I can't stand by and watch stuff like this happen around here. I will not support subverses (by featuring them or making them defaults) with moderators who impose questionable rules such as "your post has to end with a questionmark". Moderators need to calm their tits and focus on nurturing and growing their communities. Rules can always be bent and what better time to bend the rules then now, while Voat is still growing and under development?
I am thankful for moderators who help keep Voat spam-free and I respect your work. I really do. I started working on automoderator for comments and submissions and your job will be made much easier when this is implemented, but for the time being, moderators need to relax and focus on removing spam and eventual illegal content. If I submit a new post and it gains some traction (hundreds of comments, views and upvoats), and my post gets removed because I broke a rule by forgetting to include a question mark in my submission title... well, I would be pissed. People take removal of their comments and submissions very seriously and moderators must think twice before removing stuff if they want to avoid offending users. Voat has a ranking process where time acts as gravity and older posts will eventually fall off the frontpage. Voat also has automatic public moderation logs and everything you remove will still be visible in these modlogs and your actions may be questioned by the community, just like what happened yesterday.
This action can be reverted if /askvoat mods can convince us that the issue has been dealt with or if some other, less restrictive community takes over.
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TheKillerRabbit ago
We need to institute a system where the subscribers can elect/kick out mods through voting. Subs turn to shit when mods are allowed to go unchecked for their actions. Thank you Atko for showing us that you don't take kindly to mod abuse.
SpaceRosa ago
And how do you stop it turning into a popularity contest? Worse, how do you make sure the better mod comes out on top and not the mod who panders to whatever the circlejerk/popular attitudes are at the time? You'd never see a more liberal moderator voted in by people on this website, even if they were absolutely the most fit for the job. People are too quick to associate that with thier boogeyman SJWs.
goatboy ago
Why would we want to stop it from becoming a popularity contest? People become popular because they have support. People with community support should be given a chance to lead.
SpaceRosa ago
Just because they're popular doesn't mean they're going to be good mods.
goatboy ago
What does that even mean? On voat, Mods are inglorious janitors. Reddit is the place where mods are allowed to have delusions of grandeur.
SpaceRosa ago
It means what it says. Popularity is not the same thing as ability or skill or knowledge. You can be the most loved on the whole website, but that doesn't determine whether or not you would do well as a moderator.
goatboy ago
There is no skill required... at all.
If a mod ever has any doubt about what to do, the answer is always: Do nothing, the votes will figure it out.
Only idiots worry: bu, bu, but whut 'bout muh rulz?!
SpaceRosa ago
No. You have to have understanding, and you have to know how to engage with your userbase. You have to know when is necessary to take action, and when to hold off. You have to know what's appropriate according to the subverse's needs at changes. These things take skill and thinking to get just right.
goatboy ago
Nope. Literally no skills required.