How do you become a moderator?

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I see the same people reporting threads to the moderators. Is this an effort to become a moderator themselves? How do you become a moderator?

theres no "way" of becoming a moderator.

In order to become a moderator you need to become noticed by other moderators that will suggest you join the team to alex.

I became noticed and I barely used the mod report thread.
One day some troll tried to start a fight with several members and while everyone kept attacking each other I went over their questionable posts with the rules at hand.
Sallamandrina, mod at the time, noticed and she started bringing me up to others. The fact that I barely got myself into trouble helped.

puddingmouse got along with everyone and thats one of the main reasons we wanted her to be on the team, she didnt do any mod like stuff before becoming one.

One "requirement" to become a mod though is to not be a troublemaker because if we are having to review your posts repeatedly chances are you wont become noticed in the way you would want to to become a mod

Lost516, while the chances of anyone being selected are very slim, one thing you could do to improve your chances would be to learn when it's appropriate to back off. You have a tendency to carry on arguments long after everyone has said their piece and just wants to forget about it.

1. Never get banned, suspended or "warned", because ...

2. Don't let the trolls get to you ...
3. Practice humility; learn when to say "You're right" and "I'm sorry".

4. Someone once told me that one sure way of not becoming a moderator is volunteer to be a moderator. It's a Catch-22 issue, in that the best moderators rarely (if ever) actually want the job, and that those who actively campaign for the job may have ulterior motives (i.e., revenge, domination, or to change the rules).

5. Know the Rules of the website, when to apply them and when to bend them (just a little) so that the most people have the most enjoyment for most of the time.

6. Express no prejudice or extremist opinions.

My question is, why would you want to be one? There is no pay, is there? And although I totally appreciate ours, they are always running around deleting threads because some idiot said something they shouldn't have (I can call them idiots because I've done it myself).

I'm also curious - do all forums have to have moderators? Is there a law or something?

There is no requirement legal or otherwise for forums to have moderators. The owner of the forum decides whether it should be moderated or not. Some forums work fine without any moderators where peer pressure tends to keep the idiots and trouble makers in line, it depends very much on who participates in the forums. The danger of not having moderators is that bullies and those with the loudest and nastiest temperament tend to dominate the forums; excluding or bullying weaker members off the site. Unfortunately WrongPlanet would go the same way without moderators.

Hi Tallyman! Thanks for the explanation - that make sense.

How would a forum without moderators deal with spammers?

Bots of their own, or not at all.
I've heard of some forum software having spam and bot detection. Peer2Peer software has also had this in the past.

I've moderated chats and sites before, and currently do a little moderation. It's not really as glamorous as some might think and you take a lot of flack for it. If you ever feel you are under enough scrutiny for simply being active in a community it gets a lot more difficult as a moderator. I'd definitely agree that working within protocol for no reason other than it is what you should do is the best way to be noticed and be put forward as moderator. It is not the only way, though it is the most probable way of getting into that sort of thing.

Unless things have changed radically around here, you might get picked up if you seem to have the right stuff.

I won't define what that is. Fnord has a few ideas.

Power, Status, Respect, The Chicks

Or perhaps because you value the site, and would like to help keep it a reasonably civil, respectful place, or something along those lines.



Not here, some sites pay theirs though. Not much though, usually.







No, it's just that unmoderated spaces tend to turn into something most people don't enjoy.

It's a bit like; imagine having a living room or something, and you want to sit down and have a cup of tea and a serious talk with a friend or two, but at any minute some nutter can run in and start screaming obscenities, smashing the crockery and furniture, and smearing excrement in everyone's faces. And there's no one who can push them out the door.

Last edited by Moog on 03 Nov 2013, 11:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Well someone with the tools is going to have to delete the spam. That is a little thing they do on a unmoderated forum. They still have modorators technically but they don't moderate. They just delete spam and stuff or move topics or ban people who violate the TOS of the service the forum runs on or if they are a threat to the board. I speak from experience.

I'M IN!! !! !! !!

As a former moderator on one forum and an admin for another, it comes more dedication and of course, more responsibility.
To answer your question? You either get noticed for doing what is right on the forum and not to cause any trouble or you are recommended by the moderating team here. I know in my early days here, I've pretty much screwed up so my chances are pretty slim of becoming one on WrongPlanet and I wouldn't be surprised if it has gotten slimmer, plus, I don't think I would be able to anyways as I have other commitment elsewhere for the time being.

One thing people like is either having the authority which comes with power and unfortunately, there be times you would be on a power trip. If you not level headed, its bad enough as it is.

only the cool people become mods.

I must be the exception then.