Intro
We run a few sub-reddits as part of our mission to promote peace, kindness and positive action. We also run some for helping members in our skills based teams to find jobs if they are looking. Here’s a guide for mods, and also for growing the communities.
Ethos:
One of the underlying social rules of Reddit is a dislike of people and groups using the platform for advertising. Although many do.
Its important that any posts there inviting people to join our community or projects and activities are focused on the specific topic of the sub-reddit and presented in a way to avoid the users feeling we are advertising to them.
For example:
- ‘Join Public Happiness Movement today and make your dreams come true while learning a new skills’ …is shitty.
- ‘We’re an open community of Web Developers building a new tool to help people undo environmental damage and fight against global warming. We’d love feedback on what we’ve built’ …is great in r/webdev, r/uxdesign, r/uiexperience or r/reactjs, but would be shitty in r/thatsamazing
Other good examples:
- Here’s a community where people learning [X Skill] can learn together and receive support from experienced professionals, while building projects that help humanitarian goals. Would be fine, perhaps once every 2 or 3 months in a sub-reddit. More often than that will likely lead to any mention of our platform being banned.
Basics
Step 1: Add the Toolbox to your Browser
This makes modding a subreddit much easier and less time consuming
Next
There is only one more essential task required to be a useful and valuable mod of an established sub-reddit and that’s to check the mod queue and remove/approve posts or comments which have been flagged by the automod or other users. Once you have the toolkit added to your browser you’ll find the mod-queue for all of the subs you moderate here: https://old.reddit.com/r/mod/about/modqueue
There’s a lot more you can do to help your community grow an thrive. Keep reading below to learn more, and share your ideas to benefit your sub-reddit in the related community space in our meta (this) platform.
More: Good Modding Tips
Do:
- Get active in the comments and be a positive, encouraging presence in the community
- Read the stories posted when you can. The automods aren’t perfect and they will let some slip through and our positive community in each sub often choose to think the best and cheer things on even if they are in the wrong sub
- Use your judgement. I sometimes let posts stay which are against the subs rules if most members are enjoying them and they are well-intentioned. Tell members why you have allowed it to stay in the comments. For example, this one breaks the r/randomactsofkindness ‘no requests’ rule, but its harmless, well meaning and the community was really enjoying it so i ignored reports and left it up.
- Feel welcome to join the social media teams and share the inspiring activities members in our community do to bring more peace and well-being to the world to inspire more people or get more people to join in, but only if it directly fits the sub in question.
Don’t:
- Let a little power go to your head and be a dick to people. Our role is to support the other members of the sub.
- Spam our activities in any sub too often. We don’t want anyone feeling we’re marketing The Public Happiness Movement, rather than doing what their sub is for and encouraging as many people as possible to get active and make their world a kinder, friendlier place.
Our Sub-Reddits:
Random Acts of Kindness
A place to promote stories of kind acts, and inspire people to be kinder to each other, animals, and out planet.
New Mod Message
Our mission is to encourage users to post non-financial random acts of kindness they’ve completed or witnessed, or others can do, to inspire others to create more kindness in our world.
The non-financial rule was brought in as without it this sub looks a lot more like r/povertyporn. Occasionally i’ll let a post that mentions money slide if the act of giving money is secondary to the kindness, but mostly posts involving money are removed.
Posts requesting something aren’t allowed and mostly what you’ll be removing are people asking for things. Requesting an act of kindness, like birthday cards for a relative, should normally be removed. I occasionally let one stay but members should message the mods first to discuss it if they want to request our community do something kind.
I recommend getting the reddit toolbox browser plugin as it makes modding easier: https://www.reddit.com/r/toolbox/
Modding Steps:
- Bookmark the mod queue
- Visit mod queue every few days to approve or delete posts
What we can post there:
- Videos and stories from our community which fit exactly with the sub reddits mission of inspiring more people to be kind to others as often as possible
- Videos and stories you find elsewhere that fit the kindness message.
What needs to be deleted:
- Requests, especially requests for money
- Unkind behaviour
Notes:
We run this in memory of the founder who found me before passing away from cancer. He put a go-fund me up for his family before passing in many Reddit communities he was a member or mod of, but never mentioned it in this sub-reddit as ‘no-asking’ was the rules he laid out. This sub-reddit was special to him and we should always respect that in our actions. Our actions should always be promoting the subs mission ahead of our community.
Brighter Tomorrow
A subreddit linked to our homelessness project The Brighter Tomorrow Map. This sub is mainly where people suggest ideas, projects and activities that others can use to help those who are homeless nearby most effectively. We also invite people who are homeless to post their location and users will google to find free resources nearby for them
Modding Steps:
- Bookmark the mod queue
- Visit mod queue every few days to approve or delete posts
Notes:
People love the idea of this community and it will grow quickly if we advertise it. modding this community is mostly about growth
Happiness
A place where science meets happiness. Articles and studies about happiness, or activities and projects along with a comment explaining the science behind why these activities are good for us individually, for the world, and for humanity. A place where science meets action to inspire us all into building a brighter future.
Modding Steps:
- Bookmark the mod queue
- Visit mod queue every few days to approve or delete posts
Notes:
A large community we recently took over. It has been directionless for a while and the community and community norms need to be rebuilt
Art Battle
A place for artists to practice their art and critique each other while helping good causes. If you’re a good cause that needs some art done message the mods to request a battle!
Modding Steps:
- Bookmark the mod queue
- Visit mod queue every few days to approve or delete comments. We can discuss submitted art requests, or use art and design tasks we need in the Graphic Design team.
- Find cool causes and ask if they’d like a new poster, logo or graphic
Web Dev Jobs
A sub-reddit we run to help volunteer web devs supporting our mission to find paid jobs, and also to attract more devs to join our community and movement. I set this up because the main job ad sub reddit for devs was flooded with spam and poorly modded.
Notes:
- Monday to Saturday the sub is reserved for job adverts only (rules in the sub)
- Sunday is ‘Portfolio Sunday’ where everyone can post their professional portfolios for recruiters to find, and for other users to offer feedback and advice.
- We have a monthly sticky post for all devs active in our community who want to be listed. In the sticky post we include their [Skill Stack] - [Name] - [Rates] - [Portfolio Links]
Be Happier
A place for books, articles and videos related to our personal happiness journeys
Notes:
Small fairly inactive sub, although would be good if a community member liked the idea and wanted to make it their personal mission to grow it.
Focallocal
A mostly abandoned subreddit where i used to post our videos. It could be revived and grown if anyone is really interested in it.
Public Happiness
I never really did anything with this sub
Public Happiness Token
This sub doesnt exist, but we should have a subreddit for our token
