So being a Fluther moderator, what's that like, how'd you become one, is there a union, pay, etc.. . . .h-mmmm?

Moderating is a volunteer gig. No set hours, no wages, no office, no career path stepping stone (as far as I know). The “Staff” of this site do have an office and wages and a career path stepping stone.

We get the “job” by just being asked. Then there’s some training, and some “hands off” observing time before we’re allowed to destroy quips and delete users. Oh. I mean, before we can properly guide the question-and-answer process.

“What’s it like being a moderator?”
It’s cool, being able to help people and fix problems.
It’s annoying, seeing site drama, dealing with spammers and trolls.
And it’s full of emails I’ve gotten an average of 100 per day for the past 4.5 months.

Yeah. What he ^ said.

How is the money generated to pay the “Staff” . . . and you don’t get anything except our appreciation? That’s not fair, I’m sure you have bills to pay too! What kind of e-mails?

Fluther makes money via advertising (Users who aren’t logged in will see advertisements around the site), and they have some investors. That goes to paying for the servers, and paying the Staff to keep developing this site.
We get the users’ appreciation (I guess. A few users, at least), as well as the sense of satisfaction of having kept the site in good shape. All of us moderators are fluther users in addition to being moderators. We have personal interest in keeping this site in good shape, it’s not like it was just some role that was thrown at us by a stranger.
...But no I guess we don’t really get much other than appreciation.

We get all sorts of emails. If your question gets censored, we get an email. If you contact us about that censored question, we get an email. If you resubmit your question, we get an email. We get an email if one of your answers is moderated. We get an email if anything you write is flagged by other users. We get an email if someone is banned, or if a mod sent a Mod PM.

What’s a Mod PM? Well, I appreciate the moderator’s efforts…..even when I had to edit a couple of questions. I like the way the site is kept is good shape.. . .and my spelling is improving! Is the work divided up, or are all of you looking at everything, when you’re on?

To be honest, whether you like moderation or you don’t moderation, once you’ve been here long enough the questions from the newly born regarding moderators tend to get a little bit tedious but… moderators, do they work “From home. . .or is there a large aquarium some where?” lol. I’ve got to give you that one.

(blush), why, thanks!

A Mod PM is like a normal PM, except it says “Sarcasm privately said [as a moderator]” to make us look more official, and hopefully to make the users take heed of it more.

We don’t really split up the tasks between us, just whomever is online takes care of the issues that arise. Whenever I see @Augustlan is online, I just let her do all of the work. Makes things simpler :)

Uh, sorry, I don’t know what a normal PM is either = /

A PM is a private message, a.k.a. a ‘comment’, it’s how we communicate to each other outside of question threads.

Lots of emails, more drama than I’d anticipated, and there’s quite a bit more spam than I ever imagined. You guys have no idea what all kinda SPAM NINJAS quietly toil behind the scenes, saving Fluther from the barbarian windsuit, watch, handbag, or pink panties hordes intent on invading. Spam ninjas, I kid you not.

We work whenever we can. Sometimes there are a ton of us around, other times just a few. There’s no official schedule or anything.

Thanks for your good work… and your patience. I’m learning all the time (did you notice the little face at the end of my last comment)! ROFL-hip,huh! Night,night.

The mods completely make this site.

Three cheers for the mods!

Thank you @Sarcasm for the fine detail, and others.

What all of the fantastic mods have said above, but I have a few additions.

On how you get the position: When we need new moderators, we look for a few things: Fair minded folks with an even-keeled temperament. Well written, well rounded individuals. People who’ve been on the site for a while, and participate regularly (in other words, they’re invested in the site). Sometimes we want someone who has all of those qualities and is in a particular time-zone… helps close gaps in moderator coverage. (The mod team is international!) When we decide who would be a good fit for the mod team, we ask them if they’re interested in volunteering their time to keep Fluther in great shape. Usually, they foolishly agree. :p

Moderating can give you valuable job experience, worth listing on a resume, for sure. For me, personally, moderating has been a ‘stepping stone on a career path’, though I never imagined it would be. I joined Fluther a little over two years ago, and quickly fell in love with the site. After some time, I was asked to become a moderator, which I loved. You really feel like you’re making a difference on the site, which is great. When the two previous volunteer community managers stepped down, I was asked to take their place. I became the part-time ‘head moderator’, taking on many new duties. Very recently, Fluther offered me a full-time job with even more new duties. There’s an actual salary and everything! I now work for the site I love so much. How awesome is that? :D

Pretty awesome…

Good name for a band?: Auggie and the Mods.

Lurve you guys – you keep me this place sane.

I wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes (seriously, I wouldn’t) if it wasn’t for the FABULOSITY of Auggie and her minions!

@JilltheTooth – you rule! I feel exactly the same way.

how bout Auggie and the Doggies, since Dog is one too??

They are police dogs.

ruff