Behaviorally I see two things happening. Those two things go beyond this important fact:
Yes, they do a great job.
I think that this is achieved with great behavioral architecture:
- Nudge Theory where a small incentive can nudge a person into a better, more rewarding behavior. The trophies and trinkets awarded for MOM, PLOM, JOM are small in comparison to the large amount of professional quality advice, writing and photography available in this forum. They are nudges. And they nudge us into another behavior I see frequently on this forum.
- Yes, and ... is a method of creative idea building that rewards the original thinker with a "Yes," and builds on that idea with an improvement on the idea. It's promoted in high-powered ad agency creative departments and Hollywood writer rooms, and taught at every major Improv school on this continent. I was practicing it before I learned the term. So is this group. It is the natural evolution of what happens when people are nudged into positive behavior, and that positive behavior becomes rewarding itself.
This type of behavioral architecture makes moderator jobs a lot easier.
Instead, the group uses positivity to create the great.
MGM