blog.stackoverflow: Stack Overflow 2010 Moderator Election Begins [1]
Based on the traffic volume, it's crazy that we have so few Stack Overflow community moderators relative to the site's size and traffic. Numbers in parens, below, are the 1 month visitors from Google Analytics:
meta
(74k)
Joel, Kyle, Tom, Sean
serverfault
(831k)
Kara, Denny, Stefan
stackoverflow
(12.7m)
Bill, Marc
superuser
(1.2m)
TheTXI Ivo, Stefan, Diago, HTG
The original thinking was that Joel, myself, Jarrod, and Geoff would be pitching in as moderators, and I desperately try to every day, but I don't think that's enough in practice.
So, I think we need to have another Stack Overflow Moderator Election [2]. Let's start by collecting some nominations.
Post an answer if you think you would make a good community moderator. But first, some ground rules:
You may nominate another user who you feel meets the below criteria, but the nomination is invalid until the user him or herself acknowledges the nomination and accepts it by either editing or posting a comment on the nomination to indicate they accept.
You must be a currently registered Stack Overflow user in good standing
You must have at least 7,000 reputation on Stack Overflow.
You exhibit patience and fairness at all times in your questions, answers, and comments.
You lead by example, showing respect for your fellow programmers in everything you write.
You should want the responsibility. This is not an obligation. It's purely voluntary.
Moderation guidelines:
http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/05/a-theory-of-moderation/
Nominations are now closed; thanks for participating, and keep an eye out for the vote!
I nominate myself: mmyers [1]. (Although it still feels weird.)
I have been an active contributor to Stack Overflow in the past; anyone who's followed the java tag (or is active on Meta) probably recognizes my name. Recently I've had less time to answer, so I end up hanging out in either the newest questions page or the moderation tools.
Why would I be a good moderator?
I like to keep things in line. That's also why I like being a programmer, coincidentally.
I always try to be tactful. More than once I've made a comment and then realized it could be taken two ways, so I deleted it. I try never to engage in snarky commenting, funny as it may seem to other people.
As an example, I earned a Reversal badge for this answer [2] to a do-my-homework question.
If I have a difference of opinion with other people, my first instinct is to assume I'm wrong. Only when I'm sure of myself do I take action. For this reason, I rarely cast the first close or delete vote on a question. If the ideal moderator does as little as possible [3], I'm the perfect one for the job.
I'm also a moderator on a game forum, so I have some experience dealing with spam and unruly users. Since I am also one of the game's creators, I also know not to say too much from a position of "power".
Why would I be a bad moderator?
Frankly, I don't know. And maybe that is itself the biggest argument against me.
Edit: I also have a tendency to make corny jokes in comments. I promise will try to keep them to Meta, though.
Here are a few reasons why you might consider voting for me:
On the other hand, you might choose to spoil your ballet paper because:
I would like to put forth myself as a candidate to be a Stack Overflow moderator. As a moderator here on Meta, I've had the opportunity to get experience with the moderator tools and when and how to use them effectively.
Pros:
Cons:
I would like to volunteer.
Reasons why I'm a good choice:
Reasons why I'm a bad choice:
Ironic Note is Ironic:
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. - Douglas Adams
[1] http://meta.stackoverflow.com/api/useranswers.html?userid=16587&page=1&pagesize=30&sort=votesI'm a mug; I'll volunteer. Apart from being a long time user of SO, I have a long history of participating in news groups on 'Usenet' (remember that?). For the rest, I'll let my record [1] speak for me.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/15168Buggers, there are a lot of votes placed already but here it goes:
I would like to nominate myself:
Robert C. Cartaino
I'm one of those "refresh every 2-minutes" users.
I'll volunteer as well.
Qualifications:
Reasons to avoid like the plague
I'll nominate Kip [1] (myself).
Reasons why I might be a good choice
Reasons why I might be a bad choice
Another self-moderation! I'm Jason Cohen [1] with 12k rep.
Why me?
StackExchange Moderator
Along with Dharmesh Shah, I co-host the StackExchange-based Answers.OnStartups.com. We've built a great community there, as you can see by checking out a few random questions and answers.
This demonstrates I have the skillz to be fair and develop a quality culture.
Long-time User
I was a beta-tester at SO and have seen the site and culture evolve. I've followed the blog and participated in the discussions so I also have a deep understanding of why the culture is what it is, and therefore how to encourage it without discouraging participation.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/4926/jason-cohenI say hook up Shog9 [1] for SO.
He's been around since the early days.
He participates with a level head.
He's funny and seems to have a sense of humour about things.
And keep Marc and Bill (if they want it).
They have been doing a great job.
That's my 2 cents.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/811/shog9I would like to nominate Gumbo [1]. Just cause I think he is a nice guy and he once took a long time to help me with a problem I was having in the comments of an answer, even though he didn't get any "rep" from it.
I'm sure he would do his best to help people and be the best moderator he could be.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/53114/gumboI'd like to volunteer ( davedelong [1])
Why I'm a good choice
Why I'm a bad choice
I would like to nominate myself ( jjnguy [1]) as a Moderator of Stackoverflow.
As a moderator I will give free cake to all. That is all.
Oh, and one more thing:
I have been a very active member since the private beta. I am a very old member. (2598) I have seen the site grow and change into what it is today. I know how everything works and how the community feels about it.
As a student I offer a different perspective on matters than some of my older peers on this site; this could be a valuable point of view for the moderator team.
Although my actual question answering rate has declined since my hay-day, I still visit the site (and meta) every day and watch new questions as they flow in. (Or 30 times a day...)
And don't forget about the cake.
Last thought:
I don't see SO as a game. I see it as a question and answer website and would moderate it as such. My goal as moderator would be to promote great answers to great questions.
I'd like to volunteer for moderation duties.
Why I would make a good moderator
Why I might not make a good moderator
My SO profile is here: @Lasse V. Karlsen [1].
I must say though that I find it entirely odd that the system of choosing new moderators involves the potential candidates nominating themselves, I'm rather used to others nominating them, and them then being asked afterwards.
But it is what it is, so here I am, and doing my part (which is volunteering). Now you do your part and vote me up or down.
Oh, and if I'm not chosen, I'm going to go sulk in the basement.
Nah, just kidding.
I don't have a basement.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/267/lasse-v-karlsenThe guys have been twisting my proverbial arm on Wave to get me to nominate myself. I consider that to be community nomination.
So here's my nomination (copying Gortok's style):
Reasons why I'm a good choice:
Reasons why I'm a bad choice:
Ironic note is ironic:
Welbog once made a laser so big that even he couldn't blow a hole in a donut with it. - Orange Catholic Bible
I'm going to throw my hat in the ring. I must be a great fool, but it will encourage me to spend more time on SO proper.
Everyone seems to be using a fairly standard template here, so I'll go along with it.
Reasons I'm a good choice:
Reasons I'm a bad choice:
Ironic note is ironic:
John's current record for cigar smoking is a whopping 5 in one day. He did this whilst also enjoying fine bourbon, and writing code. -- The Book of John, 24:7
Update
Jinguy seems to be very successful with his offer of cake bribery. (Hey, I upvoted him for it, I'm not going to lie.) Thus, I now cow to that lowest common denominator. I can't promise you tax cuts, but if elected, merely contact me, and I will happily send you a good cigar. If you do not like cigars, I will e-mail you back a limited-edition (well, as much as bytes on the Internet are limited) picture of a cigar [3]!
I'd offer bourbon or absinthe, but I expect that will get very expensive, very quickly. :)
[1] http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/32490/closing-migrating-question-instructions-guidance/32515#32515I would like to throw my name into the running as well. I had tried to prepare a wild, elaborate detail as to why, but then I went back to going through Stack Overflow posts so here is what I have.
I would like to nominate myself: Nick Berardi [1]. And like others I am a little hesitant to, because an honor like this usually comes from a 3rd party.
I have been an active member of Stack Overflow since the beginning. (I am user #17 so I got in pretty early.) I will work hard to keep the content approachable and relevant to Stack Overflow users.
I feel like a politician. Vote Nick Berardi [2].
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/17/nick-berardiOne person who has greatly impressed me with his knowledge and light touch with people is Pascal Thivent [1]. I don't know if he would be interested in the job, but I think he's a good choice.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/70604/pascal-thiventI'd like to skip past established practice and nominate someone else.
In this case Ash [1]
Ash has been a very knowledgeable and stable member of SO for some time; I've read a fair few of his answers and they appear knowledgeable, well thought out, and above all even-handed even in his approach to comments he's disagreed with.
PS. Now we just need to make Ash aware of his nomination to see if he'd like to accept the "opportunity".
PPS. Really think mods should not be able to nominate themselves, it's just not polite.
PPPS. Ash, you owe me some recs :)
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/5023/ashI'm going to volunteer to run for this action, too :)
I would like to nominate myself [1]. Nothing much to say about me.
I am passionate about programming and I love the Stack Overflow concept. It would be an honour to be a Stack Overflow moderator.
As marcgg [2] commented
Just saying, it'd be nice to have moderators in all the timezones, not just US
Here I am from India :). I must admit that I am not much active on Meta Stack Overflow or Super User or Server Fault.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/12178/shobanAnother person who has greatly impressed me with his knowledge and light touch with people is skaffman [1]. I don't know if he'd be interested in the job, but I think he's a good choice.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/21234/skaffmanI nominate ChrisF [1] based on his years of experience, excellent comments, and calm.
EDIT
OK - I acceptdecline the nomination. I'm not going to have enough time to fulfil moderator duties.
I would like to nominate OMG Ponies [1]
Not only does he have a great handle, but he is very active in the database related questions. Does great editing of question syntax when needed and seems to always be hanging around and helping out. Might as well make it official and put him on the "payroll".
Here is the Meta OMG Ponies [2] user.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/135152/omg-poniesI'll volunteer. I'm crazy to do so, but I'll do it.
Reasons I'm a good choice:
Reasons I'm a truly horrible choice
Ironic note is ironic:
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
I'd like to nominate myself. I am a huge fan of Stackoverflow, both its philosophy and implementation and would be grateful to be able to contribute back further by becoming a moderator.
I try to be fair, reasonable and polite in all my comments/postings, though of course I'm not perfect and sometimes I screw up just like anybody else. However I think I am good enough at the wetware side of things to be able to handle that fairly and reasonably.
I've worked my way up to over 10k rep so I feel I've shown that I can use the site and clearly haven't been an unreasable fellow to get here in the first place. I started with the beta so I've been here from very early on and understand how the site works well by now. Additionally I have a certain degree of mod powers already which I think I have deployed reasonably and fairly.
Obviously it's up to the public to decide, however I humbly submit a few of my questions and answers to give you an idea of what I'm about, both the good and the bad.
How do I work effectively with VERY messy legacy code [3]
Good C# Interview Questions for a Senior Dev Position [4]
Good Practice Projects to Improve Programming Skills [5]
Programmatically obtaining Big-O efficiency of code [6]
Should a function have only one return statement? [7]
Best Practice: Should functions return null or an empty object? [8]
Why continue writing legacy systems? [9]
How do I reward my developers for the little things they get right? [10]
Why was Google’s Chrome browser written almost entirely in C++ and not C# or Java? [11]
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/3394/kronozI would like to throw my hat into the ring. Here is my profile [1].
I have been a member of SO since September 2008. I am practically on the site all the time. I always try to be helpful and polite. I close a lot of questions and able to determine if something needs to be closed right away. I try to be well versed and I try to listen as best I can to help any problem.
My mission in life is very similar to SO - share your knowledge. Why should one brain store everything?
If you guys have any questions, please reply.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/23528/daniel-a-whiteAlright, at the risk of being mauled I'll throw in my own self-nomination as well. I'm a very active SO user (mainly traveling in the .NET and SQL Server circles, though I'll dip my toes outside on occasion), and I generally feel like I'm a pretty level-headed person when it comes to evaluating questions and answers (and producing answers myself).
Since everyone's been doing bullet points, I'll follow suit:
Reasons I'd Make a Good Moderator
I'm not particularly aware of any reasons that I should not be a moderator (though that certainly doesn't mean they can't exist!), otherwise I wouldn't be applying.
Well, I don't have any gold badges yet, so maybe that's a reason ;)
I got an email this morning asking me to nominate myself [1], so I have. Here's a handy pro/con chart:
Pro:
Cons:
I'd like to nominate myself.
I feel I can be fair for the most part, and like to contribute actively.
I've been on SO for over a year, and have learnt a huge amount reading through questions and answers, and like to plug that knowledge back into the community.
I know at times I can be harsh on people, but this is the internet, and that's generally what people do. I can also take criticism and will humbly accept when I am wrong.
I'm also on the right side of the Atlantic for those that are awake in the GMT+0 times of the day.
Whilst I'm primarily a Microsoft fan (boo, hiss) I don't treat other technologies with disdain, as without Java, where would C# be?
Also, as proof I known what I'm doing:
bold, italic, interesting
IModerator newModerator = CheeseFactory.CreateModerator("ck");
The worst website in the world [1] <= this link is to the worst website in the world.
This is a good website:
[1] http://cksiteoftreats.co.ukI'd like to step up. Profile: Gishu [1]
I ( dribeas [1]) will pop in the game. I have been an active user for quite a while and spend quite a bit of time each day in SO browsing C++ (where I am most active), C#, Java and Python.
Most of the time I participate by commenting to improve answers or to help correct small details in overall appropriate responses. In most of the cases that ends with answers being corrected by the author, improving the overall quality of the site and maintaining a low downvote/upvote ratio (less than 10%). In all those cases, where I downvoted and discussed the reasons, I never got into an argument.
On my judgement on question quality, it seems appropriate as all the questions I voted for closing were actually closed, and the two questions I voted for reopening were also reopened.
On the negative side, I hardly ever go into questions that are not tagged with c++
, c#
, java
or python
, so chances to spot problems in all other questions are limited.
As a last note, I also endorse Neil Butterworth (also in GMT+0 timezone) nomination, as shared interests made us coincide many times, and from what I know, I do trust him with the responsibility of moderation.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/36565/dribeasWell, I like to nominate [1] myself too. All I can say is:
And that's basically all, I don't have an outstanding reputation although is sufficiently high to at least guarantee I've done my homework :)
By the way, I'm from Spain so another timezone. If that even counts because I see answers being posts at ANY time I connect...
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/2695/jorge-cordobaSup-a-Dillie-O All!
I'd like to nominate myself [1] for the role of moderator. I've been in part of the SOFUM suite since the early beta testing and believe I have a good grasp on the "big picture" with the overflow sites. This puts me in a good position to keep a level head despite the flare-ups that pass through from time to time.
I'm on Stack Overflow every day and while I'm no "rock star" participant, I'm dedicated to see the site continue its AMAZING success it has had in nearly over a year now. If you want consistency, level headedness, and dedication, I'm your man.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/71/dillie-oI'd be happy to be a moderator. I'm not going to try and sell myself here, I'll let my profile speak for itself.
The reason I'm interested is that I get a huge amount of value from using SO but am a lop-sided in terms of what I have contributed vs. what I have got out of it. This would be a nice way of putting something back.
I would like to nominate Chet A [1], a long-time Stack Overflow user and possibly our glorious leader's secret evil twin. He's far too modest to nominate himself, however I managed to obtain tacit approval:
If you run this nomination through a Perl interpreter, you'll see a dancing bunny.
[1] http://stackoverflow.com/users/5640/chet-a