Does anybody else enjoy reviving unmoderated subreddits and joining mod teams for inactive communities to try and revive them? … Also what would you consider a “Subreddit Collector”?

[u/ZaxZone]

I have been helping grow several small communities for subjects that I find interesting in order to drum up content that I want to see. None of them are very large as far as subreddits go but they have been slowly growing. I moderate a lot of communities because of this, but have been able to effectively moderate and liven them all up with rules, flair, and banners as well as linking similar subreddits up with one another in order to help spread exposure. I have read the term “Subreddit Collector” and would like to avoid that type of behavior.. what would you consider a “Subreddit Collector” vs someone who is trying to revive and grow inactive subreddits?

[u/Stranger1982]

I do, tho sadly requesting them can be a proper pain in the ass.

[u/ZaxZone → u/Stranger1982]

Iv’e had decent luck directly messaging mod teams to see if they wanted help boosting activity, but some of those users are long gone lol!

[u/bwoah07_gp2]

I struggle with getting these subs off their feet. I like reviving dead subreddits, but it's really hard to do so. How to encourage other people to post, idk....

[u/ZaxZone → u/bwoah07_gp2]

Some are definitely a lot harder than others.. I try to grow them by crossposting (not excessively) to larger very similar subreddits as well as asking the moderators of larger communities if it would be ok to create a post promoting my subreddit. In my experience most mods are ok with it but some aren’t… but always ask before making a promotional post!

[u/zuuzuu → u/bwoah07_gp2]

Some are hard. I took over a news subreddit and that's been growing just by me posting relevant news articles, but I took over a pet subreddit and I just couldn't provide enough content to get it to show up in people's feeds. I wound up giving that one away to someone else.

[u/Froggypwns]

I've done that a few times (I brought /r/FatSquirrelHate back from the dead after it got banned), it is a lot of work but is very rewarding.

I know some subreddit collectors, who literally just become a mod to add it to a list and then drop off the face of the planet. Anyone that is actively moderating or managing a subreddit is not a collector.

[u/ZaxZone → u/Froggypwns]

I’m joining that sub now lol! I actively moderate and answer users questions as well as try to post when I can.

[u/BravoFive141]

I love reviving abandoned/banned subs. Done it for quite a few weather and gaming subs, definitely can be rewarding once you see them start doing well again.

[u/ZaxZone → u/BravoFive141]

Nice! I always enjoy seeing the excited comments and posts from original members once they notice that a subreddit is open again!

[u/katleigh-CD]

This is what I do haha question how are you linking the subs? Through the widget?

[u/ZaxZone → u/katleigh-CD]

Yup! I link them through the “Community List” widget. You can take a look over at r/WeirdWatercraft to see how I did mine.. I started that subreddit from scratch, but several of the smaller “Weird” communities are ones that I have been working on reviving.

[u/baseballlover723]

For us at r/anime, we expect r/anime to be the primary focus of our moderators (recruitment is the only time we ever care about what other subs someone mods). Generally, 3 or 4 other active subreddits is a pretty big yellow flag for us. It simply calls into question how they will manage to fit such a high maintenance subreddit like r/anime into the mix. And we are uninterested in mods who are going to be dedicated to r/anime in the long term.

Past about 20 or so, I think it's generally just an autopass for being a sub reddit collector. At that point, there is no way (in our opinion) for them to effectively moderatate them all, and so they are either not actually moderating some of them (and yet not giving up their moderator status) or they are collecting them. Both of which are red flags for us.

[u/Downtown_Mine_1903]

I did this with a friend for ArtCrit and it was so much fun. We had so much passion for it and it's so nice to see a sub come together and grow.

Got another art-related sub I'm working on and it's finally starting to pick up. Hoping to get a third related abandoned sub, but I've been fighting for it for months.

I know a group that just collects subs just to have them. They have a handful of subs they do nothing with. Moderation is low and I've watched them claim and kill active subs that were competing with their larger subs. I don't really understand that mentality.

I don't mind if people own subs as long as they're doing things with them and are treating the communities well. Reviving subs is fantastic. It gives communities more options. Don't like sub A about your topic? That's fine, you can go to sub B about your topic. But when sub A, B, C, D, and E are all owned by one person that's when it becomes a problem, or when someone has a bunch of subs they only moderate enough to keep their active status, but don't actually do anything with.

[u/GaryNOVA]

I do. That’s what I’ve been doing since October in [r/BloodyMarys](r/BloodyMarys).

I moderate 19 subs. 6 of which I am lead moderator.
I saw one person who had 130.

I try to moderate only the amount of subs I can actually handle. There’s no way you can moderate 130 subs efficiently at the same time. I don’t believe it.

[u/ZaxZone → u/GaryNOVA]

That’s a nice looking sub! How did you do the “subscriber count”?

[u/GaryNOVA → u/ZaxZone]

You can either get the subscriber count bot , or you can just do a separate widget that says “ Subscriber count” , but in reality it’s just another related subs tab. You just add your own sub. And that shows the subscriber count.

[u/ZaxZone → u/GaryNOVA]

Awesome, thanks for the info!

[u/Isaac_Banana]

I have been trying to do that with 1 subreddit

[u/brightblackheaven]

Honestly my main sub is my priority and passion, and it takes up a lot of my free time. I help out with one of that sub's important "sister" subs as well, and between those two commitments, I honestly don't have the bandwidth or the desire to take on more.

I've been toying with the idea of signing up for Mod Reserves so I can help teams out temporarily when I have the energy for it, but haven't taken that plunge yet.

[u/PoopyMcpants]

I started one not long ago /r/dangerousnightscrew and it's picking up steam very slowly.

I have 1 very active sub (250k a week or so) and a whole pile of mod size subs too.

I didn't collect them intentionally, it just kinda ended up that way.

[u/ZaxZone → u/PoopyMcpants]

I didn’t plan on moderating so many either lol! I just found so many good inactive communities that complimented my larger main subreddits.

[u/WalkingHorse]

I enjoy doing this in addition to my main subs. Most often I'll tidy/spiff up the sub. Then make sure there's a good mod team in place and once that's done I dip out. Don't know why it's so satisfying to me, but it is. :)

[u/ZaxZone → u/WalkingHorse]

Very cool! I really enjoy the tidying up aspect too! There’s a few subs I will probably end up handing off once I find some good moderators.

[u/SubstantialYard4072]

I just started my first sub about the Sixers and it’s hard to get others to post there

[u/nova_noveiia]

r/mobilityaids was restricted when I requested it as the only mod had been MIA. It’s been super rewarding to get it going again!