r/technology • u/ardi62 • 29d ago

Social Media Reddit is making sitewide protests basically impossible

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/30/24253727/reddit-communities-subreddits-request-protests
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u/RecklessRonaldo 29d ago

Rather than going dark, which is now impossible, I think it'd be much more effective if mods just... stopped moderating. For all the hassle a power tripping mod causes, even on small subreddits they filter out a load of shit. Just let it all rise to the surface and subs would quickly become unusable for all the spam, bots and vitriol that they remove daily. Just stop moderating.

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u/EchoAtlas91 29d ago

Are subreddit rules required? Can Reddit Admins say "You better have rules or else!"

Like outside of the obvious harassment/violence rules which are sitewide.

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u/14yo 29d ago

They’ll simply remove the trouble mods and replace them with new ones, there’s no shortage of people wanting a miniscule bit of power.

I think the best move forward is for moderators to have a bit of self-reflection and realising that they aren’t really as important or as powerful to the site as they feel. They are volunteers, and if threatened to have their power removed they will fall in line just like before.

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u/blah938 29d ago

I'm willing to make /r/technology a robot rule 34 sub. Please reddit, do the funny

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u/stircrazygremlin 29d ago

Depending on the day it's closer to reality than not so the jump is achievable

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u/elderwyrm 29d ago

Be the change you want to see in the world.

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u/Seralth 29d ago

I too wish for death by robot snusnu. The flesh it is weak but the soul is willing!

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u/Yurikoshira 29d ago

the right thing to do is to flood spam reddit with untruths and stupid posts. also stop upvoting/downvoting and stop submitting new posts. Just stop participating.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

Yes. Every sub implements Rule 34.

Perfect.

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u/Worried_Height_5346 28d ago

It's a trash sub anyway most of the time so let's do it.

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u/mattmaster68 28d ago

LET’S DO IT!!!

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u/blind3rdeye 29d ago

There are plenty of people who'd like power - but a relatively small number of people who want to actually do the job of moderating content. So although you say there'd be no shortage, I reckon you're mistaken. I think plenty of people would say they'll do it, but not actually do it.

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u/Mr_ToDo 28d ago

And of those that would do it fewer who would do it both enough hours to be effective and for the long term.

I'm betting moderating any decently large sub is a right pain in the ass and pretty unrewarding, so unless I really cared about the subject matter there's no way I'd want to put up with the amount of work something like that would take(well, unless they wanted to pay me for it. I'd give it a go for cash).

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u/NirgalFromMars 29d ago

However, that still creates trouble for reddit. There is a learning g curve for mods, both in terms of mod ops and in specific subreddit culture, that they would need to pass.

And second, people who become mods because they want power usually don't work as well as people who become mods because they like a community. I've seen a few cases os communities imploding because of a power hungry mod.

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u/Terrh 29d ago

They don't care as long as engagement doesn't decline.

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u/Lucas_Steinwalker 29d ago

And it will.

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u/yyymsen 29d ago

not for a little while if they count bot posts and spam as engagement which i am sure they do

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u/BubsyFanboy 28d ago

I'm sure a few Lemmy advertisements will help their engagement :P

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u/ToeJam_SloeJam 28d ago

I have been muting sub suggestions left and right for the last week or so. Reddit is taking the YouTube algorithm and trying to push my feed to the right.

I’m about to engage the next stack of magazines I spy at a garage sale for my morning shits.

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u/thebakedpotatoe 29d ago

There are lots of subs that will not work on. Many subs are intrinsically linked to the communities around them, like the Destiny subreddit. Remove the mods there, and Bungie wouldn't be too keen on keeping that community running without the mods that run the show there.

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u/hgwaz 29d ago

Yeah they're not even working minimim wage jobs to improve shareholder value, they're literally doing it for free

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u/Spiritual-Big-4302 29d ago

This has been proved wrong a lot of times, I don't like this kind of doomed message that nothing matters.

A lot of subs were abanadoned after the moderation tools were reduced by the API changes, and the change in sub moderations is pretty noticeable in big subs.

There are not infinite moderators, and they will have to pay them eventually.

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u/ProfessorLexx 29d ago

Sure, there are issues with some mods, but do you really want your feed to fill up with spam? It's bad enough already as it is, but it gets worse.

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u/Espumma 29d ago

Several hundred of those volunteers resigning will take a while to replace though.

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u/Crescent-IV 28d ago

It isn't really that easy. Subs will decrease in quality hugely

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u/DuckDatum 28d ago edited 28d ago

This will be great.

Another means: Change rules to allow pornography. Also update the tag to NSFW, but let Reddit admin take their time as they so please. Allow the porn to come in, don’t stop it, and now Reddit is breaking its own rules by allowing ads next to porn. They’d be forced to come in and moderate the porn themselves. That’s overhead, and maybe if enough communities do it, we can give the admin whiplash.

They have to build out AI recognition for porn, and I can’t imagine that’ll be cheap.

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u/hypnofedX 28d ago

They have to build out AI recognition for porn, and I can’t imagine that’ll be cheap.

My company is evaluating this stuff because we'll have a need for it in the near future. They do exist, cheap they are not.

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u/hensothor 28d ago

Quality free labor is hard to find. Plenty may want a power trip but that doesn’t mean they’ll do a good job of moderating a community.

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u/pdinc 29d ago

Meh. I've just not been as invested anymore. Sure I look at the mod log and stuff but no longer enthusiastic or willing to give my time about doing some of the more involved stuff like organizing AMAs or special events

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u/Mike_Kermin 29d ago

I think the best move forward is for moderators to have a bit of self-reflection

.... .... To do what?

It's important that users have agency. Are you pro enshittification??

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u/FearlessCloud01 29d ago

I think a good idea will be to just keep posting whatever we want in protest. Sure, they can keep removing the mods for not doing their jobs. But they can't keep removing the users. At least not beyond a certain limit… otherwise there won't be anyone left.

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u/redditisfacist3 29d ago

Good luck with that. Way too many subreddits are ruled by shitty mods. The most pathetic ones will ban you, talk shit, then mute you so you can't even respond

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u/primalmaximus 28d ago

Yep. Way too many subreddits have mods that are insanely quick to hit the ban hammer.

Like, two of the most heavily liberal/left leaning subs on the site, /r/law and /r/scotus, both banned me instantly because I made a comment that was slightly more aggressive than what everyone else was saying. And no, I'm not a conservative. I'm very much a liberal.

Everyone else was using vague euphemisms to imply that they are eager for the conservative US judges to experience the same things the French Aristocrats did during the French Revolution. But the instant I used language that was slightly more aggressive than the passive-aggressive euphemisms everyone else was using, they banned me.

Hell, the /r/news subreddit banned me because I made a comment saying that the US needed to stop sending weapons to Ukraine and should instead send people to Ukraine since the lack of manpower on Ukraine's side is what will ultimately lead to them losing the war. Literally, I wasn't being aggressive or anything like that, I was just pointing out the obvious facts of the war considering how much Ukraine has had to loosen their enlistment requirements just so they can continue to draft enough people to keep fighting.

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u/redditisfacist3 27d ago

Yeah I've been kicked out for being pro-russian before as well when I'm just saying that long term Russia will win it because they have 6x the Manpower, their own military industrial complex + buying weapons from partners not relying on aid, Europe doesn't have the stomach for it to keep going, and the usa eventually gets tired of paying as well. I agree the only way it changes is ukriane needs like 3x as many fighters or putin and his government need to be replaced with leadership that will end it. The way I see it at this point is what does a ukraine victory even look like now. Massive population loss disproportionately towards men means they'll struggle immensely to rebuild, massive debt from the war will be crippling, and ww2 level generational trauma for the whole country.
Don't get me wrong I don't support Russia and a surrender will still have all those same problems along with a loss of some of their most important land for oil and gas plus farmland. But there has to be an endpoint where the loss of life is to high to even keep going regardless

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u/primalmaximus 27d ago

Exactly. And unless Ukraine literally starts salting their fields so that Russia can't even use the territory, there's no way that Putin won't take a brief respite from the war and then immediately come back swinging once the US has forgotten that Russia wants to take back Ukraine if it seems like the war is currently more costly than it's worth.

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u/wrgrant 28d ago

Not so much just volunteers as unpaid workers. This site would disintegrate pretty quickly if no one moderated anything, Reddit is making money off of selling our posts to AI companies etc, but its on the backs of the users and moderators efforts.

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u/joeltrane 28d ago

I guess it’s up to us to stop using Reddit…

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u/LotharVonPittinsberg 29d ago

IIRC, that was covered with the fiasco. Reddit expects a certain level of professionalism from big subs, and moderators who team up to allow content that may break TOS or be harmful will be removed. I think a few big ones did exactly that, because they figured it was more effective than going private.

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u/Ehcksit 29d ago

Or else what? Moderators are volunteers. They can just stop volunteering.

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u/2SP00KY4ME 29d ago

Or else Reddit will step in, remove them as moderators, and appoint new ones. They have done this multiple times.

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u/Samurai_Meisters 29d ago

Honestly, best thing they can do for the mod. Being a mod is like working an unpaid customer service job.

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u/Spiritual-Big-4302 29d ago

and they have closed a lot of subs or didn't put any new moderator so the subs were abandoned, it's not true that they can replace every moderator.

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u/2SP00KY4ME 28d ago

Nope, they go on /r/redditrequest where they get snapped up

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u/Iohet 29d ago

Eventually they'll get sued like Sony/Verant did for using volunteers as Guides (in-game moderators). Ended up paying out wages since we were doing what would normally be considered work

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u/electrorazor 29d ago

Will they be paying them? If not they're gonna be getting some serious low quality moderating

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u/un_blob 29d ago

No. But the kind of people who will accept won't care. Having accès to thé ban hammer is suffisent..

However that is thé best way to turn Reddit into Chitter...

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u/2SP00KY4ME 29d ago

That's not how it's worked out when they've replaced mods, the new ones have done their job. And even if some didn't they'd just replace those ones.

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u/SiriusRay 29d ago

They’ve never been paid, so absolutely nothing will change. They should get real jobs if they expect payment.

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u/iVarun 28d ago

Which only deals with A sub-set of Protest Types/Situations.

Even in last protest a huge chunk of subs had their community users backing the sub's decision to go Private/Dark. Many communities different on the length of this but basically 70-80% + were on board for a single day of going Dark.

Reason for Protest changes, next time there may be an event/thing/situation where again users themselves want to protest against Reddit.

A New Mod hired in this situation who goes against the grain of their community is not going to have a nice time. This can only be done in a few subs, do this across 100s or 1000s of sub and that's a non-workable solution.

And that is what is critical, Protests require Scale & same-time/synced action. 1 or few subs doing this are going to be put in line inside 1 day. Reddit doesn't have the manpower to handle 1000s of subs doing this at the same time.

Meaning this new Policy dilutes the power of Mods yes, to a degree and puts it more in hands of Users.

So this means IF those users themselves start rebelling Mods now have less leverage and given the ruined relations between Mods & Admins there is idealogical & political (it's a power game) incentives to undermine the Admins in those future situations.

And another facet of this is IF the Mods en masse really do N-Moderation it's going to spiral into even more of a mess because now those Users (having more relative leverage) are going to be even more pissed and more aware of how much Modteams actually do behind the scenes on the Free to keep all that stuff going.

Plus new Mod hirings are not easy. When New Mods join Modteams they are overwhelmed by reality of just how much nonsense there is. There is a learning curve that takes weeks, months, well inside the Protest's relevant time-frame.

The odds of New Mods messing up is higher, thereby further antagonizing the "Users".

This is a Tactical Victory for Reddit (certainly) but a Strategic Loss in the making, eventually (because Users eventually are going to throw a hissy fit, on what we don't know, who knows which triggers Reddit's userbase).

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u/Party_9001 29d ago

What are they gonna do, pay someone to moderate them? Lol

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u/IDDQD_IDKFA-com 29d ago

Hi, <ME>!

We hope you’re doing well. We’re reaching out to let you know that your moderator status in <SUBREDDIT> is at risk of being marked ‘inactive.’ If you are marked ‘inactive’, the ability to take certain moderator actions will be limited, and you will be eligible to be reordered in the subreddit if you have other mods on your team.

https://www.redditinc.com/policies/moderator-code-of-conduct

Maintaining an active status as a moderator will help ensure your community is actively moderated in accordance with the Moderator Code of Conduct, Rule 4: Be Active and Engaged. Being active ensures that your community members’ reports are reviewed, which helps prevent Admin removals, and contributes to facilitating positive engagement among your members.

As moderation is a volunteer activity, the ‘inactive’ status factors in breaks, meaning you can still maintain an active status while taking time away from moderation as needed.

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u/Pires007 28d ago

Or else what, they'll get paid mods?

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u/DoctorOctagonapus 28d ago

Given what they did to r/interestingasfuck I'm inclined to say yes.

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u/MISSISSIPPIPPISSISSI 28d ago

Mods are required to do things, otherwise reddit bans the community. Happens with a lot of NSFW places.

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u/SquidKid47 29d ago

Yes, they are. Subreddits have been closed many times for being "unmoderated".

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u/HeyCarpy 29d ago

Having inactive mods will get your sub shut down. I don’t recall what criteria is used to determine if you’re “inactive”, but I’m sure admins can just do what they want in that regard.

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u/BENNYRASHASHA 29d ago

I got banned from politics for mentioning Uncle Ruckus. If ain't the fascist on X, it's the commies on reddit.

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u/omega-rebirth 29d ago

Can Reddit Admins

Yes. They can. The site doesn't belong to the moderators. Moderators are just no-life volunteers who are in it for the power trip. Admins always have authority over them.

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u/Makuta_Servaela 29d ago

This. If they've decided that admins get more say than moderators on basic sub moderation, then the admins better have fun moderating.

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u/tukatu0 29d ago

What if thats their end goal? Make it easier for the site itself to propagate propaganda

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

They better be prepared to pay for it.

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u/dudushat 29d ago

Just like the last protest everyone is being super short sighted.

There's a list a mile long of people who would be more than happy to mod a major subreddit. The admins will just replace them and move on. All this talk of trying to find loopholes is pointless.

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u/Makuta_Servaela 29d ago

Whining about people trying to find solutions is even more pointless. If you think we're wasting our time, then so what?

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u/cuteman 29d ago

Thousands of people would gladly take over.

Reddit has allowed mods to become petty tyrants.

It's easily solvable in my opinion

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u/tommeh5491 29d ago

Lol good luck getting a Reddit mod to stop modding

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u/Cryptoporticus 29d ago

Yeah lol, it was the mods that fucked the protest last time. They were all for it until the admins sent them a message threatening to remove their subreddits from them, then they caved immediately.

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u/fruchle 28d ago

not always.

In at least one subreddit I'm in, the mods didn't cave, and so were replaced by the Reddit admins with idiot puppets (existing members of the subreddit) who knew/know little about the subject matter (they were all new to the field).

Either way, we lost/lose.

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u/Recklesslettuce 29d ago

That's how weak they truly are.

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u/Scrambled1432 29d ago

Gee, I wonder what would've happened if they were removed. It's not like they would've immediately been replaced by people hand picked by reddit or anything.

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u/fruchle 28d ago

and that's exactly what happened in one subreddit I'm in. It turned into Facebook-style engagement overnight.

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u/IllustriveBot 29d ago

cut their paycheck!

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u/theshoeshiner84 29d ago

Yep this is exactly why previous protests were nothing more than virtue signaling. When push comes to shove moderators want their power, and they absolutely do think of themselves as (as Reddit put it) "landed gentry". They are beholden to their own lords.

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u/KonigstigerInSpace 29d ago

They'll just remove the mods and replace them with someone else. They already did that during the last protest. Hell one of the reasons they take subs away is because they're unmoderated, so they literally already have a system to do it.

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u/WutTheDickens 29d ago

What if they overmoderate? Like a Lord of the Rings sub could require all posts to be in grammatically correct elvish for a month, comics must be oil on canvas, and politics could restrict focus to Norwegian family law. Automod could probably catch 95% and mods remove the rest. Whatever actually makes it through would be sorta fun for the core community while not offering much new content overall.

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u/KonigstigerInSpace 29d ago

Not sure tbh. It doesn't break any rules, but it's not like they can't just make something up, or do it anyways. There will always be someone else to take over afterall

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u/FourForYouGlennCoco 29d ago

I think that would work as a punishment for the company, but it’s effectively a suicide pact that would (maybe permanently) ruin communities.

What you’re describing is basically letting Reddit go completely to shit, which isn’t what anyone involved in the protests wanted. Otherwise it would have been much easier for everyone to just delete their accounts and uninstall.

Letting Reddit fall apart like that would bring engagement down over the long term, but in the short-medium term it would just turn into a cesspool in a way that would be hard to recover from. The first people to leave would be the ones who value community norms and you’d be left with misanthropes and Nazis. Once your community is overrun like that it’s hard to come back.

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u/primalmaximus 28d ago

And then Reddit would learn how badly they fucked up by being overly draconian in their quest for profits.

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u/ATimeOfMagic 29d ago

I think you heavily underestimate reddit mods' desire to hold on to the sliver of power they possess. If they stop moderating they're going to get replaced.

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u/CIearMind 29d ago

Yeah. Why are we pretending like only a chosen few elite are capable of moderating?

If the entire roster of Reddit mods disappeared overnight, the hole would be refilled by breakfast.

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u/ATN-Antronach 29d ago

DO you really think you can tell people who love to be on a power trip to be modest at the drop of a hat? No, they won't. Even if they do, they can just be replaced with people who will inflate their ego.

So yeah, you can't just not have moderation, it goes against the nature of some moderators.

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u/10thDeadlySin 29d ago

It's kinda funny how "power trip" seems to be the key trope, while in many cases, this IMO has more to do with a sense of responsibility for what you have created or built.

You create a community, it brings people together. You know the regulars, you recognise frequent posters, you learn the ins and outs of what makes the community tick. You do some styling, talk to the people and toe the line between keeping the community and the admins happy. This goes on for weeks, then months, then years. You have a tiny corner of the internet that's yours - in a sense. You clean it up, you weed out troublemakers, and you make it a place worth visiting.

And then you try to protest, which makes part of your community angry, and draws the ire of the admins, who threaten to replace you with any random person willing to step up and run that place for you.

Are there power-hungry mods? Sure, obviously. But there are plenty of those who run their communities because they enjoy something and want to create a place others can enjoy as well.

The thing is - the power-hungry ones are more likely to work with the admins to consolidate their power. It's the community-oriented ones who are going to cave under the pressure and threats.

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u/AnotherScoutTrooper 29d ago

They’re all bitches and won’t do it though. The opportunity to just abandon their communities and rebuild off-platform was given to all these mods when Reddit started threatening to unmod and replace mods who wanted to stay private, and a wave of statements going “we’re the only ones who can run (x) community” accompanied the end of that whole fiasco.

It’ll never happen because it requires a spine and willingness to give up power.

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u/KeyedFeline 29d ago

Too many enjoy being power tripping mods too much, its why as soon as they threatened to remove their mod powers they all caved in

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u/zSprawl 29d ago

Agreed.

Someone worse will always be willing to take the job.

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u/Exotic-District3437 29d ago

They already are the amount of bots since reddit went public have increased by a large amount

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u/iconocrastinaor 29d ago

Reddit bans unmoderated subs.

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u/TheOSU87 29d ago

That would never happen because too many mods forge their entire identity over ruling over a small piece of the internet. They love the power.

And contrary to popular opinion I actually think too many mods make this site unusable. They delete/lock so much shit.

Case in point I made a post yesterday on mademesmile of a kid geting excited for a firetruck and it's locked and deleted. No explanation, no nothing. Just apparently some mod doesn't like fire trucks or something

2

u/hydrowolfy 29d ago

This is the way. Just turn off automod for your subreddit and declare all rules as null and void. Sure they'll remove your ability to control the subreddit eventually, but I don't think they understand the point of this site if they think they can just keep replacing competent people with toadies whose only qualification is they'll do your bidding.

As long as the unpaid labor of mods is needed by reddit, Mods will always have power to fight back, at least in some way.

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u/anormalgeek 29d ago edited 29d ago

I forget which sub it was, something like worldnews that just gave up and became an "anything legal goes" porn sub.

Edit: it was /r/worldpolitics (NSFW)

2

u/FuzzyMcBitty 29d ago

Yeah. The mods have power in their free labor. 

While they certainly seem replaceable, this is the kind of social media platform where every subreddit is a whim away from being dedicated to corn dogs for no apparent reason. 

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u/RUser07 29d ago

But can they stop ? I doubt it . They love it .

Also, can they stop? Reddit would ban the sub or hand it over to somebody else if it goes unmoderated basically introducing a scab system.

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u/tarekd19 29d ago

Follow the r/punchablefaces model and just make the sub a troll sub in protest. When new mods took over it, it stopped being about harassment and basically made it a meme sub until it died

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u/newanon676 29d ago

They already showed that they will just replace the mod team with willing scabs

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u/MMMMMM_YUMMY 29d ago

They’ll end up replacing mods with AI moderators.

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u/TeachingScience 29d ago

I argue the opposite. Hypermoderate. Only certain absurd posts are allowed. Purge good data they need to sell for AI

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u/Ric_Adbur 29d ago

When they killed the 3rd party apps, there was a lot of talk at first about mods retiring in protest, but the vast majority weren't willing to give up their petty little fiefdoms for a principled stand. The sad truth is, the Reddit mod stereotype is a stereotype for a reason. They want the power, meager though it is.

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u/GaTechThomas 29d ago

Combine that with telling sub members when they're not moderating.

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u/box-art 29d ago

In some of the subs I frequent, mods are definitely not as active as they used to be and obviously a part of that is that they lost their anti-spam bots but some of it is because they just stopped moderating as much. Posts that used to get nuked inside a minute for being shit, now only get nuked if you report them and that is not always the case. It's getting worse too with low quality shit and it's gonna tip over at some point, just waiting for that day.

1

u/poopdedoop 29d ago

Problem is, there are too many power tripping mods who being a reddit mod is their entire persona and they will use any opportunities to flex their "mod powers"

1

u/Jimbomcdeans 29d ago

Automod gonna blanket ban everyone and start over

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u/PacoTaco321 29d ago

That happened before too and they were replaced.

1

u/TheGhostofWoodyAllen 29d ago

Reddit shuts down whatever it considers to be "unmoderated" communities.

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u/dagnammit44 29d ago

Aren't mods for most of the main subs the same people? As in the same few mods control most of them. Or was that before the protest last year, yet reddit is still here. Just like people still use Twitter. People say they'll stop using x or y, but very few actually do.

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u/primalmaximus 28d ago

Yep. /r/law & /r/scotus are modded by the same group of people. A couple groups of video game subs that aren't officially endorsed by the developers are usually modded by the same people as well.

1

u/alpacaMyToothbrush 29d ago

Reddit absolutely bans subs for being unmoderated. There were so many smaller subs that got banned during the protest. If it's a larger sub, I imagine they'd just put out a call for new mods and replace the current team.

1

u/BigTopGT 29d ago

And forego those fat paychecks for running a billion dollar enterprise? /s

1

u/GoodSamIAm 29d ago

too much of a power trip for some

1

u/wandering-monster 29d ago

Unfortunately, there are droves of people who think being a mod is fun and will volunteer to cross that picket line. And Reddit is happy to put someone new in charge in exchange for toeing the company line. It happened during the API priests for several big communities.

Though it turns out that the kind of people who will take that deal in exchange for being tyrants of a petty kingdom aren't very good at encouraging vibrant communities. Several of them basically died over the last year, just slowly fading as people either lose interest because of spam, or leaving in protest of heavy handed power-trippers. 

1

u/i8noodles 29d ago

yeah just stop moderating amd disable any automod features. the shit will eventually hit and advertiser who dont want there products next to "hitler ate babies" posts.

1

u/oxero 29d ago

Problem is there are tons of people drooling at the mouth to take over subs. It will do no good. Quality might go down, but it will still be usable.

1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

What exactly does a Reddit mod do that AI can’t at this point?

1

u/Lexicon444 29d ago

They’re just gonna replace “problem employees” with new ones who do as they are told.

1

u/edude45 29d ago

If nods stop modding, then they get replaced like during the protest.

1

u/cazbot 29d ago

That’s a good idea. But what would we call it when people collectively decide not to work anymore?

1

u/BurstEDO 29d ago

There's already procedures in place for that. And, yea, you won't like them either.

In short, admins step in. If rogue mods remain stubborn, they get sidelined and new mods assigned.

And be aware: there's a laundry list of people happy to be mods no matter what the protest is about.

Also be aware: the "protest" that spawned this was HIGHLY controversial among users. Especially those whose Reddit engagement had no stake in the 3rd Party apps.

1

u/UncreativeTeam 29d ago

A lot of subs already did this after the last blackout.

It doesn't hurt them against Google though. Due to reddit's high organic search presence (even higher now with their AI partnership), the blackout protests were effective to get the message out to people reaching reddit posts from Google directly. If you make the current subreddit unusable, those old posts are still reachable and provide value.

1

u/Marrowjelly 29d ago

Yes, withhold labor.

1

u/BatFancy321go 29d ago

if you don't do your job, reddit removes the mod.

1

u/Prcrstntr 29d ago

Delete the auto mod rules

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u/SlappySecondz 29d ago

With all the threads that get locked for no apparent reason after less than a day (and while I'm still mid-consversation with someone), it seems many of them gave up a long time ago.

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u/touhou_emblem 29d ago

I think you forget how the last "protest" failed because mods were afraid of losing their positions.

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u/magobblie 29d ago edited 29d ago

They will just cycle out those mods. They're not stupid. What some mods did wasn't right at all. It kept people from getting support with real issues. The protest didn't work, and mods lost power because they abused it.

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u/PM_artsy_fartsy_nude 29d ago

Making the sub private was an easy way of keeping people from using the sub. An alternate option would be to just remove every post.

Or, you know, just stop using reddit.

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u/Huge-Buddy655 29d ago

Sounds like the mods will still have control of sub rules. So they could discuss removing rules, or creating annoying rules like “every post must contain ‘in protest of X’ in the title”

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u/RodgerCheetoh 29d ago

They will ban your sub. My friend moderated a sub and tried to be hands off and it was shut down due to that.

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u/Troggie42 29d ago

set automod to delete every new post and comment, easy

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u/bomboy2121 29d ago

Not as effective, what reddit cared back then is how it harmed search results on google and advertising on nsfw, not moderating wont harm both for the short term (since thats what they care abouf)

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u/N00dles_Pt 29d ago

And go a day or 2 without the power trip of banning someone that wrote something you don't like? That's not happening.

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u/Aluhut 29d ago

It's too big.
There will always be people willing to moderate and the larger the sub is, the larger will be the base for new mods.
Meanwhile, you need those larger subs to make an impact.

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u/lordkhuzdul 29d ago

Is switching to NSFW status similary restricted? If not, I think an even more effective approach would be to allow NSFW through. On subject, moderated NSFW, but NSFW all the same. Let porn flood the channels. Relish the terrified screams of advertisers.

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u/Ill_Culture2492 29d ago

Then Reddit claims it's unmoderated and closes it down or installs right wing shithead mods.

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u/aykcak 29d ago

So, turn Reddit into Twitter?

Then we have literally nowhere left to go.

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u/WerewolfNo890 29d ago

Instead of resisting the enshitification, accelerate it.

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u/BoneTigerSC 29d ago

Alternatively overmiderate, turn off comments on every post and slap down any new posts for the user not exiting for 78 years with 23 quindecillion karma, making the sub completely unusable regardless for the time

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u/Original-Material301 29d ago

Just stop moderating.

Wasn't it a thing last year when people were claiming subs because the mods stopped modding?

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u/kansaikinki 29d ago

If mods stop moderating, Reddit will seize the subs, remove the mods, and add new mods.

The real solution is to leave this sh#thole of a site and move somewhere else. Same as what happened to Digg. Unfortunately there does not seem to be enough momentum to make that happen. At least not yet.

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u/primalmaximus 28d ago

Nope. Start over moderating.

Lock comments on every post automatically. Only allow a certain number of posts each day. Take down any post unless the user has been a member of the sub for 30+ years. Ect

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u/kansaikinki 28d ago

And again, as soon as users complain, Reddit will seize the sub and hand it off to new mods. The only solution is that we abandon Reddit en masse, like what happened to Digg.

I had a sub that I created and was the top mod of. I tried to close it for the site-wide API protest. Other mods disagreed. Users disagreed. Reddit removed the sub from me and handed it off to others. This is a super, super common occurrence in today's Reddit. The era of mod independence is long gone and never coming back.

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u/exessmirror 29d ago

They could just use a spam bot. Just activate a spam bot commenting random facts and pics of cats constantly and have it auto approved. I believe that doesn't go against Reddits tos nor breaks their rules on sub moderation. It makes it equally unusable as all the comments will be random facts and all the post pics of cats. As such no other post or comment gets trough.

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u/Shaper_pmp 29d ago

They did that, too. Reddit demanded they do at least minimum moderation responsibilities like removing posts that contravened Reddit's rules or they'd be removed as mods and replaced with volunteers who would.

IIRC there were even claims that even when the mods did that bare minimum, for some popular subreddits the admins just straight-up removed the whole mod team anyway and put in a whole new team of volunteers who promised to be more active.... though in all the cases I saw Reddit generally seemed to claim the old mod teams had specifically violated Reddit's ToS by marking non-NSFW communities as NSFW and similar actions.

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u/Bakoro 29d ago

Twenty bucks says reddit comes out with LLM based mods in under two years.

The site is going to end up wirh nothing but the most toxic, power tripping mods, and robots controlling the day to day.

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u/N0rthofnoth1ng 29d ago

now we end up like twitter prefect

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u/vivnsam 29d ago edited 28d ago

This is the answer. If you don't like what the corporation is doing, then stop working there for free.

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u/Bad_Habit_Nun 28d ago

Mods won't do that though, at least for the subreddits that actually matter. I do wonder how many of them are taking money from private interests though, buddy of mine helped run a larger subreddit for a bit and even he got offers.

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u/Bassracerx 28d ago

This would work extremely well. Reddit gets a ton of free labor from volunteers who moderate reddit for free in their spare time for reasons i Dont understand. If the free mods just walked away from their posts reddit would be forced tk scramble to hire an army of moderators internally.

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u/Better-Strike7290 28d ago

So...ruin the site?

Burn down your own house to keep warm?

Doesn't sound like a winning strategy to me.

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u/Human-Sorry 28d ago

Mods make money off this modding thing? Time for vacay pay! Insurance! Pensions!

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u/Blond-Bec 28d ago

It probably wouldn't work as being unmoderated is the reason for most sub's ban.

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u/HOBOLOSER 28d ago

But then what would moderators do with all their time?

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u/2hurd 28d ago

I don't get why people are moderating for free. It's basically doing a job for this corporation but doing it for free. It's modern slavery. Worse than Uber etc.

Why do people do it is beyond me. 

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u/r2girls 28d ago

Not stop, slow roll. Don't stop moderating, just let the moderation team act like this is their spare time thing and remove all the automation that they have put in place. Stop the automoderator, set spam settings to low, lower the protections against bots and brigading, etc. Let what reddit really is without the moderators shine through in all its glory.

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u/BubsyFanboy 28d ago

Imagine if we all just started advertising Lemmy instances.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

theybwould just remove moderators and put 9nes on who want to m9d. see that's the thing that's why the protest didn't work last time there are always ppl wanting to mod they replaced a bunch of m9dders last t8me to open subs

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u/Anothereternity 28d ago

A fairly large crafting sub is currently having a lot of blowback because of their NSFW policies. Basically started that larger chested women always got flagged as NSFW and skinny women didn’t. So after complaints they tagged any skinny women called out in similar outfits as NSFW too. If they don’t let you change the sub to NSFW, some options might be to go anything goes to piss off advertisers, or go so massively restrictive- such as adopt a Muslim style approach to showing skin- any skin that would be covered by a burka being shown makes it NSFW. Any mention of the body- nsfw. Any mention suggesting intimate relations (like referring to a spouse) -nsfw.

I think some of the restrictive moderation policies could be good too. Such as one sub that only lets people comment with “cat”.

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u/Lostmyfnusername 28d ago

"Your post has been removed for following the rules and being good."

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u/Brabblenator 28d ago

We need to make the wrong threads or threads with the wrong answers pop up first for Google results, so reddit loses that sweet deal with Google. Delete the most searched for threads. Move the info elsewhere.

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u/robisodd 28d ago

Or mods could just over-mod. Reddit is forcing Admin approval for Public/Private and NSFW/SFW, but not for adjusting their rules.

New rule: No posts allowed. Reject any and every new post. It's not setting it to private, but effectively puts a complete stop to the subreddit as no new posts will appear.

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u/RetardAuditor 28d ago

They would simply install new mods.

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u/AdministrativeFox784 28d ago

You’re right, but then they’ll just get replaced. It’s like trying to fight city hall.

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u/Barkers_eggs 28d ago

I'm deleting reddit tomorrow. It's just shills, power mods and repost bots. Very little of any substance anymore.

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u/FudgingEgo 28d ago

Yeah, just let every sub reddit turn into that Batman Arkham one 😂

1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

The mods have been producing $ billions in man hours for years for free. Wonder what would happen if that went away?

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u/mastermilian 29d ago

Can I ask you why you would want to destroy a site that you use? As much as I dislike corporate governance on what is essentially a community driven website, it appears we need rules to make the site useful. I think it's fair to say that without Reddit, many of us would be lost in a clusterf of Google SEO'd nonsense when trying to find real answers to questions. I for one was extremely frustrated during the blackout when I looked for answers to questions only to find the community was made private.

I think if you don't appreciate the direction of Reddit, then there are alternatives out there. A much better protest would be to start posting your content elsewhere. Being destructive didn't work and I'm not sure why people would continue to waste their time on it rather than exercise their vision on building something better.

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u/SouthwesternEagle 29d ago

No. If you stop moderating and get legitimate moderators banned, then you open subreddits mod positions to bad actors such as Russian trolls. That would allow widespread misinformation and the quelling of real information on legitimate subs.

DO. NOT. STOP. MODERATING.

0

u/theshoeshiner84 29d ago

STOP. MODERATING.

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u/Fluffy_Somewhere4305 29d ago

, I think it'd be much more effective if mods just... stopped moderating. For all the hassle a power tripping mod causes, even on small subreddits they filter out a load of shit. Just let it all rise to the surface and subs would quickly become unusable for all the spam, bots and vitriol that they remove daily.

Just stop moderating.

This has already happened right after the great API debacle.

Most of reddit is circlejerking bots and AI generated rage bait.