T2W is Sharky’s actual business and built up by him so anyone would expect him to make an income from it.
This is common practice amongst most specialist interest bulletin boards so there is no argument to say that T2W should be any different. The advantage is that those who have an interest in the subject through enthusiasm, rather than paid employees, are more likely to give better quality moderation.
In my view this would detract from the spirit of moderation and because moderators are not paid I think they attain a much higher level of respect than would otherwise be the case.
If the decision is made to pay moderators are you also happy to pay a membership to be part of T2W ?
Paul
I would not pay to be a T2W member. The idea behind the funding of a website like this is that sponsors adverts draw in members of the website, attract new business for them more than making up for the cost of the adverts, and at the same time making a handsome profit for the website owners.
I know that the T2W full-time employee positions are WELL-paid, as i remember seeing the adverts at the time. This then leads me to suspect that there is no shortage of cash flowing into T2W - coming from the advertisers.
IMO - to have a T2W "team" that includes 2 well-paid people, plus an owner who makes a healthy profit, alongside voluntary "T2W team members" is not very fair and presumably does not do a lot for the team spirit. Whether the mods are paid or unpaid, i don't think this will affect their levels of attained respect by fellow T2W members.
My main point is, i think paying the moderators a modest wage would
A) Help retain the services of moderators for more than a few weeks, before they decide they've had enough
B) Would go some way towards recognising their skills and values as adults.
Again, its only my opinion - a few wine tokens is better than nothing, but with 2 well-paid employees and owner, i can't help think that the balance of the T2W team might be a bit wrong.
The moderators largely do a fantastic job that requires extra, time, effort & commitment. I think they deserve a better deal, and this will only benefit T2W.
I've played on teams where some members get paid and other members do not get payed, and i can tell you - it really does not do team spirit a lot of good
- especially when the paid members prove less valuable than the unpaid members. I found that the unpaid members continued to do themselves justice in having a professional attitude, and so did the "pro's", but the superior amateurs did make the pros look a bit stupid
, making a bit of a farce of "those" situations.
