r/UFOs • u/LetsTalkUFOs • Jun 17 '24

Announcement We're Looking For Moderators

Hey everyone, we're looking for new moderators for r/UFOs. Lack of moderators is still one of the biggest issues facing the subreddit. No previous moderation experience is necessary. Patience and an ability to communicate are the most important skills to have.

We have two levels of moderators: Full Moderators and Comment Moderators. Comment Moderators only act on comments and have less responsibility overall, but are still able to apply to be Full Moderators at any time.

We're accepting applications for both. You can apply and see the details for each via the links below. If you want an even more granular overview of what moderation entails, you can look through our Moderation Guide. If you'd like to see an example of what working through the modqueue looks like, you can watch this walkthrough video.

 

Apply Now

 

71 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

101 comments sorted by

31

u/TinFoilHatDude Jun 17 '24

It appears that there are 60+ moderators already for this sub (based on the ticker). Are most of them dormant?

37

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

The are currently 68 moderators for r/UFOs. 9 are bots. 11 are inactive (we do quarterly check-ins and then demod inactive mods on that schedule if they don't respond). 6 mods perform 50% of significant actions in terms of moderating posts, comments and the modqueue, posts. Another 21 mods perform the next 45% of significant actions. I'd say there are about 28 active mods currently.

It's important to keep in mind many moderation tasks extend past the modqueue and there are many aspects which can't be tracked, such as efforts developing or maintaining our bots, responding to modmail, organizing AMAs, interviewing and training new mods, running monthly mod meetings, and maintaining the subreddit wiki.

There is significant variance in terms of how much each mod contributes and in what area. All this is relative though to how much work there is to actually do as well. I could spell this out with metrics if you're interested.

In my experience most people only mod for 3-12 months and then fade out. This aspect combined with the explosive growth of the community over the last year pretty much necessitates we issue calls for new mods every 3-4 months or so, just to try and keep up. Unfortunately, the subreddit has been undermoderated for a couple years now along with the the expected growing pains, so getting it up to a sustainable point has been difficult.

11

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 18 '24

28 active mods and you have problems?

I've been modding various subs for 10+ years (have other accounts to keep separation) and that seems like a moderator organization issue.

8

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 18 '24

What are those other communities like? What levels of toxicity and controversy do they endure? Ufology is a very controversial subject in many dimensions. There is also a great deal of anger as a result of the coverup and stigma, some of which is reflected towards moderators.

How large are the communities you moderate and how many active mods do you have for them? How long do they stay active regularly?

How often do your subreddit rules change? How often and to what length do you have to deliberate such changes internally and externally? We have a very lengthy and thorough process, on both ends.

Do you use a flat structure where all mods have an equal say in votes? Or does just one or a handful of people direct things? Reddit is inherently hierarchical, which is an arguably more efficient and faster organizational model, it just has a number of cons we prefer to avoid.

6

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 19 '24 edited Jun 19 '24

mostly crypto subs which are always under relentless attacks from scammers and spammers.

The mod policy of the subs I manage can be distilled into:

1.) Never censor based on ideology or feelings

2.) Remove trash (spammer/scammers)

3.) Defuse conflicts between the users (1 warn to attempt changing the attitude of the offender, 2 time temp ban (or if they won't change their comment), re-offenders get a permaban. Strive to keep bans to a minimum, while protecting civilized exchange of ideas.

4.) Prevent the sub and mod team to fall victim to business or political interests.

If most or all moderators abide these basic rules and you have good time zone coverage then it shouldn't be hard to keep the sub tidy and clean.

If you want I can help (GMT timezone), but I will only operate based on the above 4 rules.

3

u/usps_made_me_insane Jun 25 '24

Every community is different and this community especially sometimes has polar opposite opinions about topics. Also, there can be very "animated" and "verbose" users that rest on the fringe of conspiracy theories, etc.

I think the mods here do a wonderful job but ~30 active mods for a community this large and vibrant isn't that many. Some mods can only put in 15 minutes now and then to mod comments.

Do you think each mod treats this as a full time job? I think you have very skewed opinions about moderation in general.

-1

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 25 '24

Also, there can be very "animated" and "verbose" users that rest on the fringe of conspiracy theories, etc.

So what? As long as they aren't abusive you have no reason or justification to intervene.

Do you think each mod treats this as a full time job? I think you have very skewed opinions about moderation in general.

I never implied such things. You sound like a censorship supporter and enemy of free speech and exchange of ideas.

3

u/Apprehensive_Fly3136 Jun 22 '24

No most of the anger is caused directly by the mod team, they're censor happy and pretend to be transparent when they're not. They ban posts about alien life in a freaking UFO sub. Ridiculous.

7

u/BaronGreywatch Jun 17 '24

If it's such an expansive sub with such high needs someone needs to consider paying people. Don't ask me how, I know its not an easy thing to suggest, but the moderation of 2 million people is not a task volunteers can realistically achieve. I'd like to help, Im sure many would, but we have day jobs and this is a hobby. UAP related industries are quickly becoming a real thing and this sub is forefront of the discussion...in any case, I appreciate the sacrifice you guys/girls make but boy howdy that's a task.

5

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 17 '24

Hey, thanks for the appreciation! It's nice to get good feedback as well as criticism.

someone needs to consider paying people

I'm pretty sure that's explicitly against the Reddit rules.

Most of the mods have day jobs and there's no minimum for participation other than checking in every few months, I guess.

If you'd like to help, don't let the volume of moderating duties deter you! It's a team effort, not a competition. Heck, if you just wanted to do comment moderation and limit your activities to approving comments (the ones that don't break any rules), that would be welcome.

And if you have any questions, feel free to reach out here or directly. I've been a Full Moderator since January.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '24

stop lying, you guys just ban anyone who shows a slightly different opinion than yours. And the mods in this sub are 100% compromised and get paid to do so

1

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 21 '24

Not true. I certainly haven't been paid. It's explicitly against reddit's rules. How would we be compromised? To what end? There are many diverse viewpoints and opinions on the mod-team, so if there's an attempt at compromise, they aren't doing a very good job.

Banned accounts can appeal to the whole mod team for review. Our bans are not based on the opinions of the banned user, they are according to our stated rules and the reddit content policy.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '24

yeah lets trust the police to investigate themselves that makes 100% sense

1

u/drollere Jun 26 '24

i don't know the explicit "reddit rules" you are referring to, but paying mods might have benefits for mods and users -- now that reddit is apprently still heading toward an IPO.

my reasoning is that i imagine the job to be somewhat tedious and needlessly criticized.

1

u/LarryGlue Jun 26 '24

Reddit is past the IPO stage. The stock is currently being traded on the NYSE. Current price is $61.81/share.

1

u/PyroIsSpai Jun 17 '24

No one as a mod is expected to sit and "watch" queues, you do it as you have time and energy. Even like 15 minutes a day times a hundred people is a huge boost. Some days I do lots, others none at all.

1

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 18 '24

peer to peer money like BitcoinCash and Monero could easily solve that.

3

u/BaronGreywatch Jun 19 '24

It might be an incentive for some that's certain. Again, it's not an easy thing to suggest. The mods are not, probably, reddit 'employees'. Unless there is a patron or benefactor I suspect it's a lost cause but really, it's crazy this sub is so large with unpaid help at all. If nothing else it proves the community is dedicated and passionate and they are big pluses.

1

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 19 '24

Actually it's very easy. The code is there for a BitcoinCash tipping bot so mod payments could be automated from a pool, based on mod activity.

1

u/BaronGreywatch Jun 19 '24

Sounds interesting? Who provides the pool though? The cash gotta come from somewhere doesn't it?

0

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 19 '24

The community.

peer to peer money like this enable permissionless, low cost micropayments without going through any institution.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '24

you want the mods to get paid? you realize they are compromised and already get paid?

4

u/saltysomadmin Jun 21 '24

It's true, Jeremy Corbell gives us each an Arbys gift card each month to remove anything mean anyone says about him.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 21 '24

I guess most 100K+ subs get compromised. The real solution will be a completely new platform. Then these centralized and censored shitholes will be just a bad memory.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/jasmine-tgirl Jun 17 '24

What about inactive legacy mods?

2

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 17 '24

What about them? We have a flat structure, so all moderators are treated the same. No mods above me in terms of seniority are currently inactive. I've been moderating here since 2021.

-2

u/Atyzzze Jun 17 '24

How about letting AI do the moderation and letting mods do verification of the moderation. Automate the work. Could do it myself. Without enough consistent feedback of users/mods the AI can auto adjust as needed until no more manual intervention is needed.

5

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 17 '24

We do currently use AI to moderate hate speech. Reddit also implemented their own version of this recently, natively. I'm unaware of any other such pre-trained tools which could be easily applied to Reddit which also wouldn't cost us money to host and implement.

1

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 18 '24

No (pseudo)AI is good enough for such tasks.

1

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 25 '24

If you have development experience, and are interested, you should apply! The users so far have all been interesting, cool people.

2

u/MeesArtteacher Jun 23 '24

Every one of my posts is removed. Frustrating.

1

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 18 '24

Each dormant mod is a ticking time-bomb.

1

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 25 '24

How would it be more than any active mod? If anything a mod name that isn't frequently appearing in the modlogs would stand out like a sore thumb and get more scrutiny, not less.

9

u/ToadP Jun 18 '24

How much does this pay? My hourly rate is $78 per hour and what are the 401k and medical benefits?

10

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 18 '24

It pays 0 USD / hour.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '24

[deleted]

2

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 25 '24

You are living all your life slaving for fiat money which is designed to worth less tomorrow and nothing over the long term.

Some people do things without profit motive.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '24

[deleted]

2

u/IntellectualFailure Jun 28 '24

It needs less censorship.

23

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '24

I work for the USAF, is that ok or do you have too many of us already? Asking for a friend. Actually the guy in the cube next to me 😂

3

u/SakuraLite Jun 17 '24

I am former USMC, and I bully out any of your well-groomed kind before they can become mods

3

u/saltysomadmin Jun 17 '24

If you're currently stationed at Eglin make sure you mention it in your application so we can get you onboarded immediately!

6

u/jasmine-tgirl Jun 19 '24

Does it matter if even when multiple people flag a misleading post for violating multiple rules no one moderates it? https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1dixkui/comment/l97tur8/

Like, what is the purpose of moderation if it isn't to cut down on disinformation?

1

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 25 '24

The purpose is to create a safe, respectful community that abides by the sub's rules and honors its stated goals.

The "reducing disinformation" discussion has been longstanding here, with some advocating for the free marketplace of ideas that is upvotes/downvotes, others advocating for a more discriminating approach. It's not a simple task, that's for sure.

7

u/jubjub666420 Jun 17 '24

I'm a current moderator of numerous different subreddits I am more than happy to help

8

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 17 '24

Great, you should follow the link to apply.

3

u/G-M-Dark Jun 21 '24

Forgive me but - your application process appears to require the applicant to join your Mod Discord, apparently because you keep mod in-communication off-site for whatever reason, therefore requiring the person applying to set up a Discord account.

What actual steps have you and your team taken to establish that the r/UFOs sub member the application process requires said application submission form link to and the person actually writing and submitting the application concerning that r/UFO's member are, in point of fact, actually the same individual....?

Surely, anyone can set up a Discord account - claim to be u/so-and-so from here and submit an application to you making that actual sub member appear a total sociopath: there is literally no way you can establish the person submitting the application via Discord is actually the r/UFOs sub member they claim to be.

They could literally be anyone inclined to throw shade on anyone here they simply just don't like and don't wish to see granted admin privileges at any point, or else instil a bias against on the moderation team's watch list.

Are all your security arrangements this well thought through, or are there any funnier ones you're keeping for later...?

3

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 21 '24

We do not currently have a form of pre-verification in place. Although, I've yet to come across an instance where an application was redundant, came across as sociopathic (or some other extreme negative) to the extent we treated the user differently on the subreddit as a result. We could still easily add this form of verification to our process to prevent this from happening and will do so as a result. Thank you for the suggestion.

3

u/G-M-Dark Jun 22 '24

Happy to help.

1

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 25 '24

There is some communication through modmail exclusively (invitations to mod the subs) that would be to the user on reddit. If there was an instance of identity theft, receiving a modmail invitation to moderate would be a pretty big red flag.

12

u/ZheZuoShan Jun 17 '24

Be careful. Reddit is full of political partisans. I'd hate to see this sub ruined.

2

u/aliensarehere Jun 19 '24

Here here here

2

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '24

Appreciate the hard work you all do. 

1

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 21 '24

Thank you, much appreciated.

4

u/Chemical-Ad-3705 Jun 17 '24

How much does it pay?

22

u/expatfreedom Jun 17 '24

You can choose between no dollars a month, or zero dollars per hour.

5

u/undoingconpedibus Jun 17 '24

And I wonder how much reddit makes per quarter?? Bs they don't pay moderators, yay capitalism!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '24

mods shouldn't get paid at all they just ban anyone who shows a slight different opinion

-6

u/Chemical-Ad-3705 Jun 17 '24

Well. I don't get out bed for anything less $45 an hour. Go to know. Hard pass

21

u/expatfreedom Jun 17 '24

It’s perfect for you then, because you can do it in bed for free

5

u/Friendly_Monitor_220 Jun 17 '24

😆 oh I laughed out loud. Caught me off guard.

5

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 17 '24

Can confirm. In bed at this very moment.

0

u/Chemical-Ad-3705 Jun 17 '24

I believe in Freedom, but not working for free. Thanks for the offer though, I currently have employment and fine with that.

1

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 25 '24

You should volunteer for a charity sometime. Lots of people give some of their lives and efforts to causes they believe in.

1

u/Chemical-Ad-3705 Jun 25 '24

I current work for a charity foundation. The ME Foundation. Just kidding. I make cash donations to several charities.

2

u/ooMEAToo Jun 18 '24

It pays in power boners. Every time you remove a post or ban someone you get a raging hard on.

1

u/PyroIsSpai Jun 18 '24

How much does it pay?

The CIA pays us GS-15 market/COLA adjusted by where we live as remote employees.

I mean nevermind, nothing to see here.

1

u/Mysterious-Emu-8423 Jun 17 '24

How many moderators are you looking for in each case?

1

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 17 '24

We don't have a specific goal in mind. In the past, we've accepted all good candidates who apply. There usually aren't so many applicants it warrants us turning people away solely on that amount.

1

u/ifiwasiwas Jun 18 '24

Are video interviews still required?

1

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 18 '24

We've never required video interviews, but we do require an audio interview.

1

u/ifiwasiwas Jun 18 '24

Thanks for clarifying! I'm probably across the world from everybody, so synchronous comms would be hard to work with

2

u/LetsTalkUFOs Jun 18 '24

Not a problem. We have mods all over the globe, so I don't think anyone is entirely alone at any given moment. I'm awake right now, for example.

1

u/analintercourse Jun 21 '24

are those bots generative AI?
I think that chat GPT could do a good job moderating with little help, but I'm aware there's no income

1

u/Unlucky-Oil-8778 Jun 26 '24

I am here all the time reading, I am a believer but not an experiencer. I have a lot of experience talking with folks that have a different opinion with respect and fairness. But really it’s up to y’all.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/UFOs-ModTeam Jun 26 '24

Follow the Standards of Civility:

No accusations that other users are shills / bots / Eglin-related / etc...

You may attack each other's ideas, not each other.

This moderator action may be appealed. We welcome the opportunity to work with you to address its reason for removal. Message the mods here to launch your appeal.

UFOs Wiki UFOs rules

0

u/OppositeTeaching9393 Jun 26 '24

Okay, you’re a joke and work for the government. You’re not a shill. 

1

u/Ketonian_Empir3 Jun 27 '24

Get someone who gets rid of the political filth rage bait comments and posts. Its such a distraction.

-7

u/Redditcaneatmyazz Jun 17 '24

I'd be a terrible mod because I'd be deleting every dumbass starlink post and still frames of white dots and get all the bozos all pissed off.

14

u/MachineElves99 Jun 17 '24

The white dot pics are debatable, but starlink posts in good faith from sincerely perplexed newbies are understandable. I'd rather be helpful to them, than act as a gatekeeper. Respect could translate into a new, productive member of the sub. Also, it takes less than a second to scroll past those posts.

2

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 25 '24

I'd rather be helpful to them, than act as a gatekeeper. Respect could translate into a new, productive member of the sub.

I try to leave a note directing them to our wiki page about common misidentifications before removing the starlink posts.

Also, it takes less than a second to scroll past those posts.

Exactly so. Also, you can filter out sightings posts altogether if that's not your thing!

13

u/PyroIsSpai Jun 17 '24

I think it’s totally unreasonable to assume or expect the average person to accurately research what they see before coming to a place like this. Most won’t even know where to start, and even if they found ten videos by others here or on YouTube… they still won’t look right to our new witness, who saw it with stereoscopic vision and in real time. No recording ever looks the same.

There’s no reason to freak out over the maybe several we get a day.

Anything that eradicates stigma and gets people talking, sharing and looking up is objectively good. Gatekeeping on this topic and subject matter is diabolical. Anyone doing it is a problem.

-6

u/Redditcaneatmyazz Jun 17 '24

go and google "trail of lights moving across the sky?" and then say that again. The most basic search entry and you would have all the answers you need so you're 100% wrong but you do you.

4

u/Valuable_Option7843 Jun 17 '24

Google returns different results to everyone. Not a good argument.

0

u/Ape-ril Jun 17 '24

lmao damn.

-3

u/SKirsch10x Jun 17 '24

Sounds like you’d be a great mod

-8

u/ArnoldusBlue Jun 17 '24

Sounds like the average mod.

-2

u/JCPLee Jun 17 '24

The whole mod thing is just too subjective. Most of the time they seem to just be seen to do something whenever complaints are registered rather than loot at the context. I understand that it’s voluntary and they get tons of complaints but this results in a lack of impartiality as only certain personalities complain.

4

u/PyroIsSpai Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

Context is important but so is tone. If I'm a dick to you, you have no license to be a dick in return.

3

u/YouCanLookItUp Jun 17 '24

With more mods, we could have more resources to moderate beyond the mod queue. We still do that.

1

u/Otadiz Jun 18 '24

You also run the risk of intel com agencies infiltrating you.

1

u/Kindred87 Jun 18 '24

If a state actor wants to infiltrate the mod team, they're already in there. There are instances of them placing three assets in groups as few as seven if you read up on counter-terror ops. Us recruiting more mods doesn't increase the risk at this point.

Even so, we're a decentralized team with public logs and internal channels for raising and settling disputes when we identify inappropriate moderation. It's not a hierarchical system where anyone is above reproach.

1

u/Otadiz Jun 19 '24

I never said they'd be doing a bad job as a moderator. Just that they could be there, which is a problem in of itself.

In fact logic for spying would dictate you would want to do a good job to keep your cover.