Should moderators use their abilities for personal reasons?

Question

Moderators on S[OFU] have a number of privileges above and beyond those of normal users. These are necessary in order for them to perform their duties as moderators: keeping the peace, identifying and mitigating abuse, etc.

However, most moderators also participate on these sites in a fashion similar to ordinary users: asking and answering questions, voting on posts, etc. And it occurs to me that while so engaged they might occasionally find their moderator tools useful for purposes not directly connected to their jobs as moderators of the site... For instance:

• Moderators can view the email addresses of users who have provided one in their profile. Upon answering an unclear question and encountering disagreement from other users who interpreted the question differently, they might find it expedient to email the user directly rather than or in addition to leaving a comment on the question itself.

• Moderators can view full names (if specified) and IP addresses, potentially allowing them to track down the physical location of a user. If a question has been edited by its original author such that the answer originally provided by a moderator no longer applies, the moderator could dress himself in a feathered suit and dance in front of the OP's house, creating a spectacle for the neighbors.

• Moderators can see who leaves votes on posts. A moderator whose question is down-voted without comment could find out which user had done so, and ask them privately for an explanation. [edit by Jeff Atwood: not true -- striking this out because it borders on dangerous misinformation. See my answer, below.]

• Moderators can leap tall buildings in a single bound. A moderator who found himself unable to answer a question due to the interference of a tall building could leap over it.

Note that I'm not claiming any of this actually occurs on S[OFU]... Merely that it could. And here's why I think it should:

• Q&A on SO is intended to be valuable beyond a single Asker-Answerer interaction: a good question and corresponding answer can be valuable long after the original authors have moved on. While it might seem unfair that moderators would be able to obtain improvements to questions and/or promote their own answers in situations where other users are not, the end result justifies the means... If normal users could be trusted with the means, they would be allowed, nay, expected to achieve these ends as well!

• In order to be fair to other users, a moderator must first be true to himself. If a moderator sees another user a user down-voting his answers without explanation, he might be tempted to retaliate, at which point guilt might prevent him from fairly resolving the disputes of other users. Rather he should sate his curiosity and move on, perhaps even encouraging another user to do a better job of participating in the site.

• Leaping tall buildings is cool, regardless of the motivation.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

I think some misinformation is being presented here.

It is not possible for moderators to see who voted for a particular post.

Moderators can see a summary of who has cast the MOST votes for / against a particular user, but it is presented as summary data, and it is not tied to any particular question or answer.

Answer 2

The most important attribute of a moderator is a thick skin.

The second most important attribute is an inordinate amount of patience.

The third most important attribute is wisdom, both in knowing when and how to act and more importantly when not to act.

The fourth most important attribute is the ability to separate out your participation in the forum (for lack of a better term) from your actions as a moderator.

Ergo, a moderator should never use his moderator powers to enhance his participation in any way. Even, if it is just to look up an email address on an unrelated matter, he should respect the privacy wishes of the user in question and refrain from using anything other than publicly available data except in when performing his moderator duties.

Answer 3

Could happen or has happened? The first case, shows that you care about the site even if it might sound a little paranoid, the second case would be a really, really really scary precedent. No moderator should contact any user regarding downvotes, unless there is voting fraud.

Answer 4

Responses to the first four bullet-points in order:

• We should resolve any disputes about question and answer content on site if at all possible. We can see your email so that we can contact you when there's a need for confidentiality. Question and answer interpretation should be done in the open for everyone to see. If there's some confusion, I'd rather iron it out with everyone at once rather than just with one person via email.

• I've actually been tempted to do this, but resisted. It's irritating when someone changes a question to render formerly correct answers incorrect, but the right thing to do is to modify your answer or accept the down votes. (Since it's you, @Shog9, I know you're going to change the question now. How can you change it to make this answer hilarious?)

• We can't see who voted on individual posts. There's a script that looks for voting anomalies that reports if one user votes another user up or down a lot, and we can see the results of that, even for our own profile. So if you vote down an abnormal number of my questions or answers I might notice it eventually. (That doesn't mean I'll take retribution, though.)

• Only while jacked in to the Matrix. I will not give up this ability willingly.

Answer 5

Moderators most definitely should not use their abilities for personal reasons. I can't think of a single instance where this would be appropriate. The only instance I can think of that would appear similar would be if the Moderator was a victim of malicious activity, in which case they could react in a professional capacity to address the problem as they would for any other victimized user.

Answer 6

Plain and simple, the potential for abuse is always there, no matter who is at the controls.

Maybe we finally annoy Jeff for stupid new features enough that he disables the vote-collusion script and goes on a massive downvoting spree the likes of which we've never seen.

I've been an administrator on a public forum before (though it was private with a much smaller community), so I know where you're coming from with your questions. It's good to address these issues, but in truth, they really aren't a big deal.

I think the most important thing is that we continue to select moderators based on character by holding public elections. It's important that the community trusts its leaders. Should that trust ever be in doubt, there certainly are mechanisms by which the community can voice their opinions. Even moderators themselves can be proactive and question their own actions.

Answer 7

Should moderators use their abilities for personal reasons?

Surely they do that already, unless they're on the payroll.

the moderator could dress himself in a feathered suit and dance in front of the OP's house, creating a spectacle for the neighbors

This is perfectly acceptable, provided YouTube videos are taken.

I'll wait for the visit then shall I?

Answer 8

Should moderators use their abilities for personal reasons?

I really don't care. They put a lot of time and effort into the community, and for what, exactly? If they want to play, "I see you!" then hey - it's just like every other large website run by a team of people with elevated privileges.

Unless there's obviously egregious abuse of their ability, it really doesn't affect how I, or anyone else, really uses the site.

More power to them, the job they do isn't fun or glamorous.