Gaia DESPERATELY needs new moderators.

[StarvstheForcesofEvil]

I just wish we had mods who didn't take certain things so personally when speaking to users. emotion_eyebrow Like, you do it for free on a dressup game calm down sweetheart.

[Morbid Gnome]

Dogoda

I thought you could reapply after six months plus one day after you applied?

I believe the submission system allows it, but if you already have an active app in the system, there's no need to apply again. It's kinda like reporting: multiples just clogs up the system.

[Ghosts of a dead empire]

StarvstheForcesofEvil

I just wish we had mods who didn't take certain things so personally when speaking to users. emotion_eyebrow Like, you do it for free on a dressup game calm down sweetheart.

✬ This sort of condescending attitude is probably why they take things personally sometimes. Without people "doing it for free on a dressup game" this place would be an absolute s**t show. That's not to say that some reactions from mods aren't overboard sometimes, but have at least a little empathy?

[Yui Ichijo]

I know Gaia's forums are much slower now and that they are understaffed... but wow. After reading all these posts I never realized just HOW understaffed it was. Ten years ago it was around 150+ mods, now it's about 50+ barely. No wonder why some boards are really bad.

Many moons ago with sparking young eyes, I dreamt of being a mod. But because I can't keep my mouth shut, don't have the patience for reporting, and genuinely have no time outside of work and study, it's become nothing but a dumb pipe dream. I commend every mod for all of their hard work and all of the crazy things they have to deal with on a daily basis. I've seen a lot of topics threatening mods over the years and I don't know how you all put up with it.

I hope the return of old staff encourages users to apply. It's a bit intimidating imo, but also keeping the site clean is a satisfying feeling.

[angelfromdown-under]

Yui Ichijou

I know Gaia's forums are much slower now and that they are understaffed... but wow. After reading all these posts I never realized just HOW understaffed it was. Ten years ago it was around 150+ mods, now it's about 50+ barely. No wonder why some boards are really bad.

Many moons ago with sparking young eyes, I dreamt of being a mod. But because I can't keep my mouth shut, don't have the patience for reporting, and genuinely have no time outside of work and study, it's become nothing but a dumb pipe dream. I commend every mod for all of their hard work and all of the crazy things they have to deal with on a daily basis. I've seen a lot of topics threatening mods over the years and I don't know how you all put up with it.

I hope the return of old staff encourages users to apply. It's a bit intimidating imo, but also keeping the site clean is a satisfying feeling.

Actually it's more like >30 >_>

At any rate, it honestly wouldn't matter how many mods we have, it would never be enough xP

[MiameMiame]

Why would you apply to be a moderator? Seriously? Gaians are assholes sometimes and you don't seem to get a thing in return. In my 10 years of being on this site I have never considered to be a mod, despite knowing the community and having over 6500+ posts.

[Menstrual Cramps]

MiameMiame

Why would you apply to be a moderator? Seriously? Gaians are assholes sometimes and you don't seem to get a thing in return. In my 10 years of being on this site I have never considered to be a mod, despite knowing the community and having over 6500+ posts.

That's your opinion though. There are definitely a lot of users interested in the process, there is just lack of action.

[leaf]

I agree that it's unlikely Gaia will ever have enough mods, but they could have considerably more than they do now and be in a better position.

--

MiameMiame

Why would you apply to be a moderator? Seriously? Gaians are assholes sometimes and you don't seem to get a thing in return. In my 10 years of being on this site I have never considered to be a mod, despite knowing the community and having over 6500+ posts.

The same reason people do litter picks, etc, in real life. When there's a mess in your community, someone has to clean it up, so why not sign up and do it yourself? It can be very satisfying to be able to go and fix something instead of having to wait until someone else has time to do it. Instead of reporting those 40 advertising threads in your small forum and waiting until someone has time to look at the reports, you can clean them up yourself and you get to see the result of that(a usable forum, whoop!) instantly.

Also some people are just the helpful sort in general - no-one has to answer questions in site q&a or c&t either, but they do anyway and some of them only post in those places - their whole Gaia experience is helping others for no real reward.

Both of those are reasons why I applied way back when(I waste a fair amount of time on other sites helping people with their Xbox issues, etc. and I genuinely enjoy doing that too), I know there are other reasons, but those two seemed to be the main ones for other people that I spoke to about it at the time.

---

Menstrual Cramps is right, it's not a shortage of applicants(plenty of people want to do it), they just need for staff to sort through the apps, accept/decline people, contact them, set-up training, etc. and unless they're actively focusing on doing that, it doesn't get done(they're short-staffed, blah blah blah, everyone's sick of me saying it, I know, but it's true). I hope they can find/make the time to do it soon because every time they delay, they lose people who were interested before but don't want to re-apply and wait another two years+ for a response.

[Menstrual Cramps]

idleRAT

I hope they can find/make the time to do it soon because every time they delay, they lose people who were interested before but don't want to re-apply and wait another two years+ for a response.

This 1000% this.
People are going to get so tired of reapplying over and over because their applications time out and expire.
Also welcome back.

[Parodius-Daryl]

I have given much thought about applying for modship, however, I never met the requirements. I might be close by now. I'll have to find the thread that hosts the details for applying to be a mod. If I do I should learn all there is before I step into something so daunting.

Edit:
Silly me, the mod application was in clear daylight, i need to check my eyes!

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/site-questions-assistance/moderator-application-faq/t.46243481/

[Menstrual Cramps]

Legal

[Seraphim Call]

As a former mod, I left about 7 years ago, shortly before I stopped visiting Gaia completely. At that point I had burned out on the website for at least a year, but I remained because I wanted to help.

In the end, I had forgotten how to enjoy the website as a user, and the years of dealing with spam, gore, and porn took its toll; some of it which was deliberately sent to me. Most of it didn't really bother me aside from going 'gross' but the reports that stuck with me the most was when I had to deal with severely illegal pornographic content being advertised. After handling that, I pretty much logged off of Gaia and just walked away from the computer for the rest of day. Fortunately, those sorts of issues were fairly rare, but it was a factor in me deciding to step down.

Not to mention the harassment it can lead to; one mod that I knew of at the time had her n***s being spread among users and spamming the forum with them. If anything, it's harder to find someone who's willing to stay as a mod for a significant amount of time after dealing with issues like that.

I'm not disagreeing with you - even when we had about 150 mods on the team, we were still understaffed and always needing more. But it's not as easy as simply just processing mod applications; it's more like a job interview where multiple people review and weigh in on each individual.

[Menstrual Cramps]

Legal

[Calelith]

"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

I'd totally apply to be a mod if I wasn't my usual self and got myself so many warnings and bans over the years.

"Ph’nglui mglw’nfh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."

[Sheer_Immortal]

Seraphim Call

I knew your name looked familiar. :3

Former mod here, also; I forget when exactly I became a mod, but I left about 6-7 years ago, too. I burnt out so hard on being a mod that I completely quit the site - just logged off and didn't come back until recently. I had a similar experience and feelings as Seraphim Call - Gaia had become a job instead of a fun place for me. It was also difficult dealing with the shocktroll BS day in and day out. Even the little things - remembering to clear your cache after dealing with signatures so that you don't disable a person's signature needlessly. Dealing with tone police because it's difficult to be authoritative-yet-friendly over text. Balancing being accessible to users' questions and concerns with your need for quiet work time and/or privacy.

Being a mod is a huge amount of responsibility and stress. I would never do it again. That said, I absolutely commend those who tried, those who are still mods, and those who are in the application process. It is an absolutely necessary role here. I believe that the current administration knows this, and I can only hope that they get some regular money rolling in so that the user base can become a priority again. 3nodding