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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 submission count, we have selected all provided questions as well as our back up questions for a total of 10 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):


If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

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?

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

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?

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

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  • "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." - You mean to edit the link to each candidate's answer into the question?
    – Byte Commander Mod
    May 6, 2019 at 23:00
  • 1
    @ByteCommander: Correct. Ideally each candidate with do that themselves, but it would also work for other users to edit the links in. This is largely to make an easy index to the answers in the question. May 6, 2019 at 23:02
  • @JonEricson please, how do I add the link to my answer on this post? May 13, 2019 at 14:34
  • @YufenyuyVeyehDider: You should be able to edit it in. ;-) May 13, 2019 at 15:46
  • @JonEricson nope! Actually, I'm not... I have made a post about it here: meta.askubuntu.com/questions/18612/… May 14, 2019 at 10:16

7 Answers 7

26

Zanna's Answers

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

I've been in this position a few times and it really depends on the people, my relationship with each of them, their relationship with each other, and what exactly has happened. It's much easier when I know the people and am friendly with them so I understand the dynamics and know how people will respond. Without any such advantage, I think you can only investigate thoroughly, try to understand both perspectives, and give both of them a chance to be heard, then look for a way to do justice or compromise.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

I'm always happy to explain myself (citing policy where useful), listen to criticism of my actions and consider the possibility that I've made a mistake, since I make mistakes all the time and I'm totally used to it. If it turns out I think I'm in the right (even after seeking a second opinion if needed) and can't persuade the person to agree with me, I'd let them know they can take their issue to meta.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

I think moderators are those people who are accountable to the community for the atmosphere, tidiness and smooth-running of the site. Of course, mods can't make all the things awesome by themselves, but they are where recourse and remedy can be sought by all for things that can't otherwise be fixed. This site is running very nicely I think, so it's a matter of maintenance. I participate on some beta sites where mods have to do a lot more work that high rep users would be doing if there were enough of them, but here there are quite a lot of active high rep users so mods seem to mainly do the things that only mods can do.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

I think this site is quite welcoming. Sometimes there are excessively snarky comments on lack of research or English language ability, unhelpful suggestions to read manuals etc, or duplicate (or wrong!) canned comments from review, but in general it feels like a nice place to be.

I've worked in two secondary schools and I learned there that the behaviour of whoever is perceived to be in power is very influential, and I think that mods are perceived to be in power and to have accountability. It's what mods say and do that sets the tone. When I first came to this site, I was very impressed with the work of the moderators, and especially by efforts made by some of them to make me feel welcome in chat, responding to low-level sexism appropriately and so on. I hope I could manage to help with setting an enjoyable tone...

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

I'm an introvert and I tend towards tidying and ordering. I think about visitors. Everyone I meet who uses Ask Ubuntu tells me they never need to ask because everything is already there, so I know that old posts matter as much as new ones and need attention. Nothing frustrates me more on AU (except maybe people who always click No Action Needed in review) than a question with thousands of views, a totally misleading title, no useful answers, and hundreds of invisible downvotes from low rep and unregistered users. So I concern myself mainly with content and its usefulness to visitors. I want questions to be answered where possible instead of closed, especially as duplicates of generic posts. I want old unanswered questions to get answered. I don't know what effect this could have... I don't have any intention to shake the place up.

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

I tend to seek agreement and avoid confrontation. I get upset when people disagree about something that's important to me.

I have two periods of intense work every year; from mid January to mid February and from end of May to start of July. During these times I would be less active.

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?

This is such a hard question and difficult scenario! I would let that user know that their contribution is very much valued and needed by the site, but the rules apply to everyone equally. I'd work with them to find a way to support them to keep contributing and act within the CoC too.

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

I'd ask them about it, since most likely I've missed whatever they noticed. If they were not to be found, I'd ask others to take a look, probably in the Downboat.

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?

Even as a well-known high-rep user I feel like what I say can have some excess weight. But mods have to tread even more lightly. I tend to say what I feel and put all my effort into things, so I would have to attend to that diamond heaviness and remember to hold back as appropriate. With regard to past actions, I do review my old comments (slowly) to see if they are still useful and appropriate. Sometimes I try to review my old posts as well to improve them if possible. Maybe I would need to take a look at my old meta posts to make sure I'm not coming across too authoritatively!

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

I think the main difference in effectiveness is the perceived accountability. I think that people would find me to be helpful as a mod. They would know, I hope, that they could and should ask me for help with the things I can do, more than now. However, here is a brief list of powers I would really appreciate having:

  • To go to a post in the review queue from the post, to cast a Leave Open vote if it is getting obviously wrong close votes.
  • To tell people who always click No Action Needed when reviewing First Posts and Late Answers not to review at all if they are going to do it like that.
  • To edit or vote on locked posts, especially if they should be deleted. When removing bad tags, I have to raise a custom flag to ask for these edits now.
  • To edit the banner of duplicate posts, to add or remove targets, even when I don't have a gold badge in any of the question's tags.
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    You should be a perfect mod. Good luck!
    – Pilot6
    May 9, 2019 at 16:42
  • 1
    @Pilot6 thanks! :) :)
    – Zanna Mod
    May 9, 2019 at 17:44
15

ByteCommander's answers

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

Like with most questions, it depends on the individual case what actions should be done. Generally a moderator is there to moderate and help both parties to settle the argument in a way everyone can live with. Should it not be possible to find a peaceful resolution or at least get them to stop arguing in public, it might be necessary to put them in the infamous "penalty box" by handing out short temporary suspensions as a last resort until they managed to cool down.

However, I think most important is to avoid any damage to the site and unrelated members, so if there's e.g. a strong dispute in the comments below some post, it should rather be cleaned up quickly and possibly taken to chat if there's still more need to talk it out, or even private messages in terrible cases. Ask Ubuntu is meant to be welcoming and friendly, but the main site is also meant to stay focused and on topic.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes sometimes. Just bearing the moderator title would not make me infallible, but I believe I can handle constructive criticism and getting corrected in cases when I am wrong pretty well. Therefore I'd not be shy to admit if any of my decisions was wrong and correct it once I realize that. I also think this is pretty important to maintain transparency and hold up the trust our community puts into the moderator team.

However, if I am not convinced to be wrong, I would take the time and explain my reasoning to the user in question and make sure they can understand why things happened this way. Meta and the help center are good resources to aid in explaining our community policies here. Should we still not be able to agree, I know I can always ask the rest of the team for their opinions on the matter and discuss it internally how to respond. Even escalating a disagreement to Meta and asking for the community's standpoint might be worthwhile in some cases.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

A moderator should be a both a representative and servant to the community.

With the diamond, all actions and posts gain extra weight and make a big influence in shaping how people experience the site, even though the volume of moderator posts overall is comparably small. People would likely align their own behaviour with what moderators as well as high-rep users show, so they end up being role models for the community and have to lead by example.

In my opinion, they are not really supposed to lead by authority though, as the Stack Exchange model is deeply based on community self-moderation. It is important to stay humble and respect the community. "Moderators are human exception handlers" and are given their additional powers to deal with flags and extraordinary situations, while still continuing to keep the site clean by helping out in regular review and moderation duties.

All this holds true on every SE site, but on Ask Ubuntu specifically we have a community that strives to be very open, friendly and "human". We don't want to scare anyone off and should put even more effort in guiding and assisting newcomers than other sites.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

As I just mentioned, from my personal experience and what I hear from others, the Ubuntu community (not exclusive to Ask Ubuntu) is generally already one of the most welcoming technical communities out there. Ubuntu is meant to be used by humans of all experience levels, from total newcomers to expert sysadmins, and that is just how diverse we are as a community.

Of course we can still get better in some areas and e.g. try to avoid saying things in ways that might upset reasonable groups of people, be it based on gender, beliefs, origin or whatever. I believe most people intend no harm, but simply don't realize when their expression or humour could hurt people, and we have to make them aware of that and clean up the not so nice things, without ending up as a censorship authority.

We also should avoid just closing questions, downvoting posts, or other moderating actions without giving friendly explanations and hints how the posts can be fixed or improved. Few things are more upsetting than coming here seeking for help or wanting to contribute and getting turned down without even having a chance to understand why you didn't meet the quality standards.

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

A tough question. Actually I have the impression that the current moderator team is already doing a very good job most of the time, and I couldn't point out a single thing that I (or any other potential candidate) could improve alone. It is all about team work and making progress in small but continuous steps in the right direction.

One thing that might make me different is my involvement in various technical and learning communities on Discord, where I created and lead another Ubuntu centered community and am a helper in the largest Python server. Both gave me valuable additional insights and experience in dealing with people in similar settings like here, except that Discord basically gives you real-time chat instead of archiveable Q&A. This should allow me to add some different viewpoints to the moderator pool.

I would probably be influencing the site as a moderator to focus a bit more on solving people's problems if possible, rather than being on the quick side to close borderline questions. Even if something is slightly off-topic, a comment pointing in the right direction does not hurt but gives a whole different user experience. Doesn't mean we should not still close questions to keep the site focused, but I believe everything should be done with common sense and human judgement instead of strictly following inflexible rules. I am also very open and direct to point out problems when I come across any.

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

One thing that is currently a problem until roughly end of August will be time. I am in my final university semester right now and there will sure be phases where I need to focus more on that and a bit less on the site. After that time period I foresee no problems to return to higher activity levels again.

I might also be a bit pedantic and perfectionist, taking more time than others to do a task thoroughly. Probably that will rather be a quality than a pitfall for a moderator though.

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?

Depends on the benefit of the community from this user's knowledge as well as the kind and severity of issues they cause. Probably I would rather tend towards taking harsher moderating actions if necessary, than to tolerate behaviour that shines a bad light on the site and community in general.

Of course the first steps will always be to seek a dialogue and try to understand their behaviour and help them realizing its effect on other people. If there is no will to change and/or issues keep coming up, I believe we would benefit more from a peaceful and friendly community image that attracts and welcomes new people, than to cling onto one person and bend our rules and policies around them. I would not be afraid to argue for temporarily suspending people constantly causing trouble when discussing the problem with the rest of the team and deciding on what to do.

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

If there is a disagreement, we can talk about it and learn the other's point of view on the issue. I'm always open to hear others' opinions and reconsider my own if there are good arguments, but I also speak up when I feel like something is wrong and expect the same ability to take constructive criticism from others too. I don't expect any unsolvable conflicts to come up within the team there.

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?

I am quite confident about my current posts and those of the more recent years. As I gained reputation relatively quickly and am now among the top 20 members of the site, everything with my name on it already does have a significant weight anyway (but of course still way less than with a diamond). People also know me by this name in other places and I don't think there is anything I need to be ashamed of.

On the other hand, it would probably not hurt to go through a couple of my early posts again and look for opportunities to polish them up a bit with what I learned since then.

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

I am quick to spot problems, and if I feel like there is a mostly obvious right way to handle them (e.g. closing or deleting something), I can efficiently tidy up a lot without having to wait until enough people with enough reputation reviewed it. Of course that means I am taking the sole responsibility for these actions too instead of just casting one out of three or five votes, and I am aware of that and willing to rather discuss an issue first or leave it to the community if I am hesitating.

For some reason I also prefer handling the "bad cases" like going through the Low Quality review queue or flagging spam/abusive posts over the "regular" tasks like finding duplicates. Being a moderator would especially give me more powers in these areas, as "human exception handlers", to quote Jeff Atwood again, which I think suits me quite well.

Thanks for reading through all of this. It grew much longer again than I intended. Hopefully I didn't sound like a politician too much...

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    Sounded great to me :)
    – Zanna Mod
    May 9, 2019 at 0:49
  • ... "penalty box" ... "cleaned up quickly" ... a few references to reasons to suspend people. All sounds a little heavy-handed for my taste. -1. May 14, 2019 at 8:42
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    @RobinWinslow Just to clarify what I was talking about: The "penalty box" refers to temporary suspensions as possible last measure, which is nothing that would be handed out lightly and without discussion with other moderators, but it is a way to deal with people who need a short time out to calm down. "Cleaned up quickly" only referred to the messages of an argument, if they appear in on-topic areas like comments below a question. This does not belong there and harms the credibility of the site and post, therefore it has to be tidied up timely. No reference to suspensions made here.
    – Byte Commander Mod
    May 14, 2019 at 8:57
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    I understand. Don't take it too personally, it's only my opinion. But personally the most important thing to me is that StackExchange platforms be welcoming, inclusive, understanding. For that to happen, mods need to be acutely aware of their power, endlessly accommodating, and almost always refrain from using it. Your answers didn't sound extreme, just a little less gentle & understanding than others. And then, when I gave you -1, I thought I should explain myself. But hey, I'm just one person. May 14, 2019 at 13:03
  • @RobinWinslow Sure, that's fine. I appreciate you took your time to write down your feedback.
    – Byte Commander Mod
    May 14, 2019 at 13:44
8

Vidarlo's answers

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

Trying to understand the two person's viewpoints, and see if there was some common ground. It may be a detail, or it may be more serious. In either case, it's important that the users feel that they're heard.

Explaining a situation, and why an action was taken in the way it was is easily the most important way to defuse a situation - before it's even a situation.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

I guess this depends on the experience as moderator. I imagine that in the beginning, I'd ask the quorum of moderators, just to ensure that my action was appropriate. With time, I would try to deal with such cases by explaining the rationale of the action.

I think it's also important to not be afraid to step down and say that it's a mistake, and reverse the action, if the user can present a compelling case.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

I believe moderators are stewards. Most of the policy decisions are carried out on meta, and much of the moderation is performed by community. The moderators take care of the grunt that cannot be performed by regular (high rep) users, such as moving, handling spam more effectively than users, and user moderation (e.g. handling out blocks), tag maintenance etc.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

It's not the worst SE site I've been visiting. Far from it. But sometimes we may be (and I totally include myself here) a bit short the 30th time we see the same question - and for instance closings for unclear question or dupes may seem rough to users not used to stack exchange format. We may be too quick to close questions in some cases.

As a moderator I believe I can assist in this, by correcting, and bringing attention to obviously wrongful decisions in this regard.

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

Whoa. This one is though to answer. The current moderator team is absolutely awesome, skillful and resourceful. What can I add that they don't already have? Well, at least a new pair of hands to assist in moderation. Hopefully different viewpoints as well.

Overall the mod team we have today is just wonderful, and do a great job.

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

I'm arrogant if I'm in a position where I'm fairly certain that I'm correct. This may easily irritate other people - and I'm aware of it. Yet I hope that people will not be afraid to point out when I am wrong. I try to be humble as well.

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?

This is always difficult - both a valuable member, and a source of noise. Scaring away users who provide high quality is all too easy.

I would try to reach out to the user, and inform about how other perceive the problematic comments - and at the same time stress that the user is a valuable contributor. If all else fails, removing the comments, and sanctions against users must be considered. Not with an easy hearth, but nevertheless...

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

Depends on the action. In general, discuss it privately with the other mods involved, and try to reach a common ground. I may very well be wrong, and may be convinced that I was wrong. If we couldn't come to a mutual understanding in either direction, I would take it up with other moderators to get more eyes on it.

If it is about a policy, checking consensus with Meta may also be worth it. Transparency in moderation is rather important to me. If the users understand why something is done, the understanding will probably be greater.

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?

This is what makes me most uncertain. I hope (and believe) my answers are of a high enough quality for this site, and I will - as moderator - be careful with how I treat others. I will be humbly aware that what I do will be under scrutiny by everyone.

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

Communication and authority. That's ultimately what the diamond is for. But also about keeping the community running smoothly, catching problems early. It gives power to perform many janitorial tasks quickly and effectively.

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    +1 I like the ability (and willingness) to reflect, that I taste in your answers. May 8, 2019 at 16:36
5

George Udosen's Answer

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

The first thing to do would be to listen to both users after duly going through their communication histories. Then refer both users to Ask Ubuntu site policy page to help them understand how such issues are supposed to be handled with a view to giving them an opportunity to do a self assessment and if this fails I will come in as a moderator where that still doesn't work I will invite a more experienced site moderator to add a voice to the situation.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

First off all actions taken by me must be in accordance with the site policies based on that I would first apologize over my actions for any unintended offense caused then refer the user to the Ask Ubuntu site policy regarding this particular issue and help them understand how this affects them.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

I believe a moderator's basic role is to help users understand the purpose for which Ask Ubuntu exists through one-on-one guidance and education of site users. And to ensure that policies are implemented using best practices as laid down in the Code of Conduct document; act as the human face to the site.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

When compared to other Stack sites and personal experience I believe that Ask Ubuntu is very welcoming but of course there is always room for improvement and this is where I come in. At times, I think some answers could be more "beginner friendly". I will work to make sure that questions are made more "beginner friendly" by using the site tools to monitor and encourage better easy to understand answers from contributors.

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

I believe the following attributes gives me an edge:

  • an eye for detail,
  • an excellent team player,
  • strong empathy towards people,
  • an extremely patient individual, and
  • a service centered person.

In addition to the above listed quality I believe that we grow as we serve, so Ask Ubuntu will be getting a moderator that believes in growth in service and understands that rules are made to maintain order.

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

I would need to learn not to be overly sentimental when dealing with people and work on enforcing site policies even when it may offend any user.

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 would look at what arrears these flags belong and work with the user to help them improve their people skills and communication abilities.

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

Ask Ubuntu has a chat tool that makes it possible to interact with other users and in this case a moderator. I will use this medium to communicate with and better understand the moderator's position on this issue and clear any misunderstandings I have on their positions.

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?

It gives me a feeling of more responsibility as I have always felt that all users on the site have once you get a reputation that makes it possible to carry out any function on the site. As a moderator I will always realize that my actions will impact the site whether positively or negatively as such I will always hold myself accountable and limit excuses for inadequacies and rather work to improve in other to serve better.

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

It will give me the added responsibility of carrying out site curating duties with added privileges that non-moderators don't have. It makes it possible to have access to site tools that are not normally available to other users and to use these tools to make the user experience on the site one to be envied across the Stack family of sites.

5

user68186's Answers

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

I would read all the communications between the two users and ask them for clarifications if needed. I would listen to both the sides. I would ask them to amicably settle their dispute based on the guidance in the Ask Ubuntu help and meta for clear site policy and precedence. As a new moderator, I would seek the guidance of experienced moderators and decide on the appropriate action along with the other moderators.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

Before I take any moderator actions, I would explain to the user why the posts or comments are inappropriate citing Ask Ubuntu Help, and Meta, and ask them to take corrective actions. I believe clear communication can resolve the need for moderator actions in many cases. It is important to me that the user understands why a moderator action was necessary.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

As a moderator my main role is to follow up on flagged posts and determine if any moderator actions are needed. I understand that a moderator action, such as a close vote is binding and instantly effective. Therefore as a moderator I will take such actions after careful deliberations, and with consultation with other moderators if necessary and in cases where such actions are needed for the continued working of the site in line with the site policy and guidance.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

I think in the context of Stack Exchange, Ask Ubuntu is special as it not only caters to the community of developers, coders, and server administrators, but it is welcoming to normal desktop users of Ubuntu who may not have formal computer science training. I think Ask Ubuntu is doing a fantastic job identifying unwelcoming and abusive comments posts and weeding them out as quickly as possible. As a moderator I will contribute to this work and make sure that normal desktop users like me from all walks of life and from all socio-cultural background are welcome. The challenges faced by Non-English speaking users of Ask Ubuntu is particularly important to me. As a moderator I will try to understand their issues better and help them feel welcome to Ask Ubuntu.

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

As a moderator I bring in the perspective of a normal desktop user of Ubuntu. My ability to communicate with other users who are not technically trained will add to the diversity of the moderator pool. I will strive to make the site and its community better.

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

As a non-technical user of Ubuntu desktop, I like to use metaphors from daily life to help understand Ubuntu specific problems. For example, if someone tires to change the / partition of a running system, I may say that one cannot change the tires of a car while driving the car. I understand that sometimes my comments can be taken as condescending or sarcastic. As a moderator I will be more careful about how the language of my comments.

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 would identify the strength and weaknesses of this particular user and engage with them to help them become a more effective member of the community.

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

I would discuss my view with the other mod over chat and try to understand the reasons behind their actions. As a person and a moderator I am willing to learn from others.

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?

Being a moderator for Ask Ubuntu is a great honor and a great responsibility. If elected I hope to honor trust of the electorate and carry out the duties of a moderator to the best of my ability. As a human being I am not immune to mistakes. I am willing to let the community scrutinize my errors and my contribution to this site. I believe higher standards for the moderator along with greater scrutiny and responsibilities will make me a better person.

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

I am a long term user of this site. I use the privileges of my reputation effectively and responsibly. As an user I have been guided and inspired by some of the best moderators of this site. I am ready to take on the responsibility of the moderator and hope to help others just as other moderators have helped me when I faced difficult issues. They have guided me to the right direction, and now I want to do the same to the new users.

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    Why don't you have a proper username? You probably want to make yourself identifiable. May 14, 2019 at 0:12
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    @forresthopkinsa I chose to keep this name. It identified me as one of the many ordinary users of this site. My user name is unique and it belongs to me.
    – user68186
    May 14, 2019 at 2:40
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    Sure that's your call of course. I just know that for me, an ordinary user, and probably for others, all the "user12345" accounts are indistinguishable. May 14, 2019 at 2:51
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Videonauth's answers

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

This one of the harder questions as everyone has his/her own personality and the only thing I would do is trying to mediate between them in a private chat or offer them a way out of this quarrel if possible, but that of course depends on the situation. We easily forget that even tho we are mere names in a chat or page for others are real persons which have good and bad days.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

I would try to explain them why an action was taken. Of course this would not guarantee the user will see where they failed and keep on being angry. But if an action has had to be taken this would be of course making people upset but nevertheless this is what we have the site's rules for.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

The moderator job is, as far the SE network is concerned more a janitorial role so handling flags, keeping disputes at bay (if there where one). Being there for questions and concerns of users.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

I can not see much a moderator can do here as it is the user-base who has to embrace it seeing that everyone here is a human being, even though hidden behind a user tag, so all I see me being to do is to mediate between and remind users when they go astray of the normal conversation path.

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

The question is do I have to be so very different from the talent pool? What the people would get from me as a moderator is someone who is calm, and treating everyone equally. Answering where I know an answer to and providing help where I can.

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

One of my biggest pitfalls as far I can see is that I want to help everyone I encounter. If that's a pitfall at all.

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?

A personal conversation about it via the tools provided would be a start, but if it would continue taking more drastic actions after internal discussion with the rest of the mod team seems appropriate.

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

Seeking an internal discussion and trying to find a solution which addresses the concerns of everyone involved, but then this is a really hard question as I would be a newcomer in the team.

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?

Not any different I feel about all I contributed and wrote until now as usually try to give answers reactions with the mindset that the opposite is a human being too and will have feelings.

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

The hardest question in that whole row and I honestly am not sure how to answer that, only that I will be more restraint in the usage of tools like closing and deleting as those actions would have an immediate effect.

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  • Nice. I like your attidude. "with the mindset that the opposite is a human being too and will have feelings" - gold.
    – Bevan
    May 25, 2019 at 8:56
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Yufenyuy Veyeh Didier's Answers

If you are asked to defuse a situation between two users who are angry at each other, what would your approach to the resolution of this dispute be?

In my opinion, I will keenly inspect the issue and pay enough attention to both users, after then, I'll find a way to handle it with consideration. In the case where it is too strong and both users still want to be heard, I'll take it out to a chat in order not to pollute the main site.

How would you handle a user who gets annoyed at you (if you were a moderator), over moderator actions taken against one of their posts or comments?

Well, I will explain to them why I took the said action and try to make them understand. Nevertheless, I will also crosscheck my judgment or the action I took since I am not perfect and could also make mistakes. In the case where they're still angry and want further attention, they'll be free take it to the Meta site or we create a chat for the issue.

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a moderator, and what role do you believe a moderator plays here on Ask Ubuntu specifically versus other sites?

For me, to be a moderator implies everything you do represents the AskUbuntu as a whole. As such, one is an ambassador of the platform and is responsible for keeping a fair and calmly firm environment for each and everyone to duel well in the community.

How do you think Ask Ubuntu is doing at being welcoming? In what areas could we improve? Could you have any impact on this as a moderator?

Generally speaking, I feel or think AskUbuntu is already quite good at welcoming. As time goes on, "as a moderator" ways to have more impact on it could spring forth.

What does Ask Ubuntu get when you become a moderator? That is to say, what do you think makes you different —better or not— from the existing talent pool in terms of your aims, drives, focus, etc. What effect do you think this will have on the site and its community?

Well.., AskUbuntu gets an additional moderator! I'm kidding...

I am a "perfectionist" (maybe one of my weakest points) so I will love to see many unanswered posts here get answers (Some of my questions are in this mess) and also have every question on the site written in good English (I sometimes see a lot of trashy English around... I don't mean to come off rude!).

Looking at your personal profile, personality, qualities and background, in your opinion/expectation, what would be your biggest pitfalls you'd have to consider if you become a moderator?

Due to my busy daily schedule, I'll probably be less active sometimes.
PS: I can really get annoyed when I think what someone said is unfair personally.

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'll appreciate the said user for their value provided, but then I'll remind them that they have to operate according to the Ubuntu Code of Conduct and maybe help them out on this.

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

In such a situation, I'll like to discuss the action in a chat so as to be clarified and also have an insight into why it had to be done that way than the other.

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?

Okay... How I wish this diamond was real-life diamond :)
I think I feel... "good" and like there's more work! So let's see.

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

In many ways that I am still to discover... (more privileges too) especially given my current rep points.

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    Many of your answers seem rather ambiguous. A lot of your answers seem to say "I'll see once I become a moderator".
    – fosslinux
    May 16, 2019 at 2:37
  • @fosslinux what do you mean? I guess it's your point of view, right? If you're considering questions 4, 9, and 10 as many... then I think you kind of have a problem. What have you done on other answers that are not ambiguous to promote them? From the little work I have tried to do here, is there even a problem with saying "I'll see once I become a moderator"? (Even as I don't think I did). Are you perfect @fosslinux? You know everything before do, right? Thanks. May 16, 2019 at 12:23
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    I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything rude or offensive. No, I am not perfect, and no, I don't know everything before I do it, and I don't claim to be. I'll try to answer the other questions as best I can; "From the little work I have tried to do here", in my honest opinion a moderator should already have an active interest in the community (which I don't really have myself, not going to lie); "What have you done on other answers that are not ambiguous to promote them?", upvoted them, or nothing. I'm not sure why this question is being asked.
    – fosslinux
    May 17, 2019 at 1:38
  • (cont) " If you're considering questions 4, 9, and 10 as many... then I think you kind of have a problem." That's where it's explicitly stated, I feel like that it was a theme running through the whole answer. Maybe that's just how I read it though. What kind of problem do you think I have? ; "I guess it's your point of view, right?", I'm not sure what you mean by this. If you mean how I read it, that is true. If you mean my personal opinion... I think that what I said is what is stated in the answer.
    – fosslinux
    May 17, 2019 at 1:42
  • Is it just me, or is that a real acid test, right there in the comments? A simple observation from another member results in what reads to me as a rather grumpy answer. Do we want that in a mod here on SE? I don't really believe we do. Just sayin'...
    – Bevan
    May 25, 2019 at 9:01
  • @Bevan It's not just an acid test... It's a nuclear test. lol, Don't bother, to me there was no prob just some point of view. And take note, you can't determine anyone's emotions from just text. It occurs to me that anyone who so ever it is has the tendency to interpret texts or written communication from the point of who they actually are... (so think about that). Have a nice time. May 25, 2019 at 20:50

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