Someone who will communicate proactively with the existing mod team and ensure alignment with the team's moderation decisions.
Someone in a non-continental-US time zone. Note that this is not a requirement for any given individual to be a moderator. The mod team does want to come out of this process with at least one person who may be nominally awake when our US-centric team is not.
Someone who will commit to helping the forum for between 12-24 months and then step down.
Someone who is already an engaged member of the community.
Someone Brandon S. will personally trust to help maintain the Insert Credit community.
Here‘s how we’ll be doing it:
Nominate yourself by sending a PM to @antillese and @exodus char=““”>“Mod Application - {Your User Name}”
Write a short statement about why you're volunteering your time and how you hope to help the community. Pro tip: Keep it short! Pretend you’re a moderator and you have limited time! Communicate clearly and concisely.
You may not nominate someone else, but you may absolutely encourage other community members to step up as a moderator. Feel free to shout out people who you think would be good in this role in this thread or in PMs to those individuals and encourage them to apply. This is a great way to recognize positive community members in a meaningful way and encourage people to apply who may not have considered it!
The application window will close Sunday December 17th at 12:01 PM Pacific Time.
The team will review the applications and make decisions by the end of the year. The goal is that new moderators will be in place by January 1st.
I‘m considering throwing my hat in the ring, but I’m concerned that I won't be able to devote enough time. How many hours per day do mods typically spend on moderating the forum?
I'd also endorse the above posters and wayyy too many individuals to list out. This place is full of thoughtful people who care about this community and I especially encourage the folks who post and like posts in places like the #NewMember and #GirlsSide threads to apply, since that kind of stuff does help to make people feel more welcome here!
@whatsarobot I can only speak for myself. How much time I‘ve spent moderating the forum varies quite widely on a daily or weekly basis. I spend probably about 1-2 hours a day “on the forum” and that’s gone up from what I spent before I started volunteering. The hours are broken up quite a bit as I check them generally in the morning, at lunch time, and in the late afternoon so it‘s not like you need to commit to a contiguous block of time. I don’t read every single post, but I try to be aware of the vibes in every single thread.
I've also spent a fair amount of time researching (externally) and leading the review processes for our community guidelines. That wasn't "on" the forums per-se, but it was directly related to the position.
@marurun yeah. From the guidelines linked in the OP:
Moderators are expected to serve a term ranging between 6-24 months depending on the agreement they make with the Admin team. This will promote a healthy forum culture by preventing concentration of power, and preventing burnout by rotating responsibilities
@rejj Genuinely delighted that the guidelines were able to be quoted by a forum member and they explained a policy!
And answering the next question I'm sure you all have, I started volunteering in May 2023 and I intend to step down about January 2025. Ideally I'll help the new moderator cohort adjust, and help with the selection of the next cohort and be done for a while.
I will say maybe a thing other people also feel: I have care for and place value in this community and its stability, but am not in a position to be able to (nor likely qualified to) contribute officially/consistently. I, and I think many members of this community, are committed to being caring, listening, and proactive supporters of the work of mods (speaking up clearly when we hear something being received differently than a speaker expects, encouraging constructive rather than destructive approaches, showing care for the impact of our words on others’, etc).
I know this tending is a different thing from being on a team trying to make practical decisions, but I just want to say (and allow others to say via thumbs upping) that when I am around, where I’m around, I do wholeheartedly try to support the health of the community. I know that’s ultimately not all that’s needed, but it’s what I can do. This is not some throwaway side area in my internet life - it is basically the sole bastion of what a healthy internet looks like that I’m a part of. (Insert link to whats wrong with the internet and how can we fix it)
@MDS-02 One of the reasons I (and others) help out here is exactly what you pointed out: the community is a community and cares about itself and each other. Just because you (plural - I mean anyone) is not in a position to help out formally for whatever reason doesn‘t mean that you are not a valued member of the community. I’m helping out now because I can right now and know that someone else will help out when I'm done too.
And following up as a general note: we have several superb people who are offering to step up and help moderate the forum. The current mod team will be reviewing the applications formally after the application window closes. I feel confidant about being able to maintain the stated end of year timeline to have new folks onboard.
… when I am around, where I’m around, I do wholeheartedly try to support the health of the community. I know that’s ultimately not all that’s needed, but it’s what I can do.
It may not be all that's needed, but that support (as it has come from everyone so far) is absolutely foundational to what this place is, and is worthy of recognition.
I read the applications of recruitment a while back. I wish I could help right now, but there are certain socioeconomic bullshit happening around me right now. Gotta say, though, that I might be able to offer myself as a host in the next round (or at least, I hope so).
The application window has closed and the the team is reviewing the candidates. Thanks for everyone's support and feedback during this process as we grow the team.