Hey r/Apple!
aaronp613 here. I’ve been a moderator here for close to 5 years, but some of you might recognize my name from the Apple Event threads posted here over the past few years.
As of yesterday, I have joined MacRumors as a contributing researcher which leaves me in a bit of a pickle as to what I should do as far as my moderator status on this subreddit.
I’ll admit, ever since the API changes and strike, I have not really moderated this subreddit (or really any subreddit) that much, but as mentioned above, I still handle the Apple Event megathreads each time as I love experiencing the Apple Events with all of you.
So now the question is, what do I do?
Obviously, I should not be handling any day to day moderation going forward as I beleive that every news blog that follows our guidelines should have an equal and fair chance of being posted on our forum without the appearance of any potential bias from the moderation team.
When I brought this up to some of the other r/apple moderators, 2 possible solutions we thought of were these:
Option 1: Only continue posting Apple event threads and moderate the comments on those threads (leaving the news posting to another moderator).
Option 2: Option 1 but I also continue to post news links during the event for each topic. Accusations of bias can be avoided as we always post whichever news blog posts first, so the timestamps would speak for themselves.
So I want to hear your thoughts on the matter, because at the end of the day we are a community.
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Just do the megathreads, it’s not that big if a deal.
Out you go…
I doubt anyone cares tbh.
The sub has plenty of mods. No reason for you to remain one.
Leave. Get paid. Congrats
Following up with people who may not see the update:
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/17xpa3n/addressing_a_conflict_of_interest_on_rapple/k9q045r/
Congrats on the job. I can’t say it bothers me if you just carry on as you want to
IMO, do as much or as little as you want with regards to moderating. I know personally I’d get the heck out asap, so as not to say/do anything that could jeopardize the new gig. But that’s me.
In the moment, I really want you to stay in any capacity, just to spite that other guy in this thread.
You don’t need to respond to that last part.
Moderating is honestly a selfless and thankless job. I say leave moderating and let me explain why. You have a really cool and unique job now. Give that your attention, not this place. Go pick up a cool ass hobby, or spend more time with your family. We all spend too much time on our phones anyways! Congrats on the job! Well earned!
Obviously you should step down as a mod of r/apple. Working for MacRumors disqualifies you for this position.
How hard is it to understand this lol
Following up with people who may not see the update:
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/17xpa3n/addressing_a_conflict_of_interest_on_rapple/k9q045r/
Congratulations. You absolutely need to leave as a moderator.
Following up with people who may not see the update:
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/17xpa3n/addressing_a_conflict_of_interest_on_rapple/k9q045r/
Don’t post nor moderate MacRumors posts. Comments are safe to moderate for the usual rule breaking. It’s that simple.
Personally, I don’t care if you’re a mod, special mod, or not a mod. And not in a negative way. I see why this is a potential conflict or interest, but it wouldn’t affect the community because macrumor articles get posted all the time.
The exception is if (1) you get paid to promote macrumor articles; (2) new policy where only macrumor articles are allowed; or (3) there is a strange upward trend of macrumor articles being posted (unlike before).
Macrumor articles are always posted here. I find out about macrumor articles from here versus the actual website. So it isn’t strange or a conflict.
I appreciate the transparency, but it’s a non issue. Keep being a mod if you want to be a mod, leave if you want to leave. As long as you continue to be a mod in good faith (assuming that’s what you want), I’m chill.
Thanks for being open and honest. I will respect you by bringing the same with you.
Step down as a mod. That’s it. That simple. Anything less gives off conflict of interest vibes no matter how transparent you attempt to be.
Congratulations on your new position. Now do the right thing.
Following up with people who may not see the update:
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/17xpa3n/addressing_a_conflict_of_interest_on_rapple/k9q045r/
Option 2 is fine. You really don‘t need to give up your work around events. You seem to enjoy these duties and you‘re obviously doing good work for this community. I really don’t see the problem. As you said, the timestamps will speak for themselves.
If you go through with option 2, I think that would be fine. Like you said, timestamps would speak for themselves.