So, let's say you moderate a subreddit about Thinkpad laptops, or trading cards, or anything else. As the moderator, you can put links to vendors in the sidebar. You can auto hide any comment naming a competitor, or only prune positive reviews of a competing vendor. I'm sure a lot of mods get paid to do this, but plenty are also just the owner of a vendor who represents themselves on Reddit as a neutral third party.
Reddit moderators who run communities centered around products are often approached by the corporations who sell those products with offers of employment/free product/preferential treatment in exchange for moderating those communities in a way that maintains the image of the product.
Serious question - How can a mod grift?
So, let's say you moderate a subreddit about Thinkpad laptops, or trading cards, or anything else. As the moderator, you can put links to vendors in the sidebar. You can auto hide any comment naming a competitor, or only prune positive reviews of a competing vendor. I'm sure a lot of mods get paid to do this, but plenty are also just the owner of a vendor who represents themselves on Reddit as a neutral third party.
Here's a nyt article on the wallstreetbets mods trying to get paid out in a movie deal
By getting bribed to let astroturfing and shilling slide
Reddit moderators who run communities centered around products are often approached by the corporations who sell those products with offers of employment/free product/preferential treatment in exchange for moderating those communities in a way that maintains the image of the product.