I know that moderators are supposed to look out for anyone breaking the rules and lock/move threads that are either not suited for their original forum or are not appropriate at all, but what else do they have to do? Do they have quotas? Do they have any specific requirements like, “You must keep your post per day at least at a 1.50,” or, “You must monitor 500 threads over the course of one month.”
Just curious to know. Moderators’ answers are preferred.
Also, a side question: what’s the difference between an administrator and a moderator? What extra duties does an administrator have? Do any of you get paid?
No, there are not quotas. We’re expected to stay involved with the board and mod when we can, but there are no specific requirements on our post count or activity. We all have different demands on our time and some forums get more posts than others.
The admins have some extra capabilities: we can merge accounts and ban IP addresses and email domains, for example. We can make other people moderators. In the event of a water landing, an admin can be used as a flotation device whereas a moderator is shark bait.
No. We get free subscriptions to the board and when possible we get a Straight Dope staff coffee mug, but we’re not paid. TubaDiva does some additional work on the Straight Dope homepage and I think she is compensated for that.
I’m in charge of biting people and vivisection when we need to test our newest prototype of the Telezapper. We’ve still got a few bugs that need to be worked out.
Just curious. Do former moderators who remain members get to keep their perks like free membership? I don’t begrudge them if they do. They’ve put their service into this board and deserve some reward for what is a voluntary and often thankless task.
