The runaway anti-work train had a brutal crash on Fox New this week.
The driver of the mangled vehicle was Doreen Ford, a moderator of the wildly popular r/rantiwork subreddit.
That growth was dramatically stalled by Fords appearance on Fox.
The interview was an obvious setup.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
When the cameras started rolling, she appeared unprepared and uncomfortable.
The interview was a disaster for the sub and an embarrassment for the movement.
But it also exposed a tension onRedditand online forums in general: moderators arent leaders.
A mods role is to maintain a forum.
They enforce rules, remove offenders, and add other moderators.
Its an important and underappreciated role but its not one that makes them representative of the sub.
Antiwork moderation
Mods arent leaders, spokespeople, or faces of a movement.
Nobody elected Ford to her position;the sub never voted for her to do interviews.
Some argued that Ford exposed the flaws of extremely online people in social movements.
But that doesnt mean they cant play a useful role.
In the aftermath of the interview, r/antiwork promptly went private.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
