As i thought contacting you through a comment wasn't proper, im doing it here.
@mayer I see that you and @oldturkey03 accept a bunch of answers, im assuming you guys are mods or admins. If so, what do I have to do to become one?
I actually don't know. Three of us were made moderators several years ago. I was never asked if I wanted it. @danj, @oldturkey03 and myself. We were the three top rated answer providers and had proven ourselves over many years of service to the site. We were asked to make recommendations for an additional one and the only one that was asked to my knowledge was @jayeff, who turned it down. IMHO it was mistake to ask him, he should have just been given it like the rest of us. (and still should, @kyle Just do it and let him use it when and if needed). I didn't do anything with it for months, you grow into it.
Maybe one of the criteria would be a reputation of over 100,000.
It is a tremendous responsibility and takes most of my time now. To do it well requires mature judgement and the willingness to be a servant.
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
J.K. Rowling
“There are no great men, there are only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.”
― ADM William F. Halsey
5 Comments:
I sometimes wonder if the "leaders" understand how fortunate they are to have you, @oldturkey03 and @danj around, investing as many hours (for free) as you have on a daily basis, essentially 365 days a year.
by Minho
@refectio I certainly understand how fortunate we are :)
@mayer quoting Harry Potter?! I'm so in love with this.
We're actually working on a moderator application program right now. I've asked @mayer and @oldturkey03 and @danj for their recommendations before. My job would be a WHOLE lot harder without them, I'm so grateful for their help and support... and patience with me ;)
@kaykay I there a notification system on meta I don't know about? I have no way of knowing if someone @pccheese'd me.
It appears as if the three moderators, @lpfaff1 and myself are the top voters. If I have a say in the matter, L Pfaff would be an excellent candidate. He does a lot of moderation.
by George A.
Good question about notifications, @pccheese! Yes, we built a notification system. But we hadn't turned it on for Meta yet. I just did. Let me know what you think!
by Kyle Wiens
@cam2363 as my esteemed colleague @mayer pointed out that yes, we are moderators. Besides myself, @mayer and @danj there is also our old friend @pollytintop who has not been active ever since she moved from the UK to Australia. Smart person with a lot of knowledge and compassion. Maybe one of these days pollytintop will pop back up:-).
The moderator job can be tedious since we do try to keep a clean and fair environment. We do sometimes make mistakes and may not always except the answer to an old question that might have been chosen or we delete the wrong answer/question, but after all we are still only human. The task of moderating is currently a lot easier than it has been in the past. We seem to have a real cohesive group of fixers here on a regular basis. We all seem to help each other out and do not let our egos get in the way, for that I greatly appreciate all of you regulars on Answers.
I believe that the characteristics of a moderator includes to know ones own weaknesses and strengths, to not play judge and jury about questions, answers, devices etc. A good mod should be a mentor to all. One must respect any question asked, any answer given, as being of genuine interest to the OP and the person that answers the question, no matter how one feels about it (answer/question/device). A moderator needs to recognize the multitude of ethnic, cultural and language background and shall always ensure that any person gets treated with respect, regardless of origin or language/writing skills. Bullying, flaming and harassment by anyone can never be tolerated.
That does not mean that good jokes and fun is frowned upon. On the contrary, it is greatly appreciated. I look at anyone that provides consistent good answers as an expert and recognize that as such we are primarily left-brained people because of the logical and analytical skills needed to provide our answers. We need the occasional jokes, funny answers and questions to create an equilibrium ;-) (thanks @theimedic @pccheese you guys are really a big part of this cohesive group. Besides giving great answers, you have a great way of looking at things). Last but not least, as a moderator one cannot take things to serious when people lash out. I am sure that @mayer as well as @danj have had their fair share of people like this
So Junior Mods, go out there and start fixing things. Create some guides and become a mentor to the next gen
9 Comments:
Mike, that was a good one. Nice to know you've become a "good American". Reminded me of a funeral service i did for a 93 year old man. Afterwards a couple of guys came up and chewed me up, cussed me out one side and down the other for giving the old guy a Christian burial and saying some nice things about him. It was so bad that people came up to me afterwards to try to console me and tell me what a great job I did.
by mayer
Richard, thanks. Trust me, after researching that dude a bit, I checked my mail for any white powdery substance for weeks after that, ;-)
by oldturkey03
Ah Ha! Mike and Richard!
by George A.
Mike, you hit the nail on the head with those two last comments. What a disrespectful contributor...Not a lot different from me when I started out.
by George A.
@pccheese way different than you were. You did not have the hatred.....;-)
by oldturkey03
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Ever noticed the shield next to their names?
by George A.