157

I just wonder if moderators earn any money or earn a salary for being moderators - or do they do it just to help out on the site?

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15
  • 91
    Yes, we get paid with your agony. =)
    – casperOne
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:02
  • 75
    I propose this as a new feature-request! :P
    – Alenanno
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:02
  • @Alenanno What, that moderators get paid? And by the number of sites you're a moderator on, I imagine? ;)
    – J. Steen
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:03
  • @J.Steen Oh well, I guess I'd just get one salary, not one per site. :D
    – Alenanno
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:04
  • 1
    @casperOne: Garmonbozia? I knew you were a ghost, but...
    – jscs
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:07
  • its better if they got paid :) , i wish that
    – user998158
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:09
  • 2
    But of course! Unicorn currency cash payments! (redeemable at your local tavern [on the meta] for sparkly handbags).
    – Lix
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:09
  • 2
    @Lix you laugh, but....
    – Pops
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:12
  • 3
    @user998158 if you think they should get paid, don't just say so, please explain why.
    – Pops
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:12
  • 2
    We get to keep all the things we delete.
    – voretaq7
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:15
  • 23
    You keep what you kill.
    – jcolebrand
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:15
  • because they get much work and much control
    – user998158
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:15
  • I heared that after 20 year of SE memebership your reps will be traded to bitcoins 1:1 ?
    – gwr
    Mar 17, 2016 at 14:29
  • 2
    Being a moderator is such a challenging task and also time consuming. I don't know what motivates the moderators to do this.
    – Ronak Shah
    Nov 23, 2016 at 6:39
  • Voluntariness is beyond money!
    – Pandya
    Mar 9, 2017 at 8:27

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
322

No.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Hell no. No. ... No.

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18
  • 19
    is this an answer ?
    – user998158
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:15
  • 51
    Yes, it is an answer
    – juan
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:16
  • 65
    And an accurate one at that...
    – Lix
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:16
  • 33
    ... that was easy. I wonder why that doesn't work on all of my answers.
    – J. Steen
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:17
  • 17
    @J.Steen Clearly you don't have enough animated GIFs.
    – voretaq7
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:19
  • 16
    One of the best answers ever!!
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Feb 26, 2013 at 22:50
  • 9
    Someone can also take that as a yes by thinking they are paid so huge amount that they have attained a new level of happiness.
    – mtk
    Feb 27, 2013 at 8:55
  • 5
    @aditya: I don't know where this gif comes from, but browsing Reddit pretty much yields an inexhaustible supply of gifs.
    – Time Traveling Bobby
    Feb 27, 2013 at 10:45
  • 1
    This mod is toooooooo cool 3:)
    – Enthusiastic
    Mar 5, 2013 at 5:22
  • 1
    @ShaWizDowArd why didn't you go out for mod? nvm, you don't have to answer. But I would have +1 that.
    – user1228
    Mar 5, 2013 at 5:37
  • 1
    And I enjoy all this rep I can spread to feature-request questions that deserve attention
    – user1228
    Mar 5, 2013 at 5:44
  • 1
    @Won't feel honored that you ask but I fear it will cause me to spend time that I don't have plus there are still "core" matters that I try to stay away from, something that moderator can't really do.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Mar 5, 2013 at 8:15
  • 3
    Hehehe Loved it!! One of the best answer
    – Lithu T.V
    Jul 4, 2013 at 5:42
  • 3
    REPUTATION IS YOUR SALARY
    – bobobobo
    Jan 15, 2014 at 17:27
  • 2
    Why pay money for something when individuals are able and willing to do it for free.
    – hylander0
    Jun 3, 2015 at 19:27
79

No they don't. It's an all volunteer effort.

Note that there are also Stack Exchange employees that do moderation work.

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2
  • 8
    Employees only moderate in extremis.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:03
  • 3
    its better if they got paid :)
    – user998158
    Feb 26, 2013 at 20:08
62

The benefits of being a moderator:

  1. A huge say in the direction of a site.
  2. Access to the site views.
  3. The ability to choose an organization of a list of a few to receive $100 once a year from Stack Exchange.
  4. More direct access to the Stack Exchange employees.
  5. That warm fuzzy feeling of making a difference.
  6. Access to the Teacher's Lounge, a chat room for moderators.
  7. Once in a blue moon, SE will hire one of the community moderators as "Community Managers".
  8. The ability to edit chat messages after 2 minutes.
  9. Occasionally you get a piece of clothing. I received a hat, some receive a t-shirt. But these are pretty random.

As has been noted, SE staff also has access, who do get paid. But there are some 500+ (Maybe even more?) moderators, including myself, who don't receive a dime for their services.

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  • 16
    I moderated Stack Exchange and all I got was… no, scratch that, not even a lousy T-shirt. (You do get a T-shirt for running in a mod election though.)
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Feb 26, 2013 at 21:41
  • 2
    @Gilles: Running and not winning, if I remember right. Hmmm...
    – PearsonArtPhoto
    Feb 26, 2013 at 23:00
  • @PearsonArtPhoto , Are you thinking...What I'm thinking?
    – d-_-b
    Feb 26, 2013 at 23:19
  • 12
    @Gilles: Really? goes off to nominate self everywhere
    – Manishearth
    Feb 27, 2013 at 7:44
  • 3
    You get stuff for winning an election too. Not sure what it used to be, but now it's a t-shirt. (And @Manishearth: ಠ_ಠ).
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Feb 27, 2013 at 17:29
  • @AnnaLear: Is that just for SO? I recall winning an election but I don't recall getting a tshirt for it, ಠ_ಠ right back at you :P
    – Manishearth
    Feb 27, 2013 at 17:35
  • 1
    @Manishearth That all hinges on me going through my backlog of election participants that need to be contacted. :) I'm gonna be catching up on all of that in the next week or two.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Feb 27, 2013 at 17:37
  • 3
    The elected mods get business cards too, don't they?
    – Kevin
    Feb 27, 2013 at 17:55
  • I never have gotten any. Man, I'm feeling cheated out of all of the things I should be getting as a mod of 2 sites that I'm not...
    – PearsonArtPhoto
    Feb 27, 2013 at 17:56
  • @AnnaLear: Ah, I see. ಠ◡ಠ
    – Manishearth
    Feb 27, 2013 at 18:02
  • 1
    @иɪvэЖєvɪɴ There are a few sites where those cards haven't been designed yet, but otherwise, yeah.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Feb 27, 2013 at 18:03
  • @иɪvэЖєvɪɴ /cc Pearson: You need a meta post tagged [business cards] to get cards. For that, you need to bug Jin. Jin said something about getting to them in December but he may have forgotten :s (See chat.stackexchange.com/…)
    – Manishearth
    Feb 27, 2013 at 18:08
  • 10
    The benefits to Stackoverflow: one of the most difficult problems in running an online business solved for free. That "warm fuzzy feeling" is the feeling of being cheated into doing something for free that a profitable business should be paying for... and lessening the unemployment rate at the same time.
    – Craig McMahon
    Mar 13, 2013 at 2:47
  • I don't understand 3rd point.
    – Murtaza
    Aug 11, 2014 at 18:00
  • 3
    Alas, there's no more swag for running in or winning an election.
    – Rubiksmoose
    Jul 7, 2020 at 12:58
41

Moderating SE is a volunteer effort. We don't get paid for it, and we are free to step down whenever we want to. It's not always a fun job, but it has its high points and you get a sense of satisfaction as you see a site progress, knowing that you were (and still are) an integral part of it.

Most of us also have a natural tendency to participate in every meta discussion that ever comes up (the fact that we get inbox pings for every new meta question helps). While our words on meta don't hold much more intrinsic weight (except in extreme cases where the community is very divisive over an issue), the community generally respects and follows our opinion on a matter, so we end up "leading" the community at time. Again, one gets a sense of satisfaction for this.

SE also donates money to charities chosen by us every year.

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  • 24
    -1 for a serious answer. We don't care for those.
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn
    Feb 27, 2013 at 8:28
  • 12
    +1 on the comment just to confuse readers.
    – J. Steen
    Feb 27, 2013 at 8:30
  • 21
    -1 on the comment indicating a +1 on the previous comment; +1 on the previous comment; -0 on the answer; +1 on the question; +1 lumps on my head.
    – Andrew Barber
    Feb 27, 2013 at 8:31
  • 10
    +0 for Andrews's comment for mentioning +1 too many times.
    – Johannes Kuhn
    Jun 4, 2013 at 16:57
  • 19
    @AndrewBarber +1 for figuring out how to -1 on a comment. Share? ;)
    – WendiKidd
    Jun 25, 2013 at 22:18
  • 2
    @wendikidd Ancient evil-unicorn secret!
    – Andrew Barber
    Jun 26, 2013 at 0:09
  • 5
    + and - for confusing us in Math. What numbers should I use?
    – Murtaza
    Aug 11, 2014 at 18:03
9

From the Moderator Agreement

I acknowledge and agree that I am an independent volunteer moderator for one or more sites operated by Stack Exchange, Inc. and I am not an employee, agent or representative of Stack Exchange, Inc., and I have no authority to bind Stack Exchange, Inc. in any manner and I am solely responsible for my statements and actions. I attest that my statements and posts do not represent the views, opinions or actions of Stack Exchange, Inc.

Now a volunteer is "A person who works for an organization without being paid".

So, NO, but with sources!

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