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Re:The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Of... by wsb_mod3 on Saturday October 22, 2022 @03:30PM (#33301358)
I think they main incentive that drives people to initially become moderators is the desire to keep the community they operate in clean and rule abiding.

In well-policed communities where moderators actively listen to users, or where people feel reporting and flagging mechanisms work, I would imagine people generally feel empowered enough that they are satisfied remaining a regular user.

I don't think many moderators seek to expand their rulesets, as it really just becomes additional (often free) work for them. Increasing and enforcing more rules is a cost that is only worth bearing when what isn't being actioned is causing enough damage to warrant the additional work.

Re:The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Of... by Nomentatus on Saturday October 22, 2022 @05:02PM (#33302209)
I've too often seen moderators decide that their job is to prevent controversies; often leading to them forbidding any poster from contradicting any other poster; creating a "first misinformation wins" forum. This is less work for them, way less cognitive work but it creates ridiculous and unfortunate results.
Re:The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Of... by wsb_mod3 on Saturday October 22, 2022 @05:16PM (#33302310)
Do you mind giving a few examples? I can't think of any communities like that.
Re:The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to “The Of... by Nomentatus on Saturday October 22, 2022 @05:54PM (#33302556)
These were disease-centered facebook groups mostly, but also writers groups, etc. The common idea was "If you disagree, just move along. Don't comment."