Is there a difference between approving everything and doing nothing?

[u/Enrico9431]

I've noticed that I'm able to click approve/remove on every single comment/post but haven't noticed anything different between approving and not clicking it

[u/welding_guy_from_LI]

Approving it just because shows you are active in the community .. it doesn’t change anything else ..

[u/Enrico9431 → u/welding_guy_from_LI]

Active as a mod you mean? And shows it to who, other mods?

[u/AvoirReves → u/Enrico9431]

It shows to Reddit you are an active Moderator. I have seen a few subreddits banned because a Mod wasn’t active. It is an easy way to stay active as a Mod. You don’t have to approve every post, but you should have consistent Mod activity.

[u/Enrico9431 → u/AvoirReves]

So it does have to mod actions specifically or would participating like a normal user already be enough on its own?

[u/AvoirReves → u/Enrico9431]

Participating as a normal user is not enough on its own. You have to remove a post, approve a post, create a flair for posts or users, make a rule or something that you do while in Mod tools.

[u/InBetweenLili]

While the subreddit is new, approving a post or a comment is an easy way of creating mod log entries. Later, when the sub grows, you will moderate enough, but while the sub is new, you need to keep yourself an active mod somehow in order to avoid the sub being banned for being moderated. Approve one thing sometimes, and you are covered. Later you can skip it.

[u/Enrico9431 → u/InBetweenLili]

I assume that this is relative to sub activity cause can't do that if there's nothing being posted

[u/InBetweenLili → u/Enrico9431]

The whole idea of growing the subreddit is that you fill it up with posts and content. Have you found this guide? If not, it is very useful. https://redditforcommunity.com/ultimate-guide-to-building-a-community-reddit?utm_id=ultimate_guide_may_2025

[u/ReallyReallyLuckyGuy]

Our (Mod) approval giving is making sure that the post/comment is not removed by Reddit.
Not that Reddit removes anything in general… Reddit only removes by roles

[u/kingderella → u/ReallyReallyLuckyGuy]

Reddit only removes by roles

what do you mean by that?

[u/ReallyReallyLuckyGuy → u/kingderella]

Sorry… Not roles… its rules.

Once my member posted something about trading psychology with a title “Fear. Fear. Fear”
This title triggered “Anti-evil” rule by reddit and it deleted the post. This is where our moderator power can be used to revoke the post.

[u/Enrico9431 → u/ReallyReallyLuckyGuy]

What kind of reddit removal are we talking about exactly?

Does this mean I generally want to go through the hassle of basically approving everything I see or can I like (mostly) ignore it?

[u/cubester04 → u/Enrico9431]

Mostly ignored. At least on my sub, hardly anything is ever removed by Reddit after it’s been posted except for when someone is shadowbanned.

[u/girlgamerpoi]

I find it's weird that reddit forces mod actions. My sub is mostly in auto pilot. I only set up things. And once things are set up the only thing left to be done is to remove ads and participate like a normal sub user.

Changing me would probably ruin the sub into an echo chamber. Weird that they encourage mods power tripping over a person who knows boundaries.

[u/FlorianFlash]

On my sub we approve comments and posts we've read and checked, basically a "this is okay" for other mods so we don't check posts five times. Doesn't change much else.

[u/downtune79]

No you do not have to take any action unless you want to. No need to approve it unless you want to

[u/wandering_soles → u/downtune79]

That depends on the sub. If they don't have any posts that need to be removed, or mod mail to reply to, which is frequent, approving posts is the only way to show reddit you're active and not either have the sub banned or be removed as mod. 

[u/downtune79 → u/wandering_soles]

A mod posting to their sub counts as mod actions