It’s inevitable that the subs are going to start opening again, one way or another. Best thing to do is just leave Reddit and not worry about whether the protest is still going at this point.
Reddit can't actually replace all of the mods. They're bluffing. I'm not saying its impossible given infinite time, but on the timelines they need it is impossible. Imagine trying to replace even 200 top subs worth of mods. If you just take anyone who volunteers you're going to have months or years of having to intervene and replace the ones that go on power trips. Trying to vet them extensively would also be a pain and take far too long. And then there's trying to familiarize the new teams with the customized mod tools of a team which was just all fired...
They can't do it without making the shitshow even worse. Bad for their IPO. The mods backing down right now are idiots.
I really don’t understand how that threat makes someone want to play ball and open it back up. Wasn’t the point to hurt Reddit? Wouldn’t a mod team departure cause a bit of a ruckus? Seems extra silly to protest and then back down when your mod rights are at risk…
I mean, if I were the mods in question I'd do one of two things:
Riot. See if we can get goatse on the front page in the 30min before the sub gets locked. I'd get purged and replaced, the sub will be reopened without me but whatever - cause the biggest mess possible on the way out.
Quiet rebellion. Stop removing spam and disable some key automod settings. "Sorry guys, turbulent times, you know?" Allow low effort memes. Delete the occasional important post for BS "rulebreaking". Over the next couple months you can probably destroy the sub.
Thanks for bringing this up; it's an important conversation.
Mods have a right to take a break from moderating, or decide that you don’t want to be a mod anymore. But active communities are relied upon by thousands or even millions of users, and we have a duty to keep these spaces active.
Subreddits belong to the community of users who come to them for support and conversation. Moderators are stewards of these spaces and in a position of trust. Redditors rely on these spaces for information, support, entertainment, and connection.
We regularly enforce our subreddit and moderator-level rules. As you point out, this means that we have policies and processes in place that address inactive moderation (Rule 4), mods vandalizing communities (Rule 2), and subreddit squatters (also Rule 4). When rules like these are broken, we remove the mods in violation of the Moderator Code of Conduct, and add new, active mods to the subreddits. We also step in to rearrange mod teams, so active mods are empowered to make decisions for their community. The Moderator Code of Conduct was launched in September 2022, and you’ll notice via post and comment history that this account has been used extensively to source new mod teams.
Leaving a community you deeply care for and have nurtured for years is a hard choice, but it is a choice some may need to make if they are no longer interested in moderating that community. If a moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, we will invite new, active moderators to keep these spaces open and accessible to users. If there is no consensus, but at least one mod who wants to keep the community going, we will respect their decisions and remove those who no longer want to moderate from the mod team.
True story. I started two gaming related subreddits 12 years ago. Combined, the have about 170,000 subscribers. They are still thriving communities and I have 0 say in either of those subreddits. I picked a mod for each subreddit and let them run with it. One of those subreddits went dark, the other did not. Again, I didn't interfere.
People sometimes need something in their lives to give it meaning, and as weird as it is, modding these communities provides that.
Yeah, mods can be like online versions of Homeowners Association horror stories, but also the majority of mods put hours into a thankless task. It's hard to quantify the benefit of good moderation because when things start falling apart, it's usually a slow and insidious decline.