Do moderators read every Fluther question?

Nope, that’s why they rely on users to flag questionable items. (Most, if not all, question titles probably get read, but they don’t all get clicked on, and certainly not every post is read).

Interesting. I wonder if they receive many flagged posts.

As a former moderator, I can tell that yes, they get many flags. I would have a couple hundred emails daily.

A couple hundred?

Wow. Didn’t expect that answer.

What made you want to moderate? Why are you not moderating now? Did you ever feel overwhelmed?

As @syz said, we don’t read every single thing written. Perhaps between all of us, we read most of what is written, but I’m sure we still miss things, even with getting flags from the members of Fluther. Sometimes, we even flag things for each other (such as when we are actively involved in the question or if we are unable to take care of the problem at that time).

Please forgive the questioning…I find this all very interesting.

Approximately how many moderators are there? Are these all volunteers? Is there moderating training? What makes a good moderator?

That’s what flagging is for.

There are 6 mods and 1 manager right now. You can see a list of them here . The mods are volunteers and yes there is mod training.

Sadly, we’ve got that evolution debate q again – I just did my part, so sorry :)~
It’s like a virus.

When things are very busy, there is just no way we’ll see every question. I do try to look at most of them, but some inevitably fly under the radar. That’s why flagging is so important to us. Everyone in the community can help maintain the quality standards, and I love that!

What makes a good mod: A fair-minded individual with an even-keeled personality, who is fairly diplomatic and willing to help out. A thick skin sure helps, too. Mods are not universally loved, heh.

As @Seaofclouds said, we do have a training protocol for new mods. First, they read the moderator’s manual, then there are a couple of hands-on practice sessions with me (by way of IM/chat). After that, there is an observation period…they read every mod email and watch what we do while not actively modding anything, just to better understand the process. Their first official mod action usually takes place while I’m chatting with them, and a new mod is born! ;)

You guys have this down to a science. Kudos for committing yourselves to the task. Undoubtedly a pain in the butt more often than not.

Time consuming in the very least.

Sounds a whole lot like this mentoring detail I’m on. I’ve been assigned 3 students who must complete 15 cases a day. That’s 45 cases a day I’m supposed to review, correct, and explain the correction.

(Please note that I emphasized ‘supposed to’.)

I really appreciate the time taken to explain the process.

Keep up the good work.