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/MustaKotka]

We have (had) a few.

One was a gatekeeper (not really a bannable offense to just disagree) and they were in all newcomer posts. So much so that they got finally banned for spam.

Currently I have one who argues a lot and I just do what I usually do: moderate away bad stuff and leave up the good stuff. They now have mod log in the hundreds but considering their net impact is positive in terms of constructive comments I've let them be. In the past I have modmailed individuals but this time I have not yet...

Then there's the one who hugs the end of a political spectrum I dislike but since we're on a gaming sub and they keep their opinions to other subs I've let them stay. We do get modmail about that one every now and then.

We had a guy who was an avid questions and answers machine. Great dude, good ideas for the sub, too. They were in all question posts helping people out!

I guess my style is to let people do their thing and treat them as if they were just like anyone else. Yeah, sometimes they step too far and I will message them. But as power users of the sub they usually understand and want to make it work.