Nominations: New Stack Overflow Moderator [closed]

Question

blog.stackoverflow: Stack Overflow 2010 Moderator Election Begins

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. 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:

1. 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.

2. You must be a currently registered Stack Overflow user in good standing

3. You must have at least 7,000 reputation on Stack Overflow.

4. You exhibit patience and fairness at all times in your questions, answers, and comments.

5. You lead by example, showing respect for your fellow programmers in everything you write.

6. You should want the responsibility. This is not an obligation. It's purely voluntary.

Moderation guidelines:
https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/05/a-theory-of-moderation/

Nominations are now closed; thanks for participating, and keep an eye out for the vote!

Answer 1

I nominate myself: mmyers. (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 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, 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.

Answer 2

Here are a few reasons why you might consider voting for me:

• I've been using Stack Overflow since the private beta (user ID 1450)
• I visit the site lots of times every working day (got to have something to do during those long Java compiles) and quite a lot most weekends too
• I went to Dev Days London (my review) and paid out of my own pocket, so I guess I'm kind of invested in this thing
• I'm in the UK so can cover whilst the US is asleep
• Yesterday I got my Fanatic gold badge, so I really am invested in this venture
• Ruby, Rails and JavaScript are my thing, not C#
• I care about the details
• I single-handedly moderated Joel's old Design of Software forum (R.I.P.) for a number of years
• My avatar's not a caricature, it's a photograph

On the other hand, you might choose to spoil your ballet paper because:

• I make a lot of edits that simply fix incorrect apostrophe usage
• Ruby, Rails and JavaScript are my thing, not C#

Answer 3

   

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:

• Experienced with moderation tools
• Moderate with a light touch, but I'm not afraid to make potentially controversial calls I think are in the best interest of the site
• I'm only human, so I will make mistakes, but I also admit and fix incorrect calls I've made
• Active on Meta Stack Overflow
• Open about personal details in the interest of transparency (real name, picture, email address, etc)
• Longtime active user on Stack Overflow (I have both the Beta and Fanatic badges)

Cons:

• Low recent activity on Stack Overflow (this would obviously change)
• Already a moderator elsewhere in the trilogy (I understand giving another person the opportunity)

Answer 4

_{(source: sampsonresume.com)}

Answer 5

I would like to volunteer.

Reasons why I'm a good choice:

• I am active in the community
• I fairly assess each question on its own merits (a quick glance at any of my answers on Meta should confirm that).
• I care about Stack Overflow. I spend most of my time on Stack Overflow playing to my strengths: Clarifying bad questions, closing questions that cannot be saved, and re-opening questions that are misunderstood. In all cases, I try to use good editing to make Stack Overflow a 'better place'.
• I believe very strongly in fairness.

Reasons why I'm a bad choice:

• I take a position. I normally don't waffle on a position. I will change my position if it's logically in error.
• I tend to be very direct. Not harsh, but I believe in direct language. If you're wondering how direct I am, a quick look at any answer I've posted on meta should be an indicator of how I communicate.

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

Answer 6

I'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 speak for me.

Answer 7

Buggers, 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.

My "Resume-Style" Pros:

• Strong Participant - I'm on Stack Overflow every day and steadily throughout the day. I have my Fanatic badge and keep on top of meta discussions. I listen with eager attention to all the Stack Overflow Podcasts and blogs, so I have a deep understanding of how (and, more importantly, why) Stack Overflow works.
• Experience with Moderator Tools - I am a administrator in the StackExchange beta so I am already familiar with the moderator tools and how everything works behind the scenes.
• Industry Experience - I started my first BBS in 1980, and have been building "online communities" ever since. I have run some of the largest systems in their class. I used to give seminars on "Concepts of Cyberspace" where I developed a deep understanding of what builds (and, more importantly, destroys) online communities.
• I am Self-Employed - I am around during the workday when Stack Overflow is the busiest, but I am also around to fill in those holes during off-peak hours.

My *Real* Pros:

• Hands-Off Approach - I believe Stack Overflow is designed to be run by everyday users. Moderators are there to step in where users cannot (technical limitations) or will not (mass hysteria, mob rule) act in accordance with Stack Overflow's continued success.
• Strong-But-Balanced Business Sense - I'm here to keep Stack Overflow healthy and pain-free. I've been a programmer, a business owner, and a community builder. I want everyone to have fun but I know where to draw the line so Stack Overflow doesn't devolve into... well, Yahoo! Answers or YouTube comments.
• Strong Opinions, Weakly Held - I will operate under a well-define set of guidelines and principles. I try to be consistent but, when presented with a well-thought-out argument, I am quick to re-evaluate and change my perspective, when appropriate.
• I'm No Stack Overflow Fanboy - I don't get caught up in the power trips or get swept up in OS and technology wars. Truth be told, I'm more interested in the usability and motivations which makes the Stack Overflow community work.

Cons:

• Reputation Limitation - Technically, I don't meet the 7000-reputation requirement (currently 6,125). But that doesn't mean I lack the experience with these systems (Meta: ranked #14 of 13,755 users (rep: 10,695); Super User: ranked #47 of 22,225 users (rep: 3,322); StackExchange: ranked #3 of 1,015 users (rep: 4,729).
• Not in the Clique - I don't make nearly enough pony and waffle references to earn the really big community accolades. I will try harder in the future.
• Jeff Atwood Hates Me - Nah, not really (at least I don't think so). I just thought I would try for the sympathy vote.

Answer 8

I'll volunteer as well.

Qualifications:

• While I'm a bit of a jerk, I'm not as bad as RichB.
• I already do perform the moderation duties I'm allowed, e.g. cleaning up questions
• I'm a mod at dotnetkicks, so I already know the cross which I'm volunteering to bear
• Beta tester, got my sticker for free (was on 2nd page)
• I'm not super-anal; I'm not interested in throwing my mod-weight around

Reasons to avoid like the plague

• I'm not super-anal; I wouldn't ban RichB
• I don't spend every minute here like some people
• I'm not that into ponies
• While I do participate on meta, it isn't all that often (twice a week)
• I'm a bit of a jerk sometimes

Answer 9

I say hook up Shog9 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.

Answer 10

Another self-moderation! I'm Jason Cohen 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.

Answer 11

I'll nominate Kip (myself).

Reasons why I might be a good choice

• Perhaps best known as the guy who said that 256 is a nice, round number.
• I follow Joel's view that no question is too simple for Stack Overflow. How do I move the turtle in LOGO? and How do I get the length of a string in Perl? are OK in my book, as long as they are not duplicates.
• I've been very active on Meta Stack Overflow, suggesting improvements for the site. Here are my completed suggestions, deferred suggestions, and declined suggestions.
• I've also contributed several Greasemonkey scripts to improve Stack Overflow experience.
• I tell quite a lot about myself in the about me section of my profile.
• If I'm elected I will finally bring an end to war, famine, and disease.

Reasons why I might be a bad choice

• I was willing to nominate myself.
• I have a full-time job. Even though I use Stack Overflow a lot during the day, when things get busy at work I sometimes go through weeks of inactivity.
• Not very active outside the C++, Java, Perl, regex, JavaScript, jQuery, and math tags.
• You can see me at my worst in the edit history of "Add the ability to ignore users". I wrote that after getting very frustrated in a comment thread with he-who-shall-not-be-named. After editing out the offensive stuff, though, it is now a very highly-rated suggestion on Meta Stack Overflow.
• I hold the record for most downvoted answer on Stack Overflow. (The afore-mentioned 256-is-a-round-number answer.)
  • In my defense, Jeff and/or Joel encouraged everyone to downvote that answer on one of the early podcasts. The goal was to keep the question's score at exactly 256. It is currently approaching 1024 votes. ;)

Answer 12

I would like to nominate Gumbo. 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.

Answer 13

I'd like to volunteer (davedelong)

Why I'm a good choice

• I'm an active user on SO (I got my Fanatic badge 100 days after signing up and haven't missed a day since).
• I'm patient and try to be fair minded in all my contributions.

Why I'm a bad choice

• I spend most of my time in Mac-related tags (iPhone, Cocoa, Objective-C, etc).

Answer 14

I'd like to volunteer for moderation duties.

Why I would make a good moderator

• I have been here since the beta, so I know the history of the site, its intentions and direction (insofar as I understand it), its policy, and I agree (largely) with it
• I am on Stack Overflow all day, that is, as much as possible when I have Internet available, even if I'm not doing any programming
• I'm a Norwegian, so I'm on European time, probably a good idea to have moderators from different time zones (but that is also a vote towards other non-US moderators)
• I can be fair (but I have to admit that I've also been unfair, I know I have some answers and comments on SO that I'm not entirely proud of, but they're mine, so I'll leave them)

Why I might not make a good moderator

• Being a good moderator for such a group of smart people comes with huge responsibility, I'm not entirely sure I would be able to fill those shoes
• I can't point to much experience in being a moderator before

My SO profile is here: @Lasse V. Karlsen.

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.

Answer 15

I would like to nominate myself (jjnguy) 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.

Answer 16

The 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):

Welbog, triumphant master of time

Reasons why I'm a good choice:

• I know the Stack Overflow system well, its bugs and its various flows to be able to determine if something is an error and how to correct them.
• I'm on good terms with the other SO moderators (except for that dick Jeff)
• I take the time to answer questions making sure that they're actually answered instead of just dropping a "use jQuery" bomb and running off.
• I know how to make really good French toast.
• Everybody loves RaymondWelbog!
• I'm not scared of making decisions and I'm not scared of admitting my decisions are wrong (which they never are, by the way).

Reasons why I'm a bad choice:

• I'm abrupt.
• A lot of the time I can be pretty long-winded, y'know? Y'know.
• I have a very different approach to moderation than Atwood has. As I'm sure you've seen in my constant disagreements with him. But that just means that, if elected, I'll be here to make sure the other moderators don't let power get to their heads. I hate abuse of power, and so I'd make sure to use my moderating fist of justice only for good. With great lasers come great responsibility, afterall.
• I am dreadfully afraid of bees. Seriously those things creep me out.

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

Answer 17

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:

• I'm fair, and I think respectful, even when I'm disagreeing with management here.
• I'm already fairly active in junior janitor moderation -- editing, retagging, closing.
• I think I have appropriate taste in closures.
• I can write, spell and punctuate correctly in English.
• I am already somewhat versed in the mod tools, as I am a mod on an SE site (Auto-Gurus).
• I have great Google-fu for finding duplicates
• I am well-versed in .NET technologies (so evaluating those questions is easy), and moderately well-versed in Apple's development stack (Objective-C, Cocoa, Cocoa-Touch).

Reasons I'm a bad choice:

• I'm on the lower end of the acceptable rep level (~7,900 as of this morning; yes my Meta rep is approaching singularity with my SO rep, how sad is that)
• I do not always toe the "party line" regarding SO's management techniques. (IE, I have disagreed with not only the management here, but even some of the mods on occasion.)
• I'm opinionated. (Though I try not to be a jerk about it.)
• I change my name on Meta a lot. (However, I'd consider reverting it back to John Rudy, and leaving it there if elected.)

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!

I'd offer bourbon or absinthe, but I expect that will get very expensive, very quickly. :)

Answer 18

I 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.

Why I'd be a good choice

• I am a moderator on other forums, so I have had lots of practice being balanced and fair in this type of role
• I am active on SO across multiple tags so I keep an eye on a lot of different questions, discussions etc.
• I try to get out to SO at least 5-6 times a day to keep up on things
• I have a proven record of being fair, honest, and willing to make changes should they be needed for anything that has been posted.

Why I might not be a good choice

• My activity at times can be limited, but I always make up for it when I get back
• I too was willing to nominate myself

Answer 19

One person who has greatly impressed me with his knowledge and light touch with people is Pascal Thivent. I don't know if he would be interested in the job, but I think he's a good choice.

Answer 20

I would like to nominate myself: Nick Berardi. 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 I will make a good moderator for the following reasons:

• I enjoy programming with a passion. (Isn't that enough?)
• I have a level head and bring that to the moderation of content that is posted on Stack Overflow
• I love learning and reading about languages and methologies that I don't yet understand, so I won't be a one-sided moderator only sticking to one language or field.
• I know this sounds corny, but I would be here to help make this already great site better, or at least I would give it my all.

I probably won't make a good moderator for any of the following reasons:

• See google, http://www.google.com/search?q=nick+berardi, I am sure you can find something.
• I am not the hair dresser also in the Philadelphia area with the same name.

I feel like a politician. Vote Nick Berardi.

Answer 21

I'm going to volunteer to run for this action, too :)

• User 4418: https://stackoverflow.com/users/4418
• active to varying extents on all 4 sites
• enjoy the community
• would like to see it continue to flourish

Answer 22

I'd like to skip past established practice and nominate someone else.

In this case Ash

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 :)

Answer 23

Another person who has greatly impressed me with his knowledge and light touch with people is skaffman. I don't know if he'd be interested in the job, but I think he's a good choice.

Answer 24

I would like to nominate myself. 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 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.

Answer 25

I would like to nominate OMG Ponies

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 user.

Answer 26

I nominate ChrisF 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.

Answer 27

Kronoz

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.

Questions

Use of var keyword in C#

How do I work effectively with VERY messy legacy code

Good C# Interview Questions for a Senior Dev Position

Good Practice Projects to Improve Programming Skills

Programmatically obtaining Big-O efficiency of code

Answers

Should a function have only one return statement?

Best Practice: Should functions return null or an empty object?

Why continue writing legacy systems?

How do I reward my developers for the little things they get right?

Why was Google’s Chrome browser written almost entirely in C++ and not C# or Java?

Answer 28

I'll volunteer. I'm crazy to do so, but I'll do it.

Reasons I'm a good choice:

• I'm patient
• I'm passionate
• I've been active in internet "culture" since email went in the form site!site!site!user and have seen just about everything
• My coworkers allege that I'm wise

Reasons I'm a truly horrible choice

• I have so very little time, I can't imagine effectively adding another responsibility
• I routinely disappear for large blocks of time to, you know, write code
• I'm innocuous. Contrary to apparent numeric reputation, I feel I'm largely unnoticed on SO.
• I'm very self-deprecating, I'm just not very good at it

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."

Answer 29

Alright, 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

• Very active in the community (though I would imagine this is true of anyone who nominates himself)
• Try to help out new and inexperienced users with formatting, subject, and structural corrections
• Keep a level head (most of the time!) when it comes to the not-infrequent internet $%^&-measuring contests that take place in the comments section
• Great spelling skeelz.

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 ;)

Answer 30

I would like to throw my hat into the ring. Here is my profile.

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.