Are moderators paid?

That's the case with most of the forums. There might be some perks here and there but for the most part people like to help and they do that all day long.

In 99% of non-commercial/support based forums, moderators volunteer their time.

They are volunteers but if there was a way to pay them I would vote for that to happen. I moderate in another forum that is slower than this and the amount of time you put in can be a lot at times.

I think mods should be paid, they are the backbone of all forums IMO

I believe some mods here get perks such as free bumps on their WSO offers (one of the mods posted that so I'm just going off what they have said) but they don't get paid as such. Not sure if that holds true though for a couple of the ones higher up on the chain though.

I used to have a small forum that was fun, yet did require more work than I could handle, so I promoted a member who wanted to become a moderator.

Many times members will volunteer. One of the reasons some moderators (not all) volunteer is to have a more prestigious ranking, which conveys greater authority and trust to their posts.

Often times, forums will create a 'lounge' for their moderators & admins to have exclusive access to on the forum so they can discuss & vent things that might not be appropriate, as well as just enjoying the fellowship of the other inner circle members. These little perks and many others are often the form of compensation that a moderator receives, although some are paid.

Generally speaking, moderating a forum is a labor of love that is usually only extended to the most qualified, respected, and committed members who agree to volunteer to help with the responsibilities (it's not a gravy train - there's a lot of work to be done for most forums).

A great book on the topic of forum management which I read was 'Managing Online Forums' by Patrick O'Keefe (ISBN: 081440197X). It discusses all kinds of great information that helped me when I had one.

Happy moderating!

Randall

The Absolute Power is payment enough!

I moderate a couple of sports forums mainly to help a friend out. It can be a hard job at times tbh as passions run high on the forums especially if a result doesn't go their way.
These are paid forums that I get perks like I've not paid subscription since I've modded. He usually gets me something unique for Xmas. I have a number of signed sports memorabilia that he got me. I got offered 5 figures for a signed and frame photo not long ago but wouldn't sell it!

As others have said, if they are not paid - they should be.

I honestly don't understand why people would give up their own time, to moderate forums with no financial reward? Moderating may be 'easy' but it's also very time consuming.

I bet most moderators put in at least a solid hour per day, many longer. Most forums wouldn't be what they are WITHOUT some one constantly cleaning up spam posts and so on, so they should get some sort of monetary compensation, if at least not 'minimum wage' on forums that have cashflow.

Moderators on some forums are paid but not the moderators on warrior forum. However I could see the benefits of being a volunteer moderator:

1. Discipline Power
People must always be respectful to you on the forum. If members are rude or inappropriate, the moderators have the power to delete their thread and posts.

2. Leadership and Trust
Not allow does the title alone give you high authority but the wonderful thing about being a volunteer is that people will trust your opinion and look toward you for guidance because they know that you're genuinely passionate about your job and you're not doing it for the money.

3. Network opportunities
If they are running an affiliate program or are doing some sort of money-making project they could final a large amount of members to participate in it.

PS. This message was not intended to offend anyone!

I'm not but then I only moderate the contest section which is very easy. I'm fairly sure the others on here aren't, either. Though the jobs we do aren't equal so I could well be wrong.

Paul has a massive job on here, watching you lot get up to all sorts and solving disputes, so I assume he gets some benefit. If you think about it though, us knowing they are everywhere on here, that is a benefit in itself. It's awesome branding.

It is a case of supply and demand. When you have people wanting to be moderators (in my case through ego) then you don't need to pay them.

Then again you have people like Paul that aren't replaceable, working tirelessly on this forum for more hours that most people are awake, so I'm not so sure in his case.

Generally with moderators, as with anything, you only need to pay them if you can't get them to do the job for free, and they are needed.

I know from my own experience that generally people are often voted on to become moderators by THE CURRENT moderators. I know from my own experience elsewhere. It's never a decision taken lightly.

I wonder why this thread is even so popular. Why is it such a big deal whether mods are paid or not. They do a fantastic job and they should be left alone to do it. I doubt the calibre of job would change if they were paid or not.

I was moderator in two kind of forum. one, general forum. never get paid. even the owner of the forum get $100 million from investor. second, forex forum. getting paid $200 month in cash, $200 point for trading (cant withdraw the point, but I can use it for trading, and if I got profit I can withdraw it). but that's just me ..

I too agree that the mods should be paid if that's possible and the owner of this forum can probably afford it, but that's not my business really. I am just voicing my opinion.

OTOH, I don't believe in perks. That often makes things less transparent than they should be. I like transparency.

I used to be a moderator before in one work at home forum.

I never got paid. I actually was so blessed to be coached by my mentor who owned this forum that I was very happy even though I was not paid any money.