Why become a moderator?

I think you must have to have a masochistic tendency to become a moderator. Also an inscrutable face.

And a great set of legs.

^^ Suck up.

It requires the uncanny ability to ”... keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” (Rudyard Kipling) and of course “a great set of legs.” (@ChazMaz)

the fame…the fortune…the PANCAKES.

Well, I do have a great set of legs. If hairy and unshapely is your thing.

Shucks. I just spend so much time on Fluther, I figured it was the only way to repay Bendrim for all of the bandwidth costs from me!

Despite the fact that I haven’t been answering too much lately, I do spend a lot of time on Fluther and always have. I don’t have much else going on, so I can dedicate a lot of time to moderating (if the need were to arise).
There’s nothing really to say as to why I chose to be a moderator. It’s entertainment for me. I like to see the site get cleaned up. I like to help users, I’m always in the chat room willing to give somebody a hand. I like to help the Staff/other mods. I like to be helpful, I guess.

You’d expect an essay from how long it took me to type this. Nope! I was just playing computer games while typing it.

edit: “What are the benefits?”? Hmm.. I get lots and lots more emails these days! Also, playing a slightly bigger part in where this site goes is cool. There’s another cool benefit that I hope will come soon that you’ll get to see. Being mysterious really hypes things up, doesn’t it? It’s not really something that exciting.

Does it have to do with Pancakes?

Why? The chance to work along side augustlan.

(They are all in a room together, you see. Basically it’s a boiler room.)

I like the thumbscrews! And the floggings!

Can I get a more relevant answer por favor? The other answers are funny and entertaining, but I am still hoping for more honest answers.

Well, you can only get that answer from a Mod. :-)

The rest of us are here for the shrimp cocktail.

To read the CIA thread.

::laughs:: @ChazMaz

So you can feel what it’s like to be God?

The CIA’s cake, popcorn and pancakes in that well-stocked frizzer, just waiting to be shared with some sexy droid.

This is gonna’ be long…

Why did I become a mod? Because they asked me to. Prior to that, I’d never even given a thought to becoming one. When they asked, I felt like it was a way to give back to a site that had given me so much. I had a lot of free time, so why not put it to good use? So, I foolishly ~ said yes.

The benefits? Hrm. That’s trickier. There are pros and cons, for sure.

Pros: Getting to know the other mods and the founders better… they are a fantastic group of people! Helping out our members. Having a hand in keeping Fluther what it is… the best Q&A site on the web. Getting nice PMs from people who appreciate what you’re doing. Giving input into the direction the site takes. Moderating and banning trolls and spammers <POOF> and they’re gone. Being able to see moderated responses is quite the thrill… the CIA thread looks entirely different when you’re a mod!

Cons: Far less time to be an active member. Dealing with mod-hate (I have been called some astounding things, including a bitch and a nazi). Massive email over-load… prior to our most recent changes, it was not unusual for us to receive over 300 flag emails a day. Moderating other mods, founders, and your friends. Banning your friends (that one’s really hard.)

Later on, when Andrew asked me to be the community manager, I—foolishly ~ said yes, again. As the manager, I have additional responsibilities which come with their own pros and cons. I won’t bore you with the details.—

How does one become a moderator? When we need new mods, we think about our community and come up with a list of folks we think would fit the bill: Fair-minded, even-keeled, level-headed, logical… those are the traits we’re looking for. In addition, they should spend a fair amount of time on the site. We also sometimes look for people in certain time-zones, to fill in a gap. We get our nominees from everywhere… other mods’ suggestions, member recommendations, folks who volunteer themselves, etc. We narrow it down and then Andrew and I decide who to ask. If they accept, the initiation begins. HINT: It involves chains and whips. ~

@augustlan Horrible answer. ;-)

@augustlan: Chains AND whips?!?!?

See…I would’a been OK with “chains”, but you throw in “whips” and you lose me entirely.

Guess I’ll never be a mod. :^(

@cprevite What a shame… and you have such nice legs too.

@Dog: Why thank yo…wait A MINUTE…
How do you know?

@cprevite We mods have cameras. :D

@cprevite Ve haff our vays.

@augustlan is full of sh**. It’s all about the $$$. She does it because of the incredible paycheck she gets from the pep boys: Ben, Andrew, and Tim.

@AstroChuck aw Chuckie, you just wanna get [back?] on the team so she’ll give you your cut!

I’d say it’s to have access to all the groupies. Kind of like being in a rock band or a basketball star.

@shilolo virtual groupies?

@shilolo- Wilt the Stilt? Couldn’t you have gone with Bill Russell instead?

@AstroChuck You obviously didn’t make the connection between Gene Simmons and Wilt the Stilt. Maybe this sports star will make it more clear.

That’s right, folks. We have free sex thrown at us all. the. time.

What? I haven’t had free sex thrown at me at all since becoming a mod! This isn’t fair at all! @shilolo, quit hogging!

@Sarcasm Seniority has its perks.

@Sarcasm It’s because you don’t like the whip.

@shilolo- Duh. Please forgive my stupidity.

At the risk of being labelled as a suck-up or whatever, I respect the commitment and patience the job of moderator requires and I have observed rather admirable characteristics in the moderators I’ve come to know better,

Thanks

@Dr_Lawrence- Suck up.

or whatever.

@augustlan Do you have a minimum lurve a member must have to become a mod?

@papayalily No. Even markyy is a mod. ;-)

@papayalily Nope. We do like to choose people who’ve been here for at least a little while, but there’s no set limits on lurve or length of membership. :)

Would… say… $20 get me a moderator position? ;-)

@ChazMaz- That’s my favorite sexual position.

Have done him ^ for even less.