2019 Moderator Election Q&A - Questionnaire

Question

In connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&A thread for the candidates. Questions collected from an earlier thread have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as the space for the candidates to provide their answers.

Due to the lack of submissions, the Q&A will comprise of our default questions for a total of 5 questions.

As a candidate, your job is simple - post an answer to this question, citing each of the questions and then post your answer to each question given in that same answer. For your convenience, I will include all of the questions in quote format with a break in between each, suitable for you to insert your answers. Just copy the whole thing after the first set of three dashes.Please consider putting your name at the top of your post so that readers will know who you are before they finish reading everything you have written, and also including a link to your answer on your nomination post.

Once all the answers have been compiled, this will serve as a transcript for voters to view the thoughts of their candidates, and will be appropriately linked in the Election page.

Good luck to all of the candidates!

Oh, and when you've completed your answer, please provide a link to it after this blurb here, before that set of three dashes. Please leave the list of links in the order of submission.

To save scrolling here are links to the submissions from each candidate (in order of submission):

• Andrew T.
• xavier_fakerat

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1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

2. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

3. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

4. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

5. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

Answer 1

Andrew T.'s answers to your questions

^{Also, my answer to the 2018's election; 3 months ago}

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1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

In general, I will be quite direct in following and enforcing the Code of Conduct: warning, account suspension, and account expulsion.

However, at this moment, Android.SE is lacking experts. Making them left the site because of arguments/flags is the very last action I want to take. With help of other moderators, I'll try best to make a compromise and persuade them to improve their behavior while still reducing/preventing the friction within the community.

2. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

Discuss with them casually but politely, just like how I will do even as a regular user. Our moderators are very rational and open-minded, and I believe we can give feedback to each other constructively without being intimidated. If it is just a single instance of disagreement, then I can live with it ;)

However, if it becomes a pattern, I will request the moderator to discuss the cause of the issue ("focus on the content, not the user") on the meta with the community, just like how regular users can and should do.

3. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Borrowing the terms since then, moderators are "super janitors" and "exception handlers"; "super janitors" because they are basically unrestricted in cleaning up the sites, and "exception handlers" for issues that regular users cannot handle by themselves.

While in general moderators should be the "exception handlers" and let the community moderating the site, Android.SE has multiple problems that prevent the community from doing their moderation effectively. This is where moderators can support them by being the "janitors".

4. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

Personally, I will not feel scared/shameful/discouraged. The past is the past, it cannot be changed, but let the prior bad experiences be a lesson for improving in the future, both as a regular user and especially a moderator.

5. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

• Binding votes: reduce the time needed for the effect to be applied and prevent wasting the regulars' votes on the same post.

• Comment moderation: regular users cannot do it effectively.

Answer 2

Xavier's answers to your questions

1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I will stick to the regular protocol here; Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time (through Account Suspension). After that, have nothing to do with them (Account Expulsion) But as stated already in the Code of Conduct, most issues are resolved after the first warning.

Let me be a bit clear here- A warm and friendly community will always take a higher priority over a "stream of valuable answers". Bad/unfriendly behaviour tends to drive away new users to the site, besides there are always other people who can answer questions.

2. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

Talk to the mod nicely perhaps in chat, It could have been a mistake - after all we are all humans, perhaps worth noting- "nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood" a thing one person may overlook may be a serious case to someone, and this can be resolved through the art of communication.

3. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

A moderator is a servant. These guys have to toughest job in the community, they lead by example which makes them good servants. They check for untoward behaviour among users, constantly check for content quality and help decide what is suitable/unsuitable for the community.

4. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

Knowing I have committed myself to being a good servant of the community, makes me feel great, and will remind me I have a big role to play on the site and should always lead by example and maintaining a kind and friendly environment.

5. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

As a mod, there is active engagement, A 10k/20k user may decide to commit less time to active moderating duties, but as a mod you constantly have to 'be in the game' to make sure there is sanity in the community.