I just saw this, great questions!!!
It will take me some time to answer all of them, but I love looking at the history of PF so it will be fun
I can answer a few now before looking the others up.
1. Who are/were all the mods in the history of PF?
I'll have to look this one up.
2. What kind of stuff do you mods have to do? What are the tasks you have to do daily?
Mods check all new members to try to keep out spammers. We keep an eye on the forum to make sure things are staying civil, and jump in with a course correction or edits/deletions when required.
We look at all reported posts and discuss in the Mod Forum what, if any action should be taken. If required, we take action and let both the person who reported know as well as the person whose post was reported. If no action is taken, we let the person who reported know with our reasons.
We move and/or merge threads when needed.
We remove all personal identification such as email or phone numbers from every forum except Lost & Found.
We make sure current members who have their birthday listed get a birthday thread.
We work on things as a team that we think will make the forum a better place.
This is the majority of what we do, but there are always different situations that come up that need to be handled.
3. What are some privilages of being a mod?
The tangible privileges are extra storage space for pictures and PMs. I don't think anyone has ever become a Mod for that, though.
The Mod forum is a privilege, it is our private place where we can discuss anything that is going on.
To me, the biggest privilege of being a Mod is that we get to help more birds and their parronts by keeping this a welcoming place to ask questions.
I also consider it a privilege to have worked with all the wonderful Mods I have over the years, and made friendships that will last a lifetime.
4. What are the downsides?
To me the biggest downside is having to be the bad guy at times.
Receiving PMs that are nasty because of a decision that was made is also a downside. Nothing worse than coming onto the forum, excited to see what's going on, and find something awful in your inbox. (Although that is better than finding it on the open forum.)
We also put in a lot of hours here. Some are fun hours, others not so much fun.
We try to be everywhere, but we will miss things. That's why all of your reports are helpful.
5. How do you become a mod? Who decides who gets to be one?
The Mod team has a discussion in the Mod forum, and names are brought up of people we think would make a good Mod. We vote on it, and if the vote is unanimous we then reach out to that person and ask them if they would like to join the team. We then ask our Admin who makes it happen.
