It's another type of community the mods are helping. These Internet communities can be as big and powerful these days as your local physical community.
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Welcome to our newest moderator, Agent-P!
- Thread starter annk
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But do you not think you should get some sort of payment for assisting in the smooth operating of someone else's business?In all seriousness we like to help out and be a part of a group that tries to keep this site operating smoothly.
No, not necessarily; money or compensation isn't everything. Helping out things or people you like can be rewarding in and of itself.
No, I don't mind volunteering. Life isn't about how much money you amass and I spend some of my free time doing this, I feel its a good use of that time.
I think it depends how much you feel invested in the site. I certainly wouldn't volunteer in this way for just anything or anyone.
I started out as a regular member, and got so much help from the site (and enjoyed reading it so much) that when I was asked to help out as a moderator, I was very pleased to have the opportunity to give back. I spend enough time on MR anyway that it seemed like an enhancement of my forum experience.
I found I very much enjoyed the mod gig, and said yes when I was asked to be an admin a couple years later.
For me, this type of experience has proven to be directly relevant to my RL work (management team at a public institution). I also find that the cooperation among the mods and admins gives me a lot. I learn things, and enjoy both the more serious discussions as well as the banter and humor.
It never occurred to me to want to be paid. I was asked, I knew it was a volunteer gig, so I made a choice based on what I know.
I started out as a regular member, and got so much help from the site (and enjoyed reading it so much) that when I was asked to help out as a moderator, I was very pleased to have the opportunity to give back. I spend enough time on MR anyway that it seemed like an enhancement of my forum experience.
I found I very much enjoyed the mod gig, and said yes when I was asked to be an admin a couple years later.
For me, this type of experience has proven to be directly relevant to my RL work (management team at a public institution). I also find that the cooperation among the mods and admins gives me a lot. I learn things, and enjoy both the more serious discussions as well as the banter and humor.
It never occurred to me to want to be paid. I was asked, I knew it was a volunteer gig, so I made a choice based on what I know.
I've improved my skills in a number of areas since I first volunteered for this site: technical writing, organization, team management, public relations and diplomacy, social networking, promotion and advertising, and of course the ins and outs of forum systems. I've found uses for these skills in my "real" job and in the 3 other volunteer jobs that fill my time.
If the subject matter and/or community is worthy, then I'll give time freely.
(I was invited to moderate a technical forum for a free-of-charge software product after a commercial organisation took ownership. I declined; I preferred to be on the same level as other participants. Then a very different commercial organisation took ownership … but that's a story for another day.)
Hey everyone! Some of you may have noticed I haven't been around much the last couple of weeks. I just got accepted to an internship which takes up quite a bit of my free time now. I'm having a great time there, but unfortunately that means I get less time for moderator duties here at MacRumors (among other activities). I talked it over with the other moderators and I decided it would be best if I currently stepped away from being a moderator in order to focus on that part of my life. It's been a real honour to have been a moderator (however brief it may have been). All those other great moderators will continue to keep our awesome community running smoothly. Maybe once things calm down a bit I'll be around more, but for now it'll have to be in a more limited capacity. Cheers, everyone!
We're of course very sorry you're not able to join us as planned right now, but the internship sounds exciting - congratulations!
We're of course very sorry you're not able to join us as planned right now, but the internship sounds exciting - congratulations!
Good luck on your internship and don't be a stranger!
Thanks! And don't worry, I'll definitely still help out a little whenever I can.
Even if he is, I'm sure I'll find the self-destruct button easily.
Cheers for the time Agent-P. See you around
Thank you to both of you!
hahahaha.... Tough crowd I tell yeah! Not for the faint of heart!
No, it's not. Actually, it is part of the business contract, which reads: Company pays a (preferably reasonable) salary for in return for (time limited) work. Coerced work for no money is slavery, whereas to choose to work for nothing is volunteering.
For people to choose to donate time and their expertise/experience as volunteers to an enterprise or organisation, motivations other than money tend to apply, such as the company practices or believes in ideals that they subscribe to, and as such, they are happy to aid this endeavour in whatever way is possible without requiring remuneration.
For myself, I will only volunteer if I respect the organisation, its beliefs, structures and practices. I respect myself, and my free time, which I value highly, is only given to those (people and bodies) that I respect.
Very good and interesting post, one which I imagine could be found among quite a few of the staff.
Ah, well, @Agent-P ; short and sweet. Enjoy your internship and may it prove fulfilling both personally and professionally.
Meanwhile, I have found that a similar dynamic has occurred a few times in my life; nothing much appears to be happening for an age, and then, several (invariably attractive) opportunities cascade on you at once…...
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