Recently I noticed that user without diamond has set status-completed tag on my quesion.
How is it possible?
0
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
It is possible because a user has both a type and an is_employee bit. Those two values are set independently, allowing or denying such users access to certain features.
So if you look at the API data for John M. Wright you'll see they have their is_employee bit set to true. Also notice that their user_type === 'registered'.
If you go over the list of moderators you'll not find that same user there. Only being a user_type === 'moderator' gives you the diamond.
It makes sense as being an employee allows you to set status tags on (bug) reports as your work involves dealing with these questions. They are trusted to address issues that are brought up on Meta and as such are trusted to apply a correct status to questions.
Being a moderator brings you in a whole different area of features, like suspending users, delete posts and most of all: having access to Personal Identifiable Information. SE staff (except CMs) are not hired to moderate a site, nor are they hired or trusted to have unlimited access to PII of all users. I praise SE that they don't default to "All staff can do what moderators can do".
That said, it is sometimes confusing / unexpected that status tags get added by users without a diamond. There have been requests to use an extra or different "marker" to visually indicate that an user is an employee. Until now, and I expect for another 6 to 8 weeks, this indicator is not yet implemented. We have to live with the surprises ...
If you look at the user's profile, you'll see that he works at Stack Overflow (i.e., he's an employee). Stack Exchange employees have moderator-like privileges (or even higher) even though they don't have diamonds on their names.
answered Jan 5, 2019 at 6:02
-
1Never seen before that user with no diamond set the red tag, even if they are employee.– αλεχολυτCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 6:12
-
There's actually a lot that non-diamond staff can't see. :) It's part of why we're more selective of who we give diamonds to now. @älёxölüt This is correct, if you doubt it.– CatijaCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 6:18
-
Joe Friend is another. He doesn’t say much in his profile, but he reveals himself here. Also, you may occasionally notice that Shog9 (who is a diamond-moderator and an employee) has access to information that even moderators don’t. Commented Jan 5, 2019 at 6:34
-
As far as I can recall Joe Friend had diamond before, but now he doesn’t have it. Seems something changed in SE policy.– αλεχολυτCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 7:44
-
-
-
@älёxölüt nope, we just happened to notice. I don't think staff changes need to be discussed on Meta or in public at all. It is a private matter between employer and employee. So let's leave it at this and move on.– rene ModCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 7:52
-
@rene ok...return to the current question. Did you see when non-diamond user set red tag before today?– αλεχολυτCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 8:16
-
@Catija are there other cases when non-diamond stuff set red tag on the question?– αλεχολυτCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 8:25
-
@älёxölüt yes, it happens all the time, also on MSO. I "complained" about that before in chat and was told to not be bothered by it– rene ModCommented Jan 5, 2019 at 8:27
-
Just worth clarifying: most of the employee functionality like adding moderator tags is enabled specifically for metas (MSE and child metas). Commented Jan 5, 2019 at 15:15
-
@älёxölüt worth to mention that while they can add red tags, they don't have full edit privilege, so it leads to weird situations like this one, where low rep employees need to suggest edits and wait for them to be approved. :) Commented Jan 6, 2019 at 13:58
-
@ShadowWizard yep. I saw it already after visiting links from rene's answer.– αλεχολυτCommented Jan 6, 2019 at 14:21