Free Step Dodge

I had no say in that, actually.

And I'm not 100% clear on what, exactly, my job is, if anything.

I had no say in becoming a mod, either.
Stuff just happens, haha.

Yeah, it just does.

It's a fairly interesting time to get added to that roster too, all in all.

You get to listen to everyone squabble over infinites! Yay!

Oh, yeah. At least it means that people get to stay on topic pretty easily. Though I don't think that's really my job either. Just making sure they don't kill each other?

If they could do that they'd all be long dead by now.

You'd think. So does that just make me a ceremonial monarch? (Not really. It really is a civility question in the end of the day, I think.)

Mere monarchs are so yesterday. You should delet the other admins and become a dictator!

I like to think of my modship as being a sheriff in the wild West. I mainly try to keep the peace and make sure everyone's happy, but every now and then some fucker rolls through who's just all bad news. So I get to shoot 'em dead and since they're gone no one can question my decision.

Yeah, see, I always like moderation policies where I have rules I can enforce, because there's that secret part of my personality that wants to be a librarian. And then the rule is "well, make sure they behave" and... well, I guess part of that job is just telling people to shut up, right?

I used to, but time has taught me that even the most rigidly-designed rules ultimately boil down to subjective interpretation, and then people get all wound-up on technicalities just for the sake of doing it.

But on FSD, my directive is basically "keep things nice and orderly." And if something compromises that, I can step in and fix it. And if they question me: too bad.

Though I'm actually a lot more tolerant and lenient than I'd ever like people to know. People have actually had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to my modship, even those who originally didn't like me as much.

Authoritarian rule has its conveniences. Not totally my style, though. I'm all velvet glove at the end of the day.

I think I must be doing something right.

I know! People expected you to go all Godzilla on the universe or something, maybe? I dunno. I think you've been doing a great job.

TBH the political implications of online communities are actually quite interesting. The biggest difference is that certain things seem to work online whereas nothing works in real politics.

and haha, thanks. I've actually been doing a lot in the short time.