Moderator Appreciation Day

Posted by Kim on July 2, 2019, 12:19pm

I always struggle to know what to say on this extremely special day, because there is just so much to say. So I think I'll begin by sketching a little portrait of what I believe about moderators:

Healthy online spaces of more than a handful of people can only survive when a strong moderation team is present.
Moderating is HARD. You are asked to act with extreme compassion and humanity toward people who are often in no mood to show it back to you. Moreover, you're expected to do so unceasingly, without making the sort of mistakes or falling prety to the sort of biases that absolutely all humans are subject to. In other words: Show humanity in a superhuman way.
When you get it wrong, you have to be willing to admit you were wrong and make things right, and let go of the fear that doing so might erode the authority you have that allows you to do the job in the first place.
Despite being a position of "power," the job is one of service. A true moderation team is subject to the same rules and restrictions as the rest of the userbase. There are little or no perks to wielding moderation power - just hard work and often people being grumpy at you.

Living up to those expectations can be hard - often, impossible. But you do the very best that you can. No matter how good a job you do, not everyone will be happy with you. Sometimes, you lose friends who thought that having a buddy in power would mean they got some free passes. Sometimes, you find yourself playing through more Kobayashi Maru situations than seem quite fair.

Moderating in this way attracts some of the very best human beings, and also has a way of chewing them up and spitting them out -- ironically, the MORE you care, the MORE devoted you are, the more at risk a person is of burning out. It's easy to reach a point of exhaustion if you only every give of yourself to others!

But the reward for doing it right... in the end, the ultimate reward isn't personal, it's maintaining a healthy community. It's knowing that a great network of human beings is thriving, supporting, taking joy and safety in one another partially because of the efforts you made.

So today, please take a moment to join me in thanking all the moderators - active, retired, here and elsewhere. If there is a community you love, there are some very, very hardworking moderators behind the scenes. Take a moment to tell them that you see their efforts and that you appreciate them creating the space for that community to exist and thrive.

This is a very unique moderator apprecation day, because it's the first one where the mod team is also grading applications to expand! I want to thank every one of you who stood up and raised your hand when asked if you'd be willing to give of yourself and your time in this way to our amazing community. We won't be able to bring on all of you, but know that even offering is appreciated. I look forward to announcing the results of that in a few weeks!

For this mod appreciation day, Heimdall supplied the site with two new accolades:

One that honors retired moderators...

and one that marks active moderators!

It was my honor to be able to place these on the profiles of all our mods, past and present.

Mods: Happy Moderator Appreciation Day. However big or small the community you support, we see you, and we are in awe of you.

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Comments

Abigail_Austin

July 2, 2019
3:19pm

Well done to all mods past and present!

midnightsun

July 2, 2019
3:15pm

oh that's so sweet! i haven't been here long but so far it's been very enjoyable, and i can only assume the mods are a huge part of that!

Auberon

July 2, 2019
2:58pm

You guys deserve the recognition! And Heimdall did a lovely job on the icons!

AgahseArmy-L

July 2, 2019
2:31pm

Thank you mods, we all appreciate the hard work you all do for us!

~~JetStorm~~

July 2, 2019
2:29pm

thank you so much *hugs the moditors* ((i know my spelling sucks

))

Tusitala

July 2, 2019
2:13pm

Thank you so much mod team! This place would not be the same without you

~~Starwarsfan~~

July 2, 2019
2:09pm

THANKYOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK!!!

~~Taciturn~~

July 2, 2019
2:09pm

Thanks for all your work! I know modding isn't easy.

~~nightmqre~~

July 2, 2019
1:30pm

Thank you

~~BunnyBoy~~

July 2, 2019
1:26pm

I am new here, but the site seems well maintained and orderly, no doubt to the watchful eyes of the Mods. So please continue your amazing work.

Antlered_Wolf

July 2, 2019
1:03pm

Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.

corivana

July 2, 2019
12:49pm

Thank you for all the hard work, long hours, consideration, empathy and human compassion you've put into keeping your community a safe and welcoming space.
Keep on, you beautiful people.

FatCatSupreme

July 2, 2019
12:35pm

Thank you all for keeping this community and safe and pleasant place to be in. I know it can be a difficult job and you all are volunteering your free time to do it but know that you are appreciated!

KingTai