Reddit mods discuss forming a union and suing for back pay

https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14bbznz/reddit_made_the_mistake_of_ignoring_its_core_users/

by TMWNN • 3 years ago

17 16 3 years ago

old.reddit.com

TMWNN• 3 years ago

I have heard, but cannot confirm, that elsewhere in /r/modcoord there is a discussion of how $125K is the worth of a Reddit mod's work.

I can confirm that last year a Reddit mod estimated that his work is worth $175K because he saves lives <https://np.reddit.com/r/35orquit/comments/qw1v3e/what_do_peo...>. Be sure to read to the end, where he explains how he "saves lives".

jleyank• 3 years ago

Was there some kind of performance contract that moderators signed or is this asking for a pony? I would have thought nothing was ever written down or even verbally implied, but what do I know.

Like offering “exposure” when asking a band to play your bar…

bombcar• 3 years ago

The very fact that they do it for free shows the value of their work - it is zero.

If they really were the garbagemen of the Internet they’d be paid accordingly.

But they get paid in power and influence which is what they want (and got).

darkhorse133• 3 years ago

Well put, there will always be people willing to do this for free, so the value is actually $0.

kobalsky• 3 years ago

I don’t like power tripping mods either but in the face of a soon to be a publicly traded company that statement smells.

They got groomed into doing stuff for free for a medal or badge and we think it’s fine?

peddling-brink• 3 years ago

This is just incorrect. Doing something for free is not the same as the work having zero value. Are you claiming the value of the work of all volunteers is zero? Is the value of donated blood zero? Does open source software have zero value?

Let’s assume you mean that they don’t deserve to get paid because they’ve been doing it for free. That don’t make any sense either. Most people have done things that they could have or should have gotten paid for. Opinions change, their demands can change. They have a skill, and they want to be compensated for it. If this was a solved technological problem, we wouldn’t have mods in the first place.

Don’t confuse value and cost. One of those is much more flexible than the other.

fullshark• 3 years ago

This is no longer about third party apps, if it ever was. It's about mods learning where they fit within the site's power structure, and not being happy about it.

hirundo• 3 years ago

There's a youtube guy who goes around and landscapes people's yards for free. He does good work; it's a valuable service. But if he later returned to the house and demanded payment he wouldn't have a leg to stand on. That would be the same leg that the Reddit mods are missing.

unaindz• 3 years ago

It's not like they are asking to be paid for the 15 years they have been doing work for free, just starting now.

The equivalent here would be to say that the guy has to do any landscaping for free from now on as he has done it for free before.

40yearoldman• 3 years ago

That’s fine. Ans the mods who want pay now can just loose their modship. It’s not their site. Not their servers and are owed nothing.

Mods have always been abusive and used their outweighed power to push their political agendas. It’s time they got a taste of their own medicine

PepperdineG• 3 years ago

There's a youtube guy who goes around and landscapes people's yards for free. He does good work; it's a valuable service. But if he later returned to the house and demanded payment he wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

What you are describing doesn't sound free though. It sounds like in consideration for media and film rights - the compensation - the property owners get a service. It's like Extreme Home Makeover was done for 'free' for homeowners but was not remotely free in that was a broadcast cable show that people assigned certain rights to in consideration for 'free' work.

That would be the same leg that the Reddit mods are missing.

There isn't exactly a bright line as to when someone should be considered a paid employee or not, but just with your own example, if that 'YouTube guy' was filming and profiting off the videos he made without releases from the homeowners he himself could be sued where it would be that he could owe the property owners, which is not a remotely applicable situation to Reddit moderators. If film, TV, commercials, etc are done on someone's property that's a whole different thing from employment law.

darkhorse133• 3 years ago

As someone who dislikes most parts of Reddit, good riddance. As someone who dislikes powertripping mods on internet forums, also good riddance.

marcomourao• 3 years ago

This just shows Steve Huffman's incompetence and lack of foresight as CEO. It seems he only noticed the mods depend on 3rd party apps after the API price announcement. He should have implemented the announced moderation tools first and then kill the API.

potsandpans• 3 years ago

reddit was hiring about a year ago for their "developer platform", I talked to one of their recruiters. I inevitably passed on the interview process because they did not seem like they had their shit together.

It's possible that they monumentally fucked up timelines here but committed anyway due to some ephemeral IPO plan.

Reddit mods discuss forming a union and suing for back pay

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