the absolute worst subreddits, you can find at least two or three solid candidates. Mods don't exactly hold themselves to impossible standards when they're doing their own jobs.
On the higher-quality boards, you'd probably find a dozen.

feralotter2 said:That might be exactly why any amateur—any total nobody—can stumble their way into the fashion scene these days.
The bottom line is this—they’re just desperate to land those moderator roles—but you have to wonder if they actually possess even a shred of expertise regarding the specific forums they're trying to run.

But before we even get to this:

So, they’re actually suggesting we let some mod take charge who doesn't have even a shred of connection to a specific sub-forum? It’s almost funny—the administration and Anderlon apparently know the inner workings of those sub-forums better than the actual users who live there every single day. Typical. 🙄 And once again—they’ve managed to find some "groundbreaking" new trend in fashion.

Look, at the end of the day, I said exactly what I meant. Simple as that! The exact opposite! Because of that.
I honestly feel like this whole "let’s see who actually wants to be a mod" system is exactly what fuels that issue you're talking about. It's just asking for trouble!

feralotter2 said:That might be exactly why any amateur—any total nobody—can stumble their way into the fashion scene these days.
The bottom line is this—they’re just desperate to land those moderator roles—but you have to wonder if they actually possess even a shred of expertise regarding the specific forums they're trying to run.

But before we even get to this:

So, they’re actually suggesting we let some mod take charge who doesn't have even a shred of connection to a specific sub-forum? It’s almost funny—the administration and Anderlon apparently know the inner workings of those sub-forums better than the actual users who live there every single day. Typical. 🙄 And once again—they’ve managed to find some "groundbreaking" new trend in fashion.

Anderlon actually knows everything about pdf x—he’s the one who owns the damn thing! Honestly, if he decides tomorrow that he wants to wipe it from the database like it never even existed, we're stuck. Not the admins, not the regulars on Reddit, not even the mods. We can't do a single thing about it.

Brenda Hayes16 said:Or maybe twenty people apply and three or four are actually okay. Either way, one thing is certain: we won't know until we try.

But your whole point was basically that volunteers don't exist, or whatever. Personally, I maintain that even on the absolute worst subreddits, you can find at least two or three solid candidates. Mods don't exactly hold themselves to impossible standards when they're doing their own jobs.
On the higher-quality boards, you'd probably find a dozen.

Exactly. But honestly? Real-world practice tells a completely different story.

Honestly, you’d probably find another dozen of them hanging out on the higher-quality subreddits.

Honestly, when people start making claims like that, I really begin to wonder if this is even a serious discussion anymore.
If just one single PDF on Reddit had ten actually willing and capable candidates ready to step up as mods, Anderlon and the entire admin team would be losing their minds with pure joy. Honestly!

dustyranger64 said:Look, at the end of the day, I said exactly what I meant. Simple as that! The exact opposite! Because of that.
I honestly feel like this whole "let’s see who actually wants to be a mod" system is exactly what fuels that issue you're talking about. It's just asking for trouble!

Anderlon actually knows everything about pdf x—he’s the one who owns the damn thing! Honestly, if he decides tomorrow that he wants to wipe it from the database like it never even existed, we're stuck. Not the admins, not the regulars on Reddit, not even the mods. We can't do a single thing about it.

Exactly. But honestly? Real-world practice tells a completely different story.

Honestly, you’d probably find another dozen of them hanging out on the higher-quality subreddits.

Honestly, when people start making claims like that, I really begin to wonder if this is even a serious discussion anymore.
If just one single PDF on Reddit had ten actually willing and capable candidates ready to step up as mods, Anderlon and the entire admin team would be losing their minds with pure joy. Honestly!

this thread should be locked

🤮

Sophia Thomas7 said:The issue lies right there with that word "have." I don't *have* to, and I certainly don't intend to.

A system where a moderator is forced to list several candidates just to satisfy some idea of transparency—even when they don't actually agree with those choices—isn't any better than the current setup everyone is complaining about.

It’s better, sure—but not from your perspective or the view the moderators have. I mean it from the perspective of the vast majority of people hanging out on Reddit.
A system of checks and balances to keep moderators from going rogue. Anyone got an issue with that? Yeah, the mods do.
Look, let's try to be a little objective here. You can't just have a handful of people making all the calls, or one single person running the whole show. At the very least, there should be an attempt to actually shake things up. If the admins or the Anderlon family decide to shut it down, fine—whatever. Good grief, they’re the bosses. Life goes on.

dustyranger64 said:Look, you clearly feel like this isn't a real democracy and that we can all just take a hike. But if a suggestion hits the admins, and then makes its way to Anderlon and he doesn't like it, what happens then? Nothing.

The whole idea of forcing nominations just for the sake of having a vote? It's just bad.

Look, fine. Let them hold a public admin vote or whatever happens at Anderlon. That’s really all anyone is asking for.

It’s not some kind of massive force or anything. It’s really just on you to pick out a few favorites based on what you actually like. Besides, nobody is forcing your hand here—the folks on Reddit usually just make their own choices anyway.

Look, the claims that everyone except for one single candidate is completely incompetent? They just don't hold water. Period. 🤷

Brenda Hayes16 said:It’s better, sure—but not from your perspective or the view the moderators have. I mean it from the perspective of the vast majority of people hanging out on Reddit.
A system of checks and balances to keep moderators from going rogue. Anyone got an issue with that? Yeah, the mods do.
Look, let's try to be a little objective here. You can't just have a handful of people making all the calls, or one single person running the whole show. At the very least, there should be an attempt to actually shake things up. If the admins or the Anderlon family decide to shut it down, fine—whatever. Good grief, they’re the bosses. Life goes on.

Look, fine. Let them hold a public admin vote or whatever happens at Anderlon. That’s really all anyone is asking for.

It’s not some kind of massive force or anything. It’s really just on you to pick out a few favorites based on what you actually like. Besides, nobody is forcing your hand here—the folks on Reddit usually just make their own choices anyway.

Look, the claims that everyone except for one single candidate is completely incompetent? They just don't hold water. Period. 🤷

What's even the point? Once all the admins give the green light on a mod candidate, the whole thing just goes straight to Anderlon. If Anderlon says okay, boom—they’re officially a mod.
Just by the fact that someone actually landed a moderator spot, you already know exactly how the admins voted and how Anderlon handled the ruling.
You don't get any actual transparency if all three of them just show up and vote "yes." It’s pointless. Even if Anderlon shows up and says, "Sure, it works" or "No, it doesn't," we're still stuck. Just feels like a wash!

And honestly? He’s definitely not going to get dragged into endless arguments or petty back-and-forth debates with every single person on the forums. I mean, why bother? Or why not? It just isn't worth the energy.

Brenda Hayes16 said:It’s better, sure—but not from your perspective or the view the moderators have. I mean it from the perspective of the vast majority of people hanging out on Reddit.
A system of checks and balances to keep moderators from going rogue. Anyone got an issue with that? Yeah, the mods do.
Look, let's try to be a little objective here. You can't just have a handful of people making all the calls, or one single person running the whole show. At the very least, there should be an attempt to actually shake things up. If the admins or the Anderlon family decide to shut it down, fine—whatever. Good grief, they’re the bosses. Life goes on.

Look, fine. Let them hold a public admin vote or whatever happens at Anderlon. That’s really all anyone is asking for.

It’s not some kind of massive force or anything. It’s really just on you to pick out a few favorites based on what you actually like. Besides, nobody is forcing your hand here—the folks on Reddit usually just make their own choices anyway.

Look, the claims that everyone except for one single candidate is completely incompetent? They just don't hold water. Period. 🤷

If you say so. Totally legit.

dustyranger64 said:Look, at the end of the day, I said exactly what I meant. Simple as that! The exact opposite! Because of that.
I honestly feel like this whole "let’s see who actually wants to be a mod" system is exactly what fuels that issue you're talking about. It's just asking for trouble!

Anderlon actually knows everything about pdf x—he’s the one who owns the damn thing! Honestly, if he decides tomorrow that he wants to wipe it from the database like it never even existed, we're stuck. Not the admins, not the regulars on Reddit, not even the mods. We can't do a single thing about it.

Exactly. But honestly? Real-world practice tells a completely different story.

Honestly, you’d probably find another dozen of them hanging out on the higher-quality subreddits.

Honestly, when people start making claims like that, I really begin to wonder if this is even a serious discussion anymore.
If just one single PDF on Reddit had ten actually willing and capable candidates ready to step up as mods, Anderlon and the entire admin team would be losing their minds with pure joy. Honestly!

I’m going to have to disagree there. Claiming there aren't even two or three people on this entire subforum capable of stepping up as a mod is basically a straight-up insult to 🤷
And honestly, I don't buy it. It's not like I woke up yesterday; I know exactly what the vibe is like on a few of these subforums, and I know what the candidates are actually capable of.

Sorry, but that's just how it is. It makes it seem like you mods are some kind of rare, mythical species.

Brenda Hayes16 said:I’m going to have to disagree there. Claiming there aren't even two or three people on this entire subforum capable of stepping up as a mod is basically a straight-up insult to 🤷
And honestly, I don't buy it. It's not like I woke up yesterday; I know exactly what the vibe is like on a few of these subforums, and I know what the candidates are actually capable of.

Sorry, but that's just how it is. It makes it seem like you mods are some kind of rare, mythical species.

No, it doesn't.
You're constantly cherry-picking keywords to fit your own narrative, which is honestly just rude.
Like this time—you're leaving out the word "interested." Such a huge detail.
Because plenty of incredibly high-quality posters—people way more capable than most mods—just don't want to, don't have the time, or whatever else. I've seen it happen plenty of times.

The idea that there are 5 to 10 amazing candidates just waiting in the wings on the PDF... ah well...

Btw, if it isn't a secret, how can you be so sure about those PDFs?

dustyranger64 said:What's even the point? Once all the admins give the green light on a mod candidate, the whole thing just goes straight to Anderlon. If Anderlon says okay, boom—they’re officially a mod.
Just by the fact that someone actually landed a moderator spot, you already know exactly how the admins voted and how Anderlon handled the ruling.
You don't get any actual transparency if all three of them just show up and vote "yes." It’s pointless. Even if Anderlon shows up and says, "Sure, it works" or "No, it doesn't," we're still stuck. Just feels like a wash!

And honestly? He’s definitely not going to get dragged into endless arguments or petty back-and-forth debates with every single person on the forums. I mean, why bother? Or why not? It just isn't worth the energy.

If you say so. Totally legit.

The admins tend to stick together, and they rarely push back against a moderator's decision in a specific sub-forum if that person knows their stuff. Anderlon is basically just the seal of approval; you just grab it and stamp it at the end.

So, adding one more voting body would just be a way to curb the arbitrary power held by the moderators and admins.

Brenda Hayes16 said:The admins tend to stick together, and they rarely push back against a moderator's decision in a specific sub-forum if that person knows their stuff. Anderlon is basically just the seal of approval; you just grab it and stamp it at the end.

So, adding one more voting body would just be a way to curb the arbitrary power held by the moderators and admins.

Yeah, because the admins basically never turn down a suggestion for new mods. 😁

Brenda Hayes16 said:The admins tend to stick together, and they rarely push back against a moderator's decision in a specific sub-forum if that person knows their stuff. Anderlon is basically just the seal of approval; you just grab it and stamp it at the end.

So, adding one more voting body would just be a way to curb the arbitrary power held by the moderators and admins.

Haha, let's be real—he never turns down an admin's suggestion anyway!
Alright, look, it’s pretty obvious now that you're just trolling and talking nonsense for the hell of it.

Brenda Hayes16 said:It’s better, sure—but not from your perspective or the view the moderators have. I mean it from the perspective of the vast majority of people hanging out on Reddit.
A system of checks and balances to keep moderators from going rogue. Anyone got an issue with that? Yeah, the mods do.
Look, let's try to be a little objective here. You can't just have a handful of people making all the calls, or one single person running the whole show. At the very least, there should be an attempt to actually shake things up. If the admins or the Anderlon family decide to shut it down, fine—whatever. Good grief, they’re the bosses. Life goes on.

Look, fine. Let them hold a public admin vote or whatever happens at Anderlon. That’s really all anyone is asking for.

It’s not some kind of massive force or anything. It’s really just on you to pick out a few favorites based on what you actually like. Besides, nobody is forcing your hand here—the folks on Reddit usually just make their own choices anyway.

Look, the claims that everyone except for one single candidate is completely incompetent? They just don't hold water. Period. 🤷

What kind of "objectivity" are we even talking about? I told you I found one candidate suitable for my pdf. You’re insisting I need to add several more, even though I can't get behind those choices.

How exactly is that being objective?