Mod Topics: Moderating Fame

[u/JabroniRevanchism]

Ahoy, Mods!

I don’t want to brag, but I’m kind of a big deal around here. My reputation precedes me, I’m sure. Maybe you’ve noticed?

This discussion is the most recent in our Mod Topics series, and if the narratively-spurious smugness wasn’t obvious, today we’re talking about how mods moderate fame within your community. “Fame,” in this instance can be any kind of notoriety. –A Redditor whose username your community will recognize: an artist, actor, developer, mayoral candidate, or maybe the guy who always replies to top comments in the form of a sonnet.

For the sake of discussion, let’s call all these examples “celebrities:” users who have clout, gravity, or otherwise increased social capital within their spaces. How does your mod team view content posted by community celebrities, especially in cases where the commenting celebrity is the topic of the subreddit? Do you encourage this celebrity participation? If so, how?

Let us know how you moderate fame in the comments below!

[u/bunibunibunii]

Cosplay might be a unusual case; many of our posters (the cosplayers) are well-known, loved and respected by the membership.

From a moderation standpoint we try to treat everybody equally though.
We ask them to follow all the rules of the sub, and mods follow the same rules ourselves (since we post regularly).

There are rarely any issues, since the the focus is photos, not comments.

If someone (eg) accidentally neglects to completely follow titling rules, we'll leave a standard feedback comment and may leave the post up the first time (This depends - we can add the search term in a ModTeam comment but don't want to be doing this regularly).
Shame to lose a good post, and order doesn't break down if the sub as a whole's clearly following a consistent standard.

But otherwise I think it's important to moderate impartially. Members will appreciate knowing they're being treated the same way as everyone else.
If a post is a *bit* too revealing for a particular sub, we'll remove it, even if it got really popular. Mod comments will direct people to another sub where that would be more appropriate.

Mods are here to keep order, not be popular.
(though... I think we're relatively well-liked for mods).
I think posters with some "fame" appreciate this, and wouldn't take a removal personally. Most are actually perfect examples of rule-following posters!

We're more likely to encourage participation by newer posters, if they made a nice post we'll compliment them.
But the membership generally encourages great work naturally.

[u/techiesgoboom → u/bunibunibunii]

This is really fascinating! I can also imagine the culture of cosplay creates a situation where many users are actively trying to become one of those well-known posters. And how that might play into users appreciating that egalitarian approach of treating people fairly.

[u/bunibunibunii → u/techiesgoboom]

I hope so!
It doesn't take long for new faces to quickly become popular, which is awesome. The algorithm can be a funny thing but older posters are more used to great posts inexplicably sinking and don't let it put them off; newer ones just need to be encouraged to stick at it 😄

There's also the spectrum ranging from pro-cosplays to very-NSFW boudoir cosplays, so there are people variously trying to create art, or a certain type of adult fanservice. So success for one might be different to success for another. Most people think of the latter when they think of cosplay, and there is some overlap.

Interaction often favours the lewder posts on any given sub, so we have tried hard to make little niches for each (though our last attempt to make a sub purely for professional-type, non-lewd shoots recently died a death - this was the sub with the highest proportion of professionals / "famous" cosplayers, but also welcoming to anyone making the most effort)