Are IS forum administrators paid for administrating the forums?

[timtak]

I see that most of Istockphoto's forum administrators are from places other than Calgary.

I wonder if they are paid for the job they do or whether they do it for the love.

[djmorgan]

OR..... the feeling of power 

[photoagogo]

It's a strange new phenomenon - a capitalist cult with disciples who will work for free.

[timtak]

Do they really administrate for free, or are they paid? That is something that perhaps only administrators at iStockphoto are in a position to answer. I see that some or at least one iStockphoto administrator posts on these forums too.

When asked about iStockphoto forum administration policy, the administrators often (at least according to the results of my search) use the rational that Istockphoto is a commercial enterprise.

[null]

Do they really administrate for free, or are they paid? ... I see that some or at least one iStockphoto administrator posts on these forums too.

Really? Wow. And you just registered on this forum to poke into their business as an anonymous "new" user with 2 posts? Amazing, since you seem to know the ropes very well. 
Well if they are paid for it, good for them. I don't care to know, since it's not my business. 

[UncleGene]

IS is on a thin ice if they are not paying. Do not remember exactly, I believe it was AOL who tried this...

[michealo]

I understand Lobo is on commission, a pie per lock, an extra pie if its sub 3 minutes ...

[lisafx]

I assume they are paid, but to be honest, as long as I am paid I don't worry about it much either way

[pieman]

I understand Lobo is on commission, a pie per lock, an extra pie if its sub 3 minutes ...

If that were the case(which I will not confirm or deny) I'd be one large bellied fella.

Forum moderators typically come from the community of contributors. People we know can communicate well and stay with in the realm of civil discussions. I'm not saying we aren't jerks most the time, I just mean to say we keep things real in there.

I'm off to do a little less lurking and a little more moderation.

[RacePhoto]

IS is on a thin ice if they are not paying. Do not remember exactly, I believe it was AOL who tried this...

And Prodigy, who later did pay forum moderators / community leaders, but the "special contributors" and information librarians got free accounts in exchange for their contributions.

Whether IS or any other microstock forum, pays or doesn't, is of little interest to me. If they do pay, it's not much.  

[timtak]

> IS is on a thin ice if they are not paying. Do not remember exactly, I believe it was AOL who tried this...
What happened at AOL?

[madelaide]

I may be stupid, but I used to be a moderator for free in one site.  There were no obligations, of course.

Also in TotallyPhotos everyone was a reviewer for free.

[UncleGene]

> IS is on a thin ice if they are not paying. Do not remember exactly, I believe it was AOL who tried this...
What happened at AOL?

Not absolutely sure it was AOL, let just say "one very big company with forums"  got sued by moderators (for not paying) and lost.

[timtak]

Well, my interest was that, there is something rather unusual about the social interaction on the forums.
The explanation for style of interaction at the iStockforums, appears to be that there forums are part of a
commericial enterprise. On the contrary, I think that the atmosphere exists rather is because the majority of
the administrators are neither part of a commercial enterprise, nor merely there for the interest and
information like the users, but empowered without having anything to loose. The administrators have
unequivocal power but their pay packet is not on the line. I guess that there are some administrators,
based in Calgary, that are commercially involved. I hope they take a step back and think about the PR
message that they are sending from a commercial point of view, and that the administrators get paid.

[MichaelJay]

I still don't get what you are implying...

Somebody must have made those moderators moderators, right? And somebody must have given that somebody power to make others moderators. And so on. Follow up as much as you want but you will always end at the shareholders and management of a company to make the decisions and give out guidelines.

So what was the point again?

Just to add: I think the sparkling silver M badge is the most beautiful of all of them. And they didn't make me pay for it. Why didn't they? I thought iStock was a commercial enterprise.

[pieman]

Timtak if you are saying we should get paid more I'm not going to argue that

[yecatsdoherty]

geez, sometimes I feel like I should send you guys a few bucks just to make up for all the whining....I will bring you a pie one day Mr. Lobo! or in the least a great bottle of wine.

[pieman]

I come here to commiserate, in spirit if nothing else, with Leaf and others who have a hard time keeping things focused or at least light.

I can appreciate that there are also a lot of people who have suffered the hammer via our forums a number of times, or even suffered some form of indignity via the mob mentality that occurs from time to time. Yes, there are lots of people who try and show support for IS and there are others who come here and spread garbage about the community. That's fine, we don't lose to much sleep. It's pretty telling when people post without letting us know who they are. I mean, if you can form an actual argument and stick it to us without getting emotional, or picking on other contributors your comments are welcome.

Some of you may feel that things never change at IS, that you will suffer the hammer without provocation. The reality is we let people post as long as they act civil. It's when people lose their sh*t that we reaign things in.

Anyhoo, I just wanted to leave a note that people may or may not read. I love to see people bash us and then still stick around to request a payment. Furthermore, I don't care if you hate us love us or think we are apart of the problem, because at the end of the day we started this Microstock thingy and are happy to have helped all of you along the way.

[Catastrophe]

It does seem like the IS forum admins are very eager to censor anything less than "Istock is #1, I love Istock, or (name top ten exclusive here) is the best EVAR!"

In the posts I have read, it seems like there are two groups of people who talk on those forums a lot: IS exclusives with lots of images on the site who think that makes them them important, and newbie photographers who kiss their butts.

I don't care - I just don't hang out on that forum. It is more entertaining and useful to talk places where proving you are a big shot isn't the point.

But pieman is right. I'm still more than happy to take their money.

[timtak]

The administrators post quite a lot too.

[loop]

It does seem like the IS forum admins are very eager to censor anything less than "Istock is #1, I love Istock, or (name top ten exclusive here) is the best EVAR!"

In the posts I have read, it seems like there are two groups of people who talk on those forums a lot: IS exclusives with lots of images on the site who think that makes them them important, and newbie photographers who kiss their butts.

I don't care - I just don't hang out on that forum. It is more entertaining and useful to talk places where proving you are a big shot isn't the point.

But pieman is right. I'm still more than happy to take their money.

It seems that you and me are reading the same, but different forums. This concept about boasting and "being important" seems a fantasy to me. Maybe you are filtering what you read through your fears and complexes, or maybe it's me who is doing that. One of the two.

[stacey_newman]

I have made cracks myself about censoring in IS forums....but then I had a great discussion with a relative who owns his own company and who censors what his employees talk about in regards to the company on facebook and other online media.

my uncle made an amazing point, one I wish I had thought of myself. why . should iStock let someone bitch and moan, subjectively at that, and essentially libel the company publicly? they don't have to and should not. and frankly, as someone who probably came very close to getting myself banned when I was looking for answers after a sales plummet, I can see things from their perspective and I agree with them.

the people participating in the forums are engaging in colleague-oriented banter and comradery. sure, newbies come into the forums in order to get known, the same way they would come into the lunch room on day one in a new office.

what is most amazing to me is that those who complain about the iStock forums, never acknowledge the help, critiquing, advice and information that is also constantly traded in the IS forums. most of my learning has been done in the forums.

taking the attitiude that the IS forums are trite and censored is so old, and almost completely inaccurate.

[lisafx]

Well as a non-exclusive, who posts both favorable and unfavorable things in istock's forum I have never been banned or felt the hammer. 

If you keep the criticism constructive or at least not destructive they seem to be okay with it.  You may face a barrage of people disagreeing with you, but if you can't handle that you should probably refrain from posting in any public forum because disagreement is inevitable any time you are talking about opinions. 

[madelaide]

If you keep the criticism constructive or at least not destructive they seem to be okay with it. 

I think this basically works for any site.  Express your point of view politely.  I was never banned or locked.  DT locked a thread I started with a suggestion about subs, FT deleted one answer I posted about the site changes, but in many other occasions my critics were kept in the forum.

But if you are aggressive, it is expected that they will not allow this. 

[stacey_newman]

I think the forum moderators allow a lot more than they are given credit for. I have seen some threads go way off the rails before being closed. and in my case, because my angst was sales-oriented and not just me shooting my mouth off to be a jerk, they gave me a lot of leeway. I was never threatened with being banned, but I suspect I came close. thankfully I realized that speaking directly with admins was far more productive than throwing a public tantrum.

speaking of bans....shank is back on the IS forums. his reemergence was part of an april fool's joke, they gave him a forum moderator badge without privileges for the day, it was pretty funny.