From what I've been hearing, the biggest subreddits are run by like maybe 5 mods
This is how subreddits turn into dictatorships
Anytime you have a community of several thousand members, you need a minimum of 15 to 20 mods who will make Democratic decisions and you need an admin who will remove any mods who abuse the position
I've been on Facebook add me in teams for years and that's the way we do it
Some the mods will ban you just for commenting on a subreddit they don't like or just daring to disagree with them.
Reaching out to the mods to ask why you were banned is pointless because they either ignore you or report you for harassment.
Honestly I think Reddit mods have grown too big for their proverbial britches
Ummmm
No.
Being a successful admin/moderator in my past life I can wholesale disagree with you. Yes, unsuccessful moderators of unsuccessful sites might behave as you state....but again the key word is "unsuccessful " .
There's a delicate balance in having authority over a community. Some "Edge Lords" you keep and other ones you toss like 3 day old fish. Of course they come back....they always come back and you toss them again.
But it's that recognizing of popular and engaging content that attracts more viewers that successful moderators and administrators want that sets them apart from the authority seeking idiots who want power for some sort of ego stroke. And these sorts of moderators do not grow on trees. A precious few can be trained to understand but most can't.
Administration is mostly just about maintaining the platform. Keeping software updates up to date and flushing the bots and viruses by watching who is using up the bandwidth.
Owners are usually the problem with most forums. They are often absentee....but when they do show up they either are blessings or curses. When they are too absentee the needed money to hire programmers doesn't come along. Also they can change the rules you are operating under drastically. (Curse)
They can also drive away 70% of your membership in a heartbeat by just not understanding the membership of the forum they own.
Or
In Reddit's case, wanting more revenue by cutting costs.
Reddit has never once assisted the moderators of these subforums by giving them standardized but customizable tools to moderate with. They developed the tools either personally or by hiring tech help to do so. And then the Admin has whined and complained and became autocratic about the results. (Likely due to edicts from above...AKA the owners)
In this day and age of true morality mattering...the cream rises and the "bad boss" gets flushed. Look at how many foodservice establishments suddenly loses the ENTIRE crew operating them. Because people can go anywhere to get employed again. Coffee shops in Nashville TN are discovering that....with a viral walk out happening that really hasn't made the news.
Just saying....
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