Although they didn’t state exact numbers, it sounds like there may be ~ .5 FTE of moderator capacity right now (~ 4 mods averaging 3 hours a week, plus advisors) and they are looking to hire another fraction of an FTE worth of capacity. Expending all the available budget on 1 or 2 mods with more hours would likely make it more difficult to achieve a “broader diversity of perspectives and more capacity in times of crisis, or when there’s a sudden cascade of moderation incidents.”
I think what you get with fewer dedicated people is people with the opportunity for a build-up of deep moderation philosophy and also experience handling tricky cases. (Even after moderating for a really long time, I still find myself building those and benefitting from stronger investment.)
Although they didn’t state exact numbers, it sounds like there may be ~ .5 FTE of moderator capacity right now (~ 4 mods averaging 3 hours a week, plus advisors) and they are looking to hire another fraction of an FTE worth of capacity. Expending all the available budget on 1 or 2 mods with more hours would likely make it more difficult to achieve a “broader diversity of perspectives and more capacity in times of crisis, or when there’s a sudden cascade of moderation incidents.”
I can follow that reasoning.
I think what you get with fewer dedicated people is people with the opportunity for a build-up of deep moderation philosophy and also experience handling tricky cases. (Even after moderating for a really long time, I still find myself building those and benefitting from stronger investment.)