01:00 - 21:0021:00 - 00:00
9:00 PM
@TangoOversway downvote questions that show a lack of research, write competing answers that go beyond the minimum to be a treatise on the topic (I won't name anyone from this site, but search on SE for posts by Eric Lippert, Thomas Pornin, and a few others)
@MichaelMrozek Oh, you're referring to First step is to tell him he's doing something wrong. Possibly privately (private chat room, mod message, even off-site contact if you know the person socially although that's rather for non-mods). At some point it may result in a suspension.
@DampeS8N if the war is localized, comment to tell the users to cool down, and lock the post. If they're being more generally disruptive (e.g. vandalizing the other guy's posts), suspend.
@TonyMeyer this question makes me rather uncomfortable. What can I say that won't be seen as empty praise? (<logician>Apart from saying bad things about them.</logician>) Well, they're both level-headed. I don't remember either of them saying that a question should be taken out and shot.
@TangoOversway that's not really a question for the mods: the answer is part of the induction package, there's a private chat room for all mods on the network (the Teacher's Lounge), there's almost always someone to turn to for advice there
@TimStone We have some good stuff (especially around HP/SW/ST), I want to work on building up content outside a short list of highly popular works. And, always, push for even better answers (we are getting a bunch of answers to ok-but-not-that-great questions that, while technically correct, are brief rehashes of what's already available elsewhere and not very interesting).
@MarkTrapp A moderator's job is to apply the community's policies, not to make them. If the community can't come to a decision, the moderators should strive to find a compromise, and only as a last resort make a decision themselves.
@Gilles For example, if I'm elected and at some point the community decides that story identification is off-topic, I'll argue against that, but I won't overrule the decision. (I'd probably quit since I couldn't moderate while being so completely out of phase from the community.)
@DampeS8N <Shrug> happens all the time. Listen to the complaint. I might have made a mistake. Reply on meta, explaining my point of view (or apologizing for the mistake and explaining how I'd fix it). If the asker isn't satisfied, have a colleague intervene as mediator.
@TangoOversway Evidently bad questions should be closed early, no sense in having people waste their time on them. Borderline questions are a case-by-case basis. If I see a question heading for a trainwreck, I'll try to edit it as early as possible to attract better answers, and if I don't know how to fix it (e.g. because I'm too unfamiliar with the source material) close and leave a comment explaining how the question might be improved.
@Gilles seriously: this meta post explains my position. I'm rather conservative on GR; the answer should be easy to find in a place where the asker can assess its reliability. Just because the top Google hit has what looks like an answer doesn't mean it's correct and complete. OTOH, Wikipedia is usually good for our subject; we gain nothing from duplicating its content.
@TimStone SF discussion sites, the “good parts” version. I.e. no spam, no off-topic digressions, answers that aren't unsearchably buried in 3000-message threads
@Pearsonartphoto Anyone can remove those tags, moderators don't get better tools or relevant privileges. Post on meta to raise awareness, but we already have that (from a non-mod IIRC). That happens everywhere, it's fortunately not a high-impact problem and easy to fix. Plus single-use tags expire after 6 months (that's as much a curse as a blessing, but that's another story).
@TonyMeyer We certainly have an unusually high number of meta posts. It's almost always the same people, but we're doing ok here. I've often pointed people to meta, or posted the meta question myself, when I saw comments that were turning into debates about topicality or similar issues.
28 secs ago, by Gilles
@TonyMeyer We certainly have an unusually high number of meta posts. It's almost always the same people, but we're doing ok here. I've often pointed people to meta, or posted the meta question myself, when I saw comments that were turning into debates about topicality or similar issues.
@DampeS8N Funny, I didn't perceive it that way. There's no need for moderators to agree, as long as we're willing to discuss things in a civilized manner (by which I mean listening to the other guy's arguments, not inventing a more explody type of bomb)
@EightDaysofMalaise The underbelly dragging this site down is the tendency of this site to being a glorified collection of trivia notes. Being less opposed to non-trivia questions would help. Seriously, have you stopped beating your wife?
@TangoOversway Yes, it is the fate of closed questions to be deleted. We did a big cleanup after we'd sorted out the main issues, and we've continued to delete old closed questions since.
@TonyMeyer If there's any valid criticism, try to address it. See if this person reacted badly to something that happened on the site. Otherwise, unless it's a community where I participate, do nothing. Barging in onto another community to defend yourself cannot possibly end well.
@MarkTrapp What is it with false dichotomies today? You can participate on Scifi.SE and not care about any other site. Or you can participate in a dozen sites daily. A moderator should at least have read the FAQ of sites that are close to us (mostly Literature, Movies and TV), and know to turn to Meta Stack Overflow for existing answers about site-wide features.
9:42 PM
@DampeS8N The most upvoted questions are usually the most bikeshed questions. I don't find this question particularly constructive, but DVK did find some good material on its official status as a nod. I'd rather our popular questions be more interesting.
2 hours later…
11:28 PM
01:00 - 21:0021:00 - 00:00
« first day (2 days earlier) next day → last day (410 days later) »
