Is volunteering for a profit making company acceptable?

I just read a post written by a MOD on this site saying that they are all volunteers and don't work for money.

I understand why some people would choose to do this, there are internships for many different fields all over the world offering experience for time served.
But I guess I have a problem with this because I wouldn't let anyone work for me for free. I can't quite put my finger on why but there is some social stigma inside me that tells me not to do this.

There are four schools of thought on this one that I can come up with.
The first one being that you hire people to do a certain job, payment is the incentive for doing it better.
The other is that you let people work for free so they can gain experience and move onto a paid position.
The third is prestige only.
And the fourth would be charity.

Well I never really thought to hard on this one but I would love to hear what some of you think about this, including all you MOD's since this topic sorta revolves around you.

Thanx. . . AB

What are you asking? You already listed the main reasons people work or get hired for free.

So I agree with what you wrote.

reply to post by kro32


yeah i was going to argue up a storm but the op covered all the bases.
You pretty much answered your own question.

I agree that this is somewhat shady in my opinion. Online sites and forums have a long history of using top-rated contributors from within the forum to moderate, and use the "prestige" of that position as a way to justify non-payment of their services.

While I do not know how ATS conducts their compensation, or lack thereof, with ATS moderators, I would hope that they are not letting "volunteers" do the most of the work while they pocket the profit. Or at least have paid positions available after an internship of some sorts.

All I do know for sure is that if I am going to perform a service for a business that is making a profit, I will be paid. Anything else is charity and I expect their time to be "free" as well.

I'm asking what you all think about this. An opinion!

I don't believe in charity or prestige positions and internships should still, in my books, receive compensation for there time.
I'm not making an argument just want to hear different views on the subject to better understand it.

reply to post by AnteBellum


Well, its not just the Mods who work for ATS for free. Any one who submits content does as well.

But, there is a good reason to do it. Yes, the owners make a profit, but they did a lot of free work and spent a lot of their own money before ATS was profitable. And I contribute to ATS not for charity, or fame, or experience, but because I like to.

I like ATS, as a site, and I like to do my part to contribute to something I enjoy. Mods moderate for the same reason, I assume. And while they dont get paid money, some people like power and prestige, and so its not like there is NO possible reward for them. I know they dont do it for that reason, but it is a reward for those so inclined.

I think companies that hire volunteers for experience only are taking advantage of peoples time and efforts.

I did an internship for an artist once and the guy was a creepy old narcissist.
He tried to get down the pants of every girl who worked there and treated everyone like he was Pablo Picasso.

Never again, so I agree I would not let anyone work for me for free either.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander

I like ATS, as a site, and I like to do my part to contribute to something I enjoy. Mods moderate for the same reason, I assume. And while they dont get paid money, some people like power and prestige, and so its not like there is NO possible reward for them. I know they dont do it for that reason, but it is a reward for those so inclined.

I share your ATS views I enjoy it also!

But I question the motives of power and prestige for those who are anonymous to everyone.
Other then they like to do it or are being forced to do it, I can't wrap my head why I would want to be a MOD for free.
But that's just me.

Originally posted by AnteBellum

But I question the motives of power and prestige for those who are anonymous to everyone.
Other then they like to do it or are being forced to do it, I can't wrap my head why I would want to be a MOD for free.
But that's just me.

Im not a power and prestige person either, so I empathize, but if you watch people compete for stars and flags, and if your watch people just fall all over Mods, and the owners in threads, you can actually SEE that some people will actually do a LOT to get power and prestige on the interwebz.

The last time ATS started a new "bling" thing, (I forget what it was, but getting flags got you a title or something) people went absolutely nuts starting threads, and some continued starting threads going after "top contributor" or something.

It may not make sense to you, but I guarantee you there are people on ATS right now, who not only would Moderate for free, they would probably trade sexual favors for the right to do so.

I have a non profit it's a museum. Wednesday night is volunteer night and I have about 15 people working for free. Why because they couldn't do this on their own. With millions of dollars of TOYS so to speak they couldn't afford to buy them for themselves and it's more fun with more people anyway. Tonights dinner was sandwitches. Make your own 6-7 different things to put on and 3-4 types of bread. Whatever you want to drink chips and icecream. Everybodys sweaty,dirty, fat and happy. Edit to add we make lots of money to buy more new toys too.

Firstly I don't think this site is a chicken laying golden eggs for the owners, there are a lot of costs like servers, software licenses, network costs and more.

Secondly this site is free for the users, I think if they would start paying the mods they would have to charge us money.

Thirdly, I have been mod for several sites but its more an honour imo than it should be considered a job.


Edit to say, its making a profit of volunteers at Non Profit Organisations that make me sick though

reply to post by Grey Magic


That's also a very good point. ATS has it's operating expenses and must keep costs down to allow us users to use the site for free.

So where is the fine line in regards to paid/unpaid moderation?

reply to post by Grey Magic


If you mean making a profit at a non profit because of the help of volunteers I think your missing the point. Not everybody and collect old machines that cost a lot of money . But if you want to volunteer to help maintain the old things you get to use and enjoy them and treat them as your own. Making money allows us to buy more cool old things to restore and play with. Nobody here complains believe me.

I understand ATS has overhead but there are other ways to compensate for this. Very lucrative ways if you ask me.
Farmville on Facebook is free to all but it also offers things you can purchase. You don't have to but you can if you want. And they made lots of money from these stupid games.

I'm not saying ATS should do this but if I ran a website as popular as this I think the people who work for it and make it the great place it is should be compensated.

There are a lot of MOD's here that add to the site purely with individual character, sometimes that is enough to make or break a business.

reply to post by AnteBellum


Are you dating a mod?

Its a serious question. Because everyone here contributes to ATS for free, and you are fixated on the mods for some reason. In terms of providing value/revenue for ATS, the big thread starters contribute a lot more than the mods do.

Edit to add,

Not that ATS mods do not also add value, they do. But content is the big draw to ATS.

Originally posted by Illusionsaregrander
reply to post by AnteBellum

 

Are you dating a mod?

Really? I would have waaaaay more stars and flags if that was the case!

The only reason I used ATS as an example was after reading this:
ATS Link

My discussion is for a deeper understanding on a subject that I quite honestly disagree with.
I don't think volunteers should be used in certain profit making situations.