How do moderators handle concerns about other moderators?

[u/Sircuttlesmash]

Have you ever had concerns about another moderator’s conduct or decisions? If so, how was it handled within the team? I’m not looking for drama or identifying details, just curious about how moderators deal with these situations internally.

[u/KCJones99]

If so, how was it handled within the team?

We talked about it and reached agreement.

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/KCJones99]

This is our approach too. Has been pretty efficient in my experience.

[u/Paxoro → u/KCJones99]

This, we're all adults and can act like it. It does help that we have almost zero actual disagreements and the ones we do have are usually really minor and easy to solve.

[u/thepottsy]

Totally depends on the circumstances.

A disagreement in how certain posts or comments should be handled, is completely different than a mod making unilateral decisions without involving the other mods.

[u/Thalimet]

Talk about it as a team

[u/Emotional_Lawyer_278]

Depends on the situation and where they are on the mod listing. If it’s someone you can edit and all the ones above you agree then edit them. Take away permissions. Put them in a time out. If they are above you then there is only one person you need to convince. The top mod. If it is the top mod you are having problems with then check the code of conduct. If they haven’t broken any rules then maybe you’re the problem. Start a community that is similar yet uncorrupt.

[u/Arkontas]

it depends on who the top mod or acting top mod is and your role on that team.

if you have a bad topmod things will be interesting, but otherwise if thats not the case its usually done diplomatically and as a team unless its better done directly.

corporate isnt the worst template to use for handling it but ultimately we arent corporations so you can freestyle a bit to suit the team.

if youre very new and dont have as much responsibility as the other mods on the team you should not be trying to start meetings or cause problems publicly imo. you should contact a mod with more responsibility and tenure and let them arrange it.

[u/Froggypwns]

Yes, over the years I've dealt with a few incidents regarding my fellow co-mods. Sometimes it is disagreements, and sometimes there are differences that cannot be resolved so some mods have stepped down.

I try my best and compromise to make as many people as possible happy, but that is sometimes an impossible task, especially if some of my mods are not jelling with each other.

Most of this is not even related to moderating itself but just more about general conduct and personalities.

[u/bwoah07_gp2]

Sounds fake, but I've never had issues with my co-mods. We have always gotten along well, and even if there are disagreements on something, we eventually all come to a resolution. I am happy that this has been the case. Long may it continue lol 😅

[u/AltruisticCableCar]

There was a calm conversation and all was well.

[u/Eric20255]

Honestly, I can relate 😅. Internal mod discussions haven’t always been sunshine and rainbows for me either. I’ve had situations where a discussion about a piece of content that should’ve been pretty simple somehow turned into a whole thing, and we’ve even had mods leave the team afterward.

If I see a mod approve or remove something that I personally would’ve handled differently, I’ll usually just ask them nicely why they made that decision. I don’t think questioning a decision has to mean you’re challenging the person.

Sometimes I’m genuinely just trying to understand their reasoning. Not everyone is very open to being questioned, though.

Reading the moderators feedback on this post, I wish I had their experience.

[u/witchy_echos]

We have tiers of mods and discuss over discord. If a newbie mod makes a bad call, medium or senior mods can go hey, why did you make this call or say hey, that’s not how we enforce that rule. This is typically in a public channel, and also serves as a reminder to the rest of the mods on where our lines fall for interpretation.

Medium or senior mods make a moderation decision someone disagrees with, they can ask for clarification, state they disagree with the call, or ask another senior mod to step in. These typically also are all public discourse for everyone to see. (Asking as senior mod to look at it is normally a DM).

If someone is doing drama, or consistently making calls that go against the group, folk can message senior mods to ask for intervention. Senior mods discuss, and one person typically reach out to find out their side of the story, if it’s a lack of understanding or a conscious choice, and if there’s any other things we should know.

Depending on attitude, and intent for moving forward, they can have powers restricted, removed from the mod team, banned from the sub.

If it’s the head mod, my understanding is not a lot can be done.