Reddit's relationship with its moderators is still rocky until now, and it has since been like that since the new API pricing caused several third-party apps for the platform to shut down. The company launched a moderator rewards program, but mods remain unconvinced of Reddit's efforts to help.
Moderator Rewards Program
One of the moderators' complaints about the social networking site is that their voluntary efforts are not appreciated enough despite doing it for free. Reddit might have released a new rewards program to reduce the tension that has been building up since the protests.
The program comes with multiple tiers that provide trophies and flairs to moderators who help others out. These are usually acquired through upvotes and awards from other users, now mods can collect them from the r/ModSupport group.
According to Tech Crunch, the comment karma earned in the mentioned subreddit will be rewarded with trophies that "signal to other mods that you are a source of valuable information." Mods will be labeled as "Helper" to "Extra Helper" for their actions.
Admins in the r/ModSupport subreddit said that the social networking site can be a "complex place for newbie and expert mods alike," adding that the knowledge the contributors share with each other is "incredibly powerful."
Along with the rewards program, Reddit also launched a Modmail Answer Bot, meaning that some of the questions that mods can be rewarded for when they answer would already be answered by the system.
Its purpose is said to be streamlining moderator requests so the admin team can focus on more complicated questions. If the bot response does not answer the question, a ticket will be created so a human may assist with the issue.
There have been moderators who are not convinced of the system's efficiency, saying that it just makes it harder for people to access support from a real person, also pointing you that the site mostly relies on the mod community to address questions and concerns.
Another vented saying that instead of providing better tools to run the subreddits after causing the third-party apps to shut down, they were given an automated system and flair rewards, which won't solve a single problem.
Read Also: Third-Party Reddit App for Android Will Base Subscription Prices on User's Daily API Use
What Has Reddit Done So Far
Aside from the new automated answer bot and the mod rewards system, Reddit is trying to lessen the negative outcome of its API pricing by exempting accessibility apps from the API pricing, according to The Verge.
Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt says that the company had spoken to select developers to offer the exemptions, a lot of which have already agreed. Apps like Luna, RedReader, and Dystopia are among the apps that have made a deal with the social site so far.
This came after an uproar in the r/blind community, stating that the lack of third-party apps makes it significantly more difficult for them to manage the subreddit. Due to the extreme protests, Reddit has even resorted to stripping moderators from certain subreddits of their titles.
Related: Reddit Says Accessibility Apps Will Not Be Affected by API Pricing
