What personality traits actually make a good moderator ?
I mod a few communities here and on Reddit, and something genuinely can't wrap my head around is how extreme some moderators get. I've spent time lurking mod support communities just to understand the mindset, and honestly? A lot of what I've seen is concerning.
A big one: mods actively pushing for tools that let them dig through user profiles including people who dont even participate in their community- just to "check for bad faith." That's not moderation, that's surveillance. You're a volunteer on a platform, not a federal investigator. Do you want their home address too?
My personal approach is pretty simple: follow site rules because have to, but beyond that I'm not combing through your post history because you said something disagree with. Your belief system is yours. That's not my business asa mod.
I genuinely think mental and emotional health should be an informal prerequisite for moderation. If you can't tolerate differences of opinion without going full detective mode on someone's profile, you probably shouldn't have the role. The best mods I've seen are balanced, fair-minded people who understand that healthy communities need room to breathe not a power-tripping gatekeeper watching their every move.
What do you think makes someone a genuinely good moderator?
Sign up for OddsRabbit
Join communities like /c/askrabbitors and never miss posts like this. Every signup donates a meal for a child in need. Learn more
+14
View comments
Comments
I just think they should be a good curator and keep the values clean, like a janitor that comes in at midnight but you can't tell if he's the CEO or not. Just sweepin'
Good idea
Tbh all does a good mod requires is a little bit of empathy. And ability to let go. All that should really matter is the moderation should just be little task to manage if things go south not a full time job that gives you 6 figures. Yeah you seem to get it pretty much.
is this real
What makes you say that I'm curious
you really shouldn't have to ask that question just be yourself and don't act like your above everything and everyone
Me looking for a Reddit alternative and finding this place is due to how crazy and ban happy the mods and admins over at Reddit are. I lost a 13 year old account because of their crazy ban happy behavior.
Omgg i totally agree with you, i wanted to post on a sub but im not allowed because "nsfw post history" even tho reddit literally warns u when opening a 18+ profile lmao. Dont even get me started with those subs that expect you to have one bajilion karma and one thousand million year old account ໒꒰ྀིっ˕ -｡꒱ྀི১
Yeah it's pretty messed up, and really frustrating
I only enforce the rules for my communities and try to be as civil and respectful as I possibly can be I’m not about to go through someone’s comments or post history and be hateful/powertrip I’m just here to have a good time and help others have a good time and maintain some semblance of respect and good vibes with everyone
I think that's the reason though. Like we're all there to have a good time and have fun, right? I think for the power tripping mods it's more of like a personal thing for them I guess? If that makes sense. They want to walk around and enforce their agenda and I think that's the difference. We're on there to have fun and have a good time. They're on there to be a hall monitor
Someone who can put the community or sub over their own personal feelings.
Hands down, totally get it. I'm only on two of the bigger subs On Reddit, and honestly I only feel like I'm a helper. In a way, whereas I don't really have authority like the other moderators who founded the community do so I kind of have no say in how they want to run it. For the one sub that I do run and founded myself. That's kind of how I operate. I like to keep everyone in the community included and I put my personal feelings aside when it comes to moderating