Are moderators just purely altruistic? Or do they have an ulterior motive?

  • curiosityLynx@kglitch.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    113
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    There’s a middle ground between being altruistic and having an ulterior motive:

    You want the community you’re willing to moderate to not be filled with crap because you personally like it better when it’s not filled with crap.

    • curiosityLynx@kglitch.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      46
      ·
      1 year ago

      Kind of similar to how most people clean their home primarily because they don’t like living in filth rather than to benefit society.

      • curiosityLynx@kglitch.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        And some people have Opinions™ about where forks and spoons go in the cutlery drawer and where to put sporks and get annoyed at their flatmates when they blindly grab from where they expect the forks to be and end up with a spoon in their hand instead.

        • trouser_mouse@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          1 year ago

          I have an opinion on this - the order in the drawer is: knives, forks, spoons.

          (I will take my spork-organising advice from t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m!!!)

            • Regna@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              9
              ·
              1 year ago

              … so you’re telling me I need five slots for spoons?

              Salt/caviar spoon, coffee spoon, tea spoon, dessert spoon, tablespoon

              spoiler

              Salt/caviar spoon, coffee spoon, tea spoon, dessert spoon, tablespoon

              I’m a monster who separates only the tablespoon into a separate compartment.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                5
                ·
                1 year ago

                Wait, you have a coffee spoon and a tea spoon? Fair enough, you’re not a monster, you’re just weirdly anal about spoons. I’m not criticizing. I’m being weirdly anal about silverware placement.

                • Regna@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  7
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  There are two more spoons I lack in this collection. But no, I just like this series as it’s semi-retro, and I thrift it at second hand stores and at auction sites.

                  I was joking otherwise, just wanted to throw my punch in this discussion. :D

            • Regna@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              1 year ago

              How do you feel about forks in the same slot?
              Pickled herring fork, sandwich/dessert fork, table fork, pickle/crustacean fork

              spoiler

              Pickled herring fork, sandwich/dessert fork, table fork, pickle/crustacean fork

              Although, I have to admit I keep these in three separate slots.

              • sneeple@reddthat.com
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                1 year ago

                These are great, the long ass skinny one is my favorite lol. But why is there a fork specifically for pickled herring? And who uses a fork for a sandwich??

                • Regna@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  The long ass skinny one is great for pickle jars on the dining table. We love pickles.

                  The herring one, well, it’s called “sillgaffel” in Swedish. We do use it when we eat pickled herring, but also for olives and other small delicacies served in small bowls instead of using tooth picks to pick them out.

                  The “sandwich” one is accompanied by a “sandwich” knife, and are intended to be used for appetizers, and according to an older friend, single sandwiches with ham and (sometimes melted) cheese would be served as appetizers occasionally.

                  There are dessert forks as well, but they are rare. There are proper crustacean forks too that I would like, as they’d be useful.

                  There also are supposed to exist fish forks (and fish knives) in the series as well, but I kind of stop before that.

                  Thank you for subscribing to obscure Swedish cutlery facts. Reply with NOOOOO STOOOOOP! to unsubscribe.

              • Regna@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Omg, I just found out there are two more forks I don’t have! Going to waste a month tracking them down… (Ignore me, this reignited my sometimes-pastime of completing my cutlery, just wanted to share some of my joy.)

          • Margot Robbie@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            TTRPG enthusiast u/trouser_mouse, omg. (sometimes I get mistaken for you) Is it true that you once painstakingly arranged hundreds of aluminum sporks inside your trousers and set half a dozen mice loose as an experiment to create a makeshift automatic xylophone?

            • trouser_mouse@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              Yes, it is! I can’t believe you know that!

              It was a very complex process, fraught with danger because of both the sporks and the half dozen mice. To be honest, I didn’t really think it through - but then isn’t that how all the best inventions involving mice and/or sporks happen.

              The mice despite my best efforts have actually been breeding, so the descendants of the original mice are currently preparing to play Barbie Girl by Aqua for the premier of Barbie on July 21, 2023.

              This is what it might be like https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fc6AujDe28o (fyi this is not footage from in my pants).

    • livus@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well said. I think this idea we all have that altruism and self interest are mutually exclusive, is wrong.

      In reality, when we’re in a community, what benefits the community and what benefits us, are often the same thing.

    • Terevos@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      This is exactly it.

      I volunteered for several subs because I didn’t like all the junk I was seeing and wanted to clean it up.

      And now I’m starting some communities here on Lemmy because I’d like to enjoy similar content without going to that other platform.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yep, I’m usually not a moderator, but occasionally if they are being asked for and the community I’m part of is turning to shit, I’ll step up.

    • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      Sometimes it’s reluctance tinged duty. Like "I really like this community, it’s well moderated and the current mod team are pretty balanced in their decisions. Except they’ve said they’re struggling with the load. Oh no, if it becomes too arduous, we’ll start losing mods and then we’re at risk of losing the culture we’ve built up here if newer mods have different priorities.

      Sometimes chipping in as a mod is the lazy option when the alternative is a worse browsing experience (or finding a new place when a community goes to hell)

      Like you say, it’s a misplaced between altruism and my own motives

    • FearTheCron@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      This especially holds true for niche subjects. I love back country skiing so I created and moderate /c/Backcountry . The mirror community on Reddit is extremely small and dumb crypto spam sits around for days before removal because there is only one mod. He seems like a cool person dedicated to the sport, but he just can’t be there all the time. I created the community in the hopes that I can invite and keep a larger mod team.