# Rise of the "Moderatocracy" - we have been warned **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229 "2015-07-26T13:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/1 "2015-07-26T13:06:53Z")
We all knew that our moderators were a secret cabal, bent on world domination. [Now there’s proof.](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/magazine/when-the-internets-moderators-are-anything-but.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-middle-span-region®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-middle-span-region&_r=0). ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/2 "2015-07-26T14:19:44Z")
Great article, **Chefguy**. I’ve long thought that unpaid moderating is the perfect hobby for masochists. I used to moderate on a (now-defunct) BDSM website with a politics forum. You ever “time out” an internet tw00 Dom? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/3 "2015-07-26T14:30:35Z")
Where are the jack boots? Come on, I wanna see jack boots! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/4 "2015-07-26T17:04:30Z")
If we ever raise $50 million in venture capital, I suppose the same thing could happen here.😃 I liked this bit: > [@](#): > > At the height of the controversy, Reddit’s chairman and co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, pleaded with moderators to reactivate their subreddits. He sounded rather like a zookeeper, trying to coax back into its cage the angry lion who had just devoured a park guest. I am Moderator! Hear me roar!🆒 > [@](#): > > A convoluted moderator culture has developed, full of intrigue and drama. Moderators are deposed after power struggles; the community is periodically wracked by allegations of payola and other schemes in which moderators game Reddit for personal gain. Moderators parse Reddit employees’ every post to see if other moderators are in or out of favor with the company. Yup, sounds like this place.😃 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/5 "2015-07-26T17:37:23Z")
Quis moderiet ipsos moderatores? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/6 "2015-07-27T20:52:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > We all knew that our moderators were a secret cabal, bent on world domination. Hence the phrase “All things in moderation”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/7 "2015-07-27T22:53:12Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Hence the phrase “All things in moderation”. And perhaps “severe to moderate plaque psoriasis”? Also, it’s abundantly clear that moderators are suppressing responses to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/8 "2015-07-28T15:07:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > And perhaps “severe to moderate plaque psoriasis”? See, this pisses me off no end. I have psoriasis, but nobody gave me a freaking plaque. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/9 "2015-07-28T21:17:12Z")
I’m a moderator on another forum. I have a mod name and a personal name on the board. My personal name once got in an argument with another poster. Admin IM’d me and told me to moderate myself. Oh.the.shame. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/10 "2015-07-29T00:15:27Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > I’m a moderator on another forum. I have a mod name and a personal name on the board. My personal name once got in an argument with another poster. Admin IM’d me and told me to moderate myself. > > Oh.the.shame. Did you admonish yourself? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/11 "2015-07-29T05:57:35Z")
I realize this is a just a silly thread, but just in case anyone did want a more serious take on this, we did [discuss the article](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=763437) in ATMB. As is, we’re all safe. No mods here have that level of power, to shut down the board and prevent people from posting. Just watch out for the return of **Marley** the banninator… ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rise-of-the-moderatocracy-we-have-been-warned/726229/12 "2015-07-29T07:08:59Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > …BDSM website… > …with a politics forum… There is a joke in there somewhere, I’m sure of it.🙂