Moderator application

Ask to be trusted with this

Moderators here read what people write on their worst nights. It is quiet work, almost none of it visible, and it decides whether this stays a place where someone can admit they slipped. If you want to do it, this is where you say so.

Who reads it: The owner, personally
How you hear back: In the app, and with your code here
How long it takes: A few days, sometimes longer
Applying again: One at a time · 60 days after a no
Required first: Two-factor on your account

Checking whether applications are open…

One moment.

What the job actually is

Read this part honestly before the rest. Most people who ask picture something more interesting than it is.

Reading reports as they come in, and deciding what to do about each one.
Keeping an eye on the community feed and the prayer wall.
Answering support messages from people who are frustrated, embarrassed, or both.
Being the person who replies at eleven at night when someone posts that they relapsed.
Being told you got it wrong, and taking that well.

If you are asking because of the badge, or because you want free Premium, this is not that. There is nothing to collect here.

The rules of applying

Four of these are about how you apply. The last two are about what happens afterwards. All of them are enforced.

Apply as yourself
One application, from your own account, under the username you actually use. Applying for someone else, or from a second account, ends it.
Write your own answers
Do not use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other AI to write any part of this for you. Nobody is grading your grammar. We are trying to hear how you actually think, and a machine's answer tells us nothing about that.

If we find an application was written by an AI, that account is barred from ever becoming a moderator here. Permanently, and there is no appeal.
Turn on two-factor first
Applications from accounts without two-factor authentication are refused automatically. Moderators can read reports, private messages, and things people wrote on their worst night — that does not sit behind a password alone.

It is in the app under Settings → Security & privacy → Two-factor authentication, and takes a minute with any authenticator app.
Be honest about your own story
You do not need years behind you to moderate. Some of the best people for this are still in the middle of it. What you cannot do is pretend to be somewhere you are not.
What you read stays with you
Moderators see reports, private messages, and things people wrote when they were at their lowest. Repeating any of it outside the team ends the role that day.
You are not anyone's therapist
Moderators point people towards real help. They do not diagnose, do not counsel, and do not carry the weight of somebody else's recovery. Knowing that boundary is part of the job.
Being accepted is not the same as starting
If your application is accepted, that means we want to talk. We reach out the way you asked us to, have a proper conversation, and you become a moderator only when you are appointed after it. Accepted and appointed are two different days.

Application · step 1 of 5

Step one

Agree to the rules

They are set out in full above. This is the one that matters most: the answers have to be yours.

I have read the rules and I agree to them. Every answer is my own writing, and I understand that an AI-written application means a permanent bar.

Step two

Who you are

We look you up by your username, so it has to match your profile exactly. The name is seen only by the owner. The account also needs two-factor authentication switched on, or the application is refused.

Your username in the app Capitals do not matter. Spelling does.

A name to call you Never shown in the app.

Step three

How we reach you

We talk with everyone before appointing them, so this has to be somewhere you actually answer. Kept private, never posted.

Where should we reach you

Your username there

Email — optional

Step four

Why you, and what you have lived

Take your time. These two are the ones that actually decide it.

Why do you want to do this? Not why you would be good at it — why you want it.

What is your own story with this? Share as much as you are willing to. One person reads it and it is never posted anywhere.

Step five

Judgement, time, and your name

There is no trick answer to the first one. We want to see how you weigh the two things against each other.

Someone posts something that breaks the guidelines, and it is obvious they are having a terrible night. What do you do?

When are you usually around, and how much time can you give? Say what is true. Two honest hours a week beat an optimistic ten.

Sign it Typing your name means the rules are agreed and the answers are your own.

Once it is sent it cannot be edited. You get a reference code on the next screen — keep it.