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We've seen many resignations by moderators recently, now even on some of the sites I'm more active on. It's been hard for me to keep up. But curiously, though these users say they are resigning and possibly even completely logging out of the system, their diamonds are remaining steadfastly in place. Is this yet another bug fix that has never been dealt with? Is it that even though the status has ended, the text in the names is not automatically reverted (which wouldn't surprise me)? Or is SE holding out hope that some of these fabulous contributors will somehow come back into the fold?

I've seen no statements of reconciliation regarding these losses, or even references to the recent drastic decrease in (voluntary) moderation of the site. But maybe I've missed it.

Update: This is the first statement I've seen of Stack Exchange acknowledging this.

To all of the moderators who have resigned or suspended your activities over the past few months: your presence and impact is missed. We value all of your work to keep your sites clean and communities healthy. We understand the many reasons why you felt that it was necessary to step down, and that it was a painful decision. We are working on many of the issues that influenced your decisions to leave, and we aim to back these intentions up with actions, accountability, and consistent open communication. If you feel that your issues continue to go unaddressed, I invite you to post about them on Meta in a respectful way. And if you choose to apply for moderator reinstatement, we look forward to hearing about this as well and to seeing you back on your sites.

Another Update: Moderators are being given an extra communication channel.. Such communication (or lack thereof) is a consistent theme among the resignations. I notice that many of the diamonds are still there, and at least one mod came back.

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  • 7
    Can you show an example of a mod that quit but still has a diamond?
    – Mark Kirby
    Jan 30 '20 at 12:16
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    I found StrongBad on Expatriates.SE and Academia.SE, and DJMcMayhem on CodeGolf.SE.
    – Rebecca J. Stones
    Jan 30 '20 at 12:22
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    The process is not automatic. Removing a moderator is an action that can done only by Stack Exchange staff member, and I'm pretty sure they reach out to the resigning mod first to ask for confirmation. So it takes time, maybe even weeks. No harm done, except confusion, and maybe worth asking the mods themselves to change their profile About Me to clarify they're no longer mods, e.g. in this case.
    – Shadow Wizard Hates Omicron
    Jan 30 '20 at 13:24
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    The people who used to handle these things are fired, so I guess that's why.
    – Lundin
    Jan 30 '20 at 15:36
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    "Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked".
    – yivi
    Jan 30 '20 at 16:31
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It takes a while for SE to process resignations, for me it was around two weeks when I resigned earlier this month. SE is removing the diamonds of the moderators that resigned, but they're taking a bit of time for it.

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  • Ok, I guess that explains it. I was just wondering if there wasn't some background intent there. But if it's just bureaucratic straggling, so be it. It would be nice if the answer was that they are reaching out to these mods behind the scenes or something.
    – ouflak
    Jan 30 '20 at 12:35
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    Note also that the company dismissed two community managers, and a third resigned - there are fewer now to do take care of administrative tasks.
    – Scortchi - Reinstate Monica
    Jan 30 '20 at 13:12
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    It seems the process can take even up to two months see Colleen's post in ELL.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jan 30 '20 at 13:28
  • @Mari-LouA maybe because the mod didn't reply to the emails asking to confirm the resignation?
    – Shadow Wizard Hates Omicron
    Jan 30 '20 at 14:00
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    @Shadow9 there is no such confirmation email. At least, I didn't get one.
    – Mithical
    Jan 30 '20 at 14:05
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    @Mari-LouA, the farewell post Colleen states that she is retaining her diamond until elections can be held, so currently it is more comparable to "stepping back from moderation" than an actual resignation.
    – Bart van Ingen Schenau
    Jan 30 '20 at 16:02
  • For some comparison: it took almost a month before my resignation in 2017 was processed.
    – JohnB
    Jan 30 '20 at 17:50
  • @BartvanIngenSchenau Oops, I had forgotten about that bit.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jan 30 '20 at 17:52
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I have resigned but have agreed to keep my diamond until there’s an election to replace me. I am marked inactive, but I’m available to help the remaining mods on my team if they need to take a break for some reason. I expect to have my diamond removed in March-ish.

So it’s March-ish and since there’s no movement on elections for ELL and the remaining moderators haven’t asked for help, I’ve asked for my diamond to be removed instead of waiting. (It was taken care of promptly after I asked just in case anyone was wondering)

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As I understand it some mods haven't resigned as such but have simply ceased activity, so presumably they will keep their diamonds unless and until the management decide to remove them.

For example, @cyn is currently the only moderator on Writing.SE but their profile states

I'm a newish moderator on Writing.SE currently on a leave of absence until Monica Cellio has been reinstated to her former moderator roles and has been made whole, to the best of SE corporate's ability.

So they haven't quite resigned as such, and presumably as and when SE Inc. do right by Monica they will resume activity.

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