Mumsnet not paying staff disgusting

[stepuporshutup]

Just read that mumsnet do not pay their night staff.
This cannot be true can it mumsnet?
If it is true then what is going on at mnhq
Aibu to be shocked by this
Or do fellow mumsnetters think it is ok to work for free
If the story is true

Not my understanding from its publicly available accounts. Users up, time on site up, increased profit margins, is what the directors’ commentary talks of. It might not be Facebook-level behemoth, but it is holding its own.

I've worked in a big .com in the moderation department. There were NO volunteers as it's a for profit company

They're volunteers. It was set up because there were issues overnight. They're just us with a couple of extra buttons. I've moderated forums myself, its enjoyable but it's not employment.

It's not that different either to reporting threads which many people do during the day anyway when they spot trolls or material that needs moderation

I’m imagining the nite watch don’t necessarily have specific shifts as they would in a paid role. This probably suits some people, especially those, who are awake at differing / odd hours or not able to work.

Hello @stepuporshutup like many forums, we have nightwatch volunteers who can hide threads/posts. They can do this as often as they wish and don't have set hours or anything like that. We are hugely appreciative of all our nightwatchers and would certainly never have expectations of their time.

I'd volunteer for night watch, though I'm not available all night. I suspected volunteers were from different time zones.

Hmm, interesting. I have to admit I would never have guessed MN was so profitable.

I have used a lot of Internet forums over the years, and I understand why normally it's usual for (some/all) mods to be volunteers, but perhaps this shouldn't apply to relatively huge sites like MN, Reddit and so on.

Thank you I did not know this.
I guess that makes sence

Then maybe find out the truth before you start posting how 'shocked' you are...

@stepuporshutup

havenyou considered, just for a moment, that it might be better to get some actual information before making wild accusations?? & saying this /people/organisations are disgusting?

just a thought?!

Not at all the same as being a Samaritan or PCSO, MN is a profit making private company.

Volunteers do a very important job for the community.

But on a serious note, there is a fine line with exploitation.

It depends if MN classes itself as a business or a community forum/charity. If someone somewhere is making a profit that doesn’t go back into the business or to charity then they should probably pay night workers regardless of if they volunteered their time.

And we wouldn’t be expecting night staff at Facebook/Meta to be working for free.

Lots of Tory MPs commit sexual offences. Lot's of big companies take on interns who would much rather be being paid. Not sure you have a point here.

I'm on the fence. On the one hand there are a lot worse things than asking for volunteers, and using them if they volunteer! On the other hand there is something deeply immoral about using free labour at all when you are running a business.

Then they wouldn't be volunteers would they?

It can quite afford to pay it's volunteers

Someone might need to look up the definition of volunteer😀

It true many forums are moderated by volunteers but usually it's because those forums are not private companies.

Other than saving money and maximising their profit there is no reason for Mumsnet to chose not to pay for the site to be monitored by paid staff overnight.

I'd be interested to know what Mumsnet reasons are for choosing not paying the nightwatch.

Let's face it : it's all about the money

I think it's great that people on MN are willing to volunteer their time to keep the site a generally nice, supportive place to post. Isn't that what we're doing when we report posts we think are dodgy? I'm pretty sure the day mods aren't watching every thread, they're relying on reports from us users and then investigating.

@SavoirFlair

the irony is that people who post this stuff will rail at the RMT (excuse the pun) and anyone else who tries to organise for better working conditions

That's not irony, that's something you literally made up. You have no idea if the people unhappy about a profit-making entity using volunteers are millionaires who exploit people or people who join the RMT picket lines.

I've volunteered to spend one hour a week teaching maths gcse to disadvantaged students. Imagine my horror when I found out that I was expected to put in this time for free.

I don't know what we volunteers can do about this though -- strike action perhaps.

PCSOs aren't volunteers, it's a job...

During lockdown Justine said they had a £3.5 million wage annual wage bill so they obviously do well

I'd be interested to know what Mumsnet reasons are for choosing not paying the nightwatch.

It’s an interesting strategy when you consider the number of the trolls and fake threads that appear at night (presumably because they know there are no staff around and their posts will stay in place much longer).

I'd be interested to know what Mumsnet reasons are for choosing not paying the nightwatch.

BECAUSE. THEY. ARE. VOLUNTEERS.

My understanding is that the Nightwatch are not actively moderating or obligated to work certain hours.

If they are on mumsnet at certain times they can be tagged and hide posts until the moderation team comes on shift.

I do think it's reasonable to ask why Mumsnet choose not to employ moderators overnight.