I'm looking for some new subreddits to moderate. Would rather have subreddits with preexisting posting/commenting activity because its boring building them from scratch. Don't want to be a junior mod that can get removed if the lead mod isn't happy.
Is manually searching reddit the best option?
Manually searching on Reddit is a massive waste of time because their internal engine is built to show you content, not account status. We have ran the same tactics and it's a pain.
Here is my pro tip:
If you want the "ghost towns" that already have traffic but no leaders, you're better off using Google Dorking to find specific system footprints that Reddit's own search hides. Use the search string
site:reddit.com/r/ "This community is unmoderated"* to find live subs that are currently wide open, or
site:reddit.com/r/ "banned for being unmoderated"* to find active communities that were shut down specifically because they lacked a mod.
These are actually the best ones because they have a history of high engagement and the admins are usually desperate for someone to "unban" and clean them up.
If you have a specific niche in mind, just add your keyword to
site:reddit.com/r/ [niche] "moderators" "none"*. Once you find a target, just head over to r/redditrequest/ as long as the previous mods have been inactive site wide for 30 days, you can usually snag the Top Mod spot and avoid being a "junior" under someone else's control, good luck
