What inspired you to create r/SuperAthleteGIFs?

There was a time when Reddit did not host mp4's/videos on their website, and gif format was the main entertainment content. I like gifs, and they are very easy to make. My top mod buddy disappeared after 6 months. Once I went through the top mod removal process to become the top mod, I could justify making this sub my priority.

So I redesigned it, created spunky flairs, and made sure it had at least one post every other day. There are plenty of "sports" related subreddits...but how many gif subs are there?

What was the first thing you did after you created it?

After I became top mod, I did not have to worry about "consensus" or a moderator coming back after a hiatus and undoing all my changes. The custom flairs wiki page, search by flairs, and redesign for the New Reddit Design was very time-consuming.

If you were to give new moderators tips for growing their subreddit, what might you say to them?

Hurry up and wait. The main subreddits have already been established. The new subs that seem to work now are the niche or "specialized" subs that a small number of people keep going. It's almost impossible for you to start a subreddit, set it up, and have new users come join/subscribe to it. If you cannot be super patient, consistent, and committed for a long-term...there's no need to waste your time. So think it through and consider how difficult and long it might be before your sub "takes off". I have one gif subreddit that took almost 3 years before it got 10,000 subscribers. Even after 8 years, that sub is sitting at only at 63k users with pretty much no one posting to it anymore but me.

Can you share one of the more memorable moments or experiences that you've witnessed as a result of your online community?

I like to award $25 Amazon gift cards about 3 times per year to my niche subs. At first, no one believed it and thought it was a hoax. After the first couple of cards were given out, it didn't take long for people to realize it was not a hoax. One time two of the winners gave their card to another user who had posted that he was eating a ketchup sandwich for lunch because that was all he had left after losing his job. The "ketchup" guy was not even a member of one of my subreddits.

What did you do, to help create the culture you have today in your community?

I don't like negative, overly critical people. I use automod to filter out these people. These types of people always have the same words--especially in niche subs. These types of people don't usually hang around the sub or contribute to it at all. After years of experience, it does not take long to get automod to keep things on track and keep the comments civil and productive.
 
You also have to do things to encourage user engagement. Anybody can post content. But in niche subs you have to find other ways to encourage engagement. For me it was the $25 amazon gift cards or occasional, funny, and temporary polls about a current sporting event--like Tom Brady's inflated football fiasco.
 
You also have to award users who make good comments. I have an account called the Awards bot that will leave a moderator comment with a thank-you message and "fake coins" on users who take the time to make insightful or amusing comments. Just saying "thank you" to someone who participates in your sub goes a very long way. It makes the users feel good and might make them want to hang around a little longer, which lowers the attrition of your active users.

How long did it take, from inception to when you started feeling like you had a thriving community?

In this particular sub, r/SuperAthleteGifs, about 3 years.

Is there anything else you think someone should know about moderating a subreddit or growing a new subreddit?

You do all the work...not the subscribers. It's very difficult to find other moderators who will volunteer to help you grow your subreddit when they can simply create their own. There's a ton of work that goes on behind the scenes that most typical redditors do not understand. When you become a mod, it won't take you long to realize it's a "one-man show". So if you can't take all the work you are going to do and make it fun, your sub will never be successful. If it's not fun, it's work. And nobody wants to work at a hobby. So make it fun for yourself.