Let's hop to it though~.
How did I become a mod?
The short answer:
Truth be told, I don't know. I was asked to be one by an admin because I fulfilled some sort of criteria they had.
The long answer:
Before I was a mod, I lurked, posted, socialized, and basically stayed in the GAIA Exchange forum, like, compulsively. No other forums appealed to me. Even to today, I still remember fondly the interactions and fun I had with people like Red Einlanzer and kwazistar in the Red Letter and the Red Star Store. I schmoozed with Kormadoka in her shop and was generally well-liked by most everyone in the Exchange. Most importantly, I worked as an updater for the GEN. Geez... that sucked hours and days out of my life, times when I would stay up to odd-hours just to update, just having fun in our own little thread that I saw grow up, age, and finally move on.
Around 4 months before I was officially modded, I had this cute little canned message that I would post in users' threads if they had posted a charity or something in the Exchange. Very non-threatening, including links to the correct forums, and most every user I posted that in really appreciated it. I remember PMing Human Cactuar about thread moves and signatures sometimes, but any other mods kinda scared me.
Around that time as well, a few of my good friends started making comments that I would make a good mod. I would laugh and go "but guys, who ever comes into the Exchange for stuff like that? Besides, I'm not outspoken or anything." Which is true, I wasn't.
To this day, Chaos, Kwazi, Red, I blame you all. XP
So finally, after a breakdown in december that caused me to go nutty for a span of two weeks or so, I came back to the Exchange and puttered around as I always had. one day though, I got a PM. For some reason, I remember getting this sense of anticipation when I saw the PM bubble. Clicking on it and going into my inbox, I just about passed out. Once I had gotten over the shock, anyway.
From what I've gathered, admins have some sort of criteria they look for in new mods. These include, but are not limited to the following:
- Proper grammar and manners
Nice interactions between other users
Knowledge of the rules of the forums (TOS and forum-specific)
Ability to deal with criticism or to take charge of a situation
Which then really makes me wonder how they spotted me, but who knows... I wish I knew, but there really isn't any special way of doing it either. If you're active and nice to people, if you just be yourself and not try to report things, posts or whatnot just for the sake of reporting to try and garner attention towards modship/helperdom, someone's bound to notice I guess.
Can I be a mod/can you make me a mod?
No, I can't. While any user possibly has equal chance of being a mod, many factors tend to weed out 99.9% of the user pool, mostly knocked out because they lack one of the reasons I stated above. I don't make mods, admins make those choices, and NO, I will not helper you either if all you want is the power or prestige. What I, or any other person seeks, is just someone who honestly wishes to help the forums and the greater Gaian community, NOT someone who thinks that being a mod or helper is some sort of cushy job with perks and benefits.
Your "perks and benefits" include:
- Cleaning up after spam/porn trolls
Dealing with irate users about their threads being moved/posts being deleted
Having to read or see things that no living human being should be subject to viewing
Interpreting reports or PMs so incoherent that you have to go to 4 different people in order to try and figure out what they're asking
~*~*~*~*~
Enough of the whiny stuff. Now the other half of this entry.
~*~*~*~*~
Tomorrow, I will have been a mod for a year. January 26th. In some ways, it doesn't feel as though it's been a year, but other ways... it's amazing what happened to me in that time.
In that time,
- I've become more of a team player, even going so far as getting a job in retail because I was so inspired and so willing to aid other people.
- I have learned to have a great deal of tolerance for idiots and morons who try to make my life difficult just because I am who I am (crying spell at work one day doesn't count)
- I became a person with whom people could confide in and have someone to listen for them as they reveal their troubles
- I've learned to use authority or exercise it without abusing it
- I've learned to speak my mind and do so in a convincing manner in order to get my point across (assertiveness without being a b***h to anyone)
Everything one does can impact and change their life. Every person they come across, one is able to leave a little mark of themselves on them, linking everyone in this neverending chain of interactions and relationships.
Me, I just hope to leave my little mark on the world someday. Perhaps I've somehow changed the lives of the people I interact with, perhaps not. All i know is that modding, and even more generally, Gaia, has changed my life forever, as cliched as that may sound, but it's true.
Leave your mark on the world and change it forever. That's all I could really ask for or desire.~
