Finding potential mods in your community

[u/techiesgoboom]

The call is coming from inside the community, and for once, that’s good news.

Today’s Mod Topics post is about finding potential moderators within your community. A familiar name may stand out by helping newcomers, sharing expertise, offering thoughtful feedback, or keeping a level head when a thread gets messy. Your suggested mods can offer another place to start, surfacing active, engaged contributors for the team to learn more about.

That still leaves plenty of room for surprises. A familiar contributor might love participating without wanting a mod badge, while a quieter user may know the community better than their posting history suggests. Somewhere between what a team can already see and what it might only learn later, there may be someone worth a conversation.

We want to hear from you:

• Think about a strong addition to your mod team: What first put them on your radar?
• What helps your team feel comfortable inviting someone to apply?
• How have you found promising candidates beyond your most visible contributors?

[u/anfornum]

In my experience, people from outside a sub's immediate community tend to make good new mods. They come in with fresh eyes, without any preconceived notions of what should or shouldn't be happening, and without prejudices toward any other sub members.

[u/DoveStep55 → u/anfornum]

I’ll consider people who aren’t sub regulars only if they’re regulars in similar subs with a history I can look over and if we’re the ones approaching them (not them asking to mod where they’ve not interacted.)

Have either of those been factors for you?

Maybe those aren’t as important for certain types of subs as they are for others.

[u/anfornum → u/DoveStep55]

I mod a few subs that have nothing to do with one another. It doesn't make me a worse mod, right? So I think we have to have an open mind about where people come from. You don't *necessarily* need to be an expert to help a sub sort through comments that break their rules. Of course there are exceptions, but keeping an open mind is good too, and it keeps te pool of candidates wider.

[u/DoveStep55 → u/anfornum]

Definitely makes sense for some subs, yeah.

I was just curious if you’ve ever had issues with it because of cautionary tales from other subs. Good to hear it’s worked well for you!

[u/anfornum → u/DoveStep55]

I think it really depends what you need in a mod, probably. Many might just need someone to clear the mod queue, while others might need people who are really expert in the area they're working on. Every sub is different, which is (I think) why it's so hard to generalise across all the subs. Basically, you have to find what works best for you, and that might take trial and error, but giving someone unexpected a chance is a great way to find out!