2022 English Language & Usage Stack Exchange Moderator Election Chat

3:55 PM

@Laurel Yeah, tag-naming is a bit of an art. But do you remember the day you found that there was a whole page of tag info behind some of the tags? :)

@Mari-LouA Until your comment on my Meta.ELU post, I was on my way to join them. I'm still not sure it was a good idea to put my hand up. But I am glad to see the direction those who have spoken in this election are headed. If there's something EL&U needs more of, it's people like you - people who are personally interested in the topic of the site, who care about those who have left, and who, despite all the water under the bridge, still take time to connect with those who haven't yet left.

Lawrence

4:22 PM

@JesseSteele If you think the question is a good fit for the site, and if the other mods aren't in opposition, just go ahead and reopen the question. For questions that need some work, you can engage the OP and try to bring it up to scratch first.

But I think you're talking about the harder problem: tackling those who chase away valuable members of the community. I think there's a process of escalation centered around the don't-be-rude rule now. I'd encourage you to post your thoughts about this on the appropriate site's meta, and if the powers that be and the community both show significant support, go ahead and implement it.

This way, you've signaled your intentions and reality-checked your approach.

I wouldn't recommend going on a crusade against the 'troublemakers'. Sometimes they're kind of annoying and loud in one area, yet helpful and kind in another. You'll probably miss them when they're gone. But having the policy out in the open can exert a moderating influence of its own.

Mari-Lou A

@JesseSteele "my ability to grow does not license fuddy-duddies to troll" I wouldn't accuse these users of trolling. Instead I would say their approach is strict and exigent because in the end they care about quality. It's all about striking a balance between producing quality posts and curating (shepherding?) new users over a period of time. Not scaring them off with a list of rules.

terdon

@Mari-LouA I'm actually one of those users. I want ELU to cater to the group it was originally intended to cater to: "linguists, etymologists, and (serious) English language enthusiasts". Questions that can be answered by any native speaker are not really interesting to me.

Mari-Lou A

To be absolutely clear, I like the moderators we have on EL&U. I've rarely had a cross exchange with any. And when I have been critical, perhaps four or five times in nearly 9 years, they never overreacted but more importantly they listened. Sometimes my arguments were successful and sometimes they weren't but at least I have never been afraid to voice my opinion. My main gripe are with the mods on Meta.

terdon

I originally came to ELU thinking "ooh, I'm a literate native speaker and language geek, I bet I'll be answering all the time and teach these poor ignorant saps a thing or two". I stayed because the reality was very different and much more attractive to me: I was very, very ignorant compared to the heavyweights here and ELU was a place for me to learn and not a place for me to teach. Which I loved!

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2022 English Language & Usage Stack E…