How do our moderators have enough time after their moderation duties to enjoy the site?

To me, it sounds like part of the fun. I do moderation on a couple of other sites, and it just flows right in with the play.

Here, I especially appreciate when I get a lot of “removed by moderator” in my Activity for You section, where they have had to go through and remove the spammer activity.

Moderation does have it’s drawbacks. As you alluded, the time spent on simply answering/asking Qs is reduced, as is one’s ability to be “critical” (at the risk of seeming impartial). It is a major trade-off, and not one that is obvious when you first sign up.

@shilolo I can well imagine.

I don’t have nearly the time to ask and answer as I did in my pre-mod (and especially pre-manager) days. That said, I try to keep up with certain questions, and always check the meta section. It’s a huge trade-off, as @shilolo says, but one that I feel is worth it.

Well, thank you all for what you do. Your work makes this site what it is.

@ETpro Thanks for that. It’s nice to feel appreciated! :)

Thanks for this question, it’s nice to be reminded sometimes that people appreciate what we do :)

…yes thank you mods x

Very good question. I have no idea how they do though. Have you ever thought that maybe their enjoying the site is moderating it?

My participation (answering, posting, researching) has decreased. Fluther is actually quite a bit less enjoyable for me since taking up moderating.

They practice good time management skills?

I love all of you moderators, btw.

There is a reason I declined offers to mod sites before. I did it once; never again.

Any mod that can still enjoy the site they mod is a better person than I! Similar logic prevents me from taking a job in the IT or auto repair fields.

@syz Thanks for a report from down in the trenches. And thanks for being down in the trenches for us so you could file that report. I do appreciate all the work you moderators do, and how it enhances the enjoyment of Fluther. Clearly, I’m not alone in that.

It is true that I have had less time to play in the questions since joining the mod staff. ~I no longer leap into the pool from the shed roof screaming “I am a golden god!”

Other than that it is all in good fun. ;)

Glad to hear there’s still some joy left in the swim, @Dog.

@jerv I wonder if all jobs are like that really… you know… you enojy something but if you take it up as a job it ruins the enjoyment? It’s certainly worked that way for me anyway

@lynneblundell Ever met a prostitute that genuinely enjoyed the sex?

@lynneblundell I used to enjoy electrical/electronic work until I spent half a decade doing it for a paycheck in the USN. When you are doing what you love as a hobby, you have the freedom to do whatever you want; to explore, do your own projects, etcetera. When you are doing it for money, there is a goal and often a deadline that prevents you from engaging in the enjoyable aspects of it.
I may be abnormal in quite a few ways, but I think I can speak for most people with a hobby when I say that part of the joy is the freedom. For instance, when I am building a model car, the only person who will say “That’s not what I wanted!” is me, and I am also the only person who cares when it finally gets done. I can afford to sit there with a one-bristle brush painting the needles on the dashboard gauges since I don’t have to worry about how time-consuming it is, but if someone told me I had to have it all done ready to ship in two days, I would have to sacrifice quality for speed and thus wind up with a result I am not happy with. Over time, I will feel less like a model-builder and more like a commercial whore.

@ETpro The only people I know like that do it for free :D