Rewarding moderation with Karma/Reputation

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Hi,

I was wondering if moderating could make a little Karma (like 0.1 per moderated post) ? A least for low-karma mods. Something that is not too much to avoid Karma-hunters farming the mod queue but allowing little-Karma mods to unlock following moderation tools.

Let me explain myself: i spend 99% of my time on UA moderating questions, so i don't have time to answer questions (there always lots to do with moderation) and gain Karma in the classic way. There are a lot of mod actions that i can't do (close a post, edit OP's post to add translation, ...). I hope it does not sound too Karma-hunter because it's not the case, i'd just like to access the other moderation tools through my work for the community.

Cheers, Waylander

Answer 1

Answer by Owen-Reynolds · Mar 02, 2016 at 05:13 PM

I can see the point, but disagree for two different reasons:

1a) The points are generally understood as Reputation. The intent is for other people to rate your helpfulness, etc... .

1b) Not all mod actions are helpful, and us mods can't agree on the right way to do things. I see mods use tools IHMO the wrong way, but don't say anything. Maybe they do the same with me. Giving points might make things more contentious.

It looks like you're moving Q's to the Help Room, which I think is helpful (but Gah! If we just had better tools.)

2) People will do things for free that they wouldn't do for a reward. Giving 1 whole point for moving 10 Qs into the HelpRoom might discourage someone who would otherwise do it "because someone has to." It would make you feel worse about the ones you have to think about, maybe Reject with a comment, knowing you were "paid" 0.1 points for all that.

3) Fix the guides/tools first. Strongly encourage Qs from new users to go into the HelpRoom area. Add a "Publish to HelpRoom" button. Add a "Send toHelpRoom" button to published Qs (which doesn't also send you into the HelpRoom, like Move does now.) Add a convertToComment button. Agree on how to handle "Me too" Answers. Then you won't need to spend 99% of your time on this stuff.

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KdRWaylander · Mar 03, 2016 at 08:05 AM 0

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@Owen Reynolds 1a) I do agree with that !

1b) Useful mod actions are those of the 1k, 2k and 5k level. I do move a lot of Q's to the Help Room because a lot of them are duplicate/how do i/debug my code/... a few Q's (the one that could be helpful for other people later on and that aren't already asked) are published into Default ... and ofc some are rejected (spam/code without any explanation or question/ ...). I'm maybe a bit harsh on Default Room accessibility but that's why help was created and a post can always be sent back to Default Room.

2) I would have said the opposite: people will do more things if they're rewarded. And i'm not sure to understand your point with the "feeling worse" ?

3) Adding new buttons is a good idea and would save a bit of time, but I$$anonymous$$O the real time consu$$anonymous$$g thing is to check for duplicates, read the Q, take a decision ... stuff that can't be cut off.

Owen-Reynolds KdRWaylander · Mar 03, 2016 at 05:14 PM 0

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Blood donation is the most common example. When we pay people for it, blood donation goes down. It stops being The Right Thing To Do, and turns into a gross way to make money.

Even in your post, you're not saying you deserve or need to be rewarded for doing $$anonymous$$od-only stuff. You do it for free now (so do I.) You're only wanting the other $$anonymous$$od abilities and suggesting a small Rep-reward as one way. With any reward, would you second-guess yourself about why you really moved those 10 Qs?

KdRWaylander Owen-Reynolds · Mar 04, 2016 at 09:53 AM 0

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I see your point. But i think that in my own case, reward or not, it would not change a thing. But to go in your way, I'm sure it depends in people: you may lose some mods, you may gain some other that didn't want to "work for free".

If my ambition was to gain rep, i'd just farm the Help Room. Once again, my idea was just for low-rep mods to unlock 2k and 5k reputation levels which give helpful tools. I can and i will continue to moderate without these tools, it was just an idea that hit me.

If gaining $$anonymous$$arma/Reputation through moderating is a bit of a "non-sense" as you said in your 1a point (which i agree with), another solution could be proposed: leave the become-a-mod level at 1k Rep but ins$$anonymous$$d of unlocking further tools through $$anonymous$$arma, gain them on your number-of-moderated-posts-count.

$$anonymous$$oderation tools would hence be dissociated from $$anonymous$$arma, which would be, to my opinion, more legit: you could have a 1k mod with full permissions and a 106k mod with basic permissions because he/she isn't moderating at all.

$$anonymous$$arma/Rep is a score giving hints on how reliable your are in your answers. But making good/accurate answers is completely different from moderating correctly (not meant as a critic to anyone). Receiving permissions through number of moderated posts would then be a return from the experience you gain in moderating while spending time on it.

Rewarding moderation with Karma/Reputation

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