EST
9 AM - 4 PM, 8 PM - 10/11 PM. As much as I'd love to sit on my computer all day, I do unfortunately have real life obligations that would cut into the early morning and late afternoon.
I've been a GM for a couple of online games in the past. I'm willing to give more details, but not publically. Hopefully this is understandable.
I'm not a developer by trade, but coding is a secondary responsibility of my job. I can handle most tasks, but admittedly not to the same degree as someone who is passionate about development.
Yes.
For the most part? No. That said, I believe that sometimes there isn't a clear demarcation between what is and isn't acceptable, and from time to time judgement calls will have to be made. I see that several of the questions on the application deal with specific examples, so I'll save the details on this for them. Ultimately, the sub isn't here just for my pleasure, it's here for everybody.
Depends on the quality of the story and the severity of the rule violation. If someone submits something that would make Lovecraft himself get the creeps, then it's probably unwise to strike it off the sub for a minor ding against it.
Starting to sound like a broken record here, but it depends on the severity. You get snippy and condescending to the point where someone feels unwelcome? A greenpost telling them to knock it the hell off will suffice. You start slinging slurs around and threatening folks? Get the fuck out. Doesn't matter how respected you are on a sub.
People trying to "subtly" be an asshole then getting defensive when called on it. You're not Winston Churchill; you're not as clever as you think you are, and people can see exactly what you're doing. Think of the whole southern usa "bless your heart" crap. That really grinds my gears.
I think it's a good thing. It gives the authors a chance to build a reader base outside of the format of this sub, and really doesn't cost anything in return. They're the ones creating the content for this subreddit, after all. It won't kill anybody to see a facebook link at the end of a story.
Eh... it'd have to be a damn good story for me to let that slide. In my opinion, that's a primary tenant of the story structure in this sub.
Depends on how bad it is. They call me an asshole? Roll my eyes and move on with my life. They decide to break out the stormfront playbook? Kick it up the chain of command and let another mod handle it. It's not a great thing when moderators personally handle people they have a personal problem with. By definition, I'm no longer able to act impartially at that point.
A primary focus on horror, obviously. A pretense of believability. I want to feel like this story could not just happen, but maybe even happen to me. I can't immerse yourself in a horror story if I can't put myself in the protagonist's shoes.
Nothing here is factually true, but for the sake of the "game" we'll pretend it is. It's not fun if you're not pretending!
Not really, but I'd allow it if the author was willing to go back and rename him/it in their story. Slenderman in general draws inspiration from classic horror tropes, and can be written to amazing effect in the right hands. That said, it's tired as hell and the name alone will instantly snatch me out of a story. So yeah, replace all references to Slenderman with something more original, and I'd probably reapprove a submission based on it.
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking for here, so instead of making an assumption and looking like a dumb asshole, I'd like to take a rain check on this question.
I'd fire a message to the author asking them to fix the word count, and give them some time to fix it before removing it. Even after that, if they patch it up, I'd reapprove it.
It means that you should be able to believe that a person is relating a story that happened to them through this subreddit. If someone on /r/TIFU told a story that ended with them dying, you'd call bullshit on it for obvious reasons. Same thing here. Authors should be allowed to play with and push the boundaries on this to an extent, but at the end of the day if (through your story) it's impossible for you to be relating it to me on this subreddit, then it's not acceptable.
I don't think there's really enough information to make an informed decision on this question. Gun to my head, though? Ask a mod with more seniority for their opinion.
You've got your social media link somewhere in your story, right? Tell your fans about it there. The people who don't care about your stories enough to follow your link don't want to have their immersion ruined by an ad at the end of your story.
They're real on /r/nosleep.
I seem to have accidentally answered this for question 13. It's fiction that could conceivably happen/be happening in this reality. Harry Potter, for example? Kinda pushing it, but sure. Star Wars? Not so much.
Would I have written 900 words on this application (side note: The "900" in this sentence is the 900th word of my application) so far if I didn't? I'm a sucker for horror, assuming you're using it synonymously with terror in this context. Drawing a distinction between the two, I'm a bigger fan of terror. The tension and anticipation of a horrifying event is, to me, more engaging than the event itself. Compare The Shining or The Ring, to Friday the 13th or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both are scary, but only the first two are really terrifying.
Depends on volume. If you've posted 5000 times and only had 10 comments removed (without being banned outright for any particular one), then you're probably fine. If you've posted 10 times and had all 10 removed, then you're probably not a good fit for the community in question. Either way, a warning is the bare minimum courtesy you should show someone before giving them the boot.
Discuss it with the moderator in question. Possibly kick it up the chain of command depending on how that conversation goes.
Maintaining a minimum standard of quality and balancing the original vision/purpose of the subreddit with what those 11 million subscribers want for it.
I have experience with managing large (and at times, incredibly divisive) communities, and understand that above all else a moderator's job is to be... well, moderate. I'm a huge fan of the horror genre as well as independent authors, and genuinely enjoy reading the sub. Above all else, I don't suffer from the compulsion to justify having moderator permissions by using them on a regular basis. Just because I have a hammer doesn't mean every post is a nail.