I was a mod on /r/homeautomation, probably should have clarified that (though it’s in the article). I was a mod there for some 7 years and dedicated many hours to helping people get into the hobby. It was a huge passion of mine after I bought my first house.
But you are right, it was 100% a thankless role. The trolls at times can be especially…tiring but I loved the community and it was all worth it. I can only hope I set at least a few people on a path of a new passion.
I truly, truly appreciate your kind words though. It means a lot as thanks are few and far between while modding. Mostly we just got yelled at for “censorship” when someone was banned for being an ass or totally off-topic.