So it's been about a year since I personally joined AskScience. And I remember right around this time last year, we had so many threads about how the reddit was falling apart and how if we wanted to be best little community next year we'd need to do this or that to keep our quality high. In that year, we've undergone tremendous growth and largely managed to maintain or even increase our quality. There's a lot going on behind the scene you may not be aware of, but the stuff you see up front, the downvotes, the reports, that's you guys. And we thank you for it.

When we first went default there were a few weeks of shake up and near burn-out on the moderation staff. And you know who stepped up for us and made that possible? Our community. All of the readers who spoke together through votes and even a few useful moderation scripts, to make that transition happen. We came to threads to clean them up to find that the worst stuff was buried under a mountain of downvotes. You guys all know what we want here, and it's become clear that it's something you want too.

So we thank you all so much for nominating and selecting us as best moderators of 2011, as cliché as it sounds, it really wouldn't have been possible without you guys, the entire community supporting our vision for this reddit. Best Big community hasn't been announced yet, but we're still tremendously honored to be included in the finalist positions in that category as well.

To celebrate our entire community's achievement, everyone's been given some gold star flair!

okay I wrote that back when we had only won moderator. Having won community now... well that really is all about you guys. First our panelists. Seriously you guys are awesome for taking time out of your days to educate... anybody really that comes along.

And our readers, again, we appreciate everything you do for us. You guys make this community what it is. There may be a few vocal people that don't care for the way it's run, but this is yet another confirmation that you share our goals. And there's nothing more that we could ask from you all.

So thanks everyone! Enjoy your gold stars. And have an updram on us. (not really on us though).

Some late edits:

This is an example thread from ages ago. We've met our goal!

Also, I was remiss in not mentioning our panelists. You guys do a lot of the heavy lifting here, and we're always grateful for all of your expertise!