The Awkward Silence

Henry WH Hack v2.0

01:15

Wait where is everybody?

Gypsy Spellweaver

01:38

Lost in Space

Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen. The series follows the adventures of a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in a strange and often hostile universe after their ship is sabotaged and thrown off course. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between 1965 and 1968. The first season was filmed in black and white, with the second and third seasons filmed in color. Although the original concept (depicted in the unaired 1965 pilot episode) centered on the Robinson family, many later storylines...

Henry WH Hack v2.0

01:54

@GypsySpellweaver Saw it.

Gypsy Spellweaver

@HenryWHHackv2.0 In reply to:

NVZ

04:48

@HenryWHHackv2.0 Everybody yea

Rock your body yea

Avantgarde

Haha what

That song was such a hit

Yvette Colomb

05:12

oh wow - I just had an IPS win! went into a chat room where there was a flag and left two comments - which caused conflict in some users. Left on good terms with them all (of course except the suspended user who couldn't chat)

NVZ

@YvetteColomb eh. what?

I'm missing something.

Extroverted Main Man

05:48

1

Q: What's an appropriate reaction to being discriminated against?

This is something I feel like I've struggled with from time to time. Unfortunately I check a few boxes when it comes to "people who get marginalized" in my country. Some of the boxes that I fit into get marginalized because people are afraid, sometimes rightly... Sometimes their fear seems to be...

Yvette Colomb

@NVZ oh it was handling a flag - which users >10k and mods can see in all chat rooms

I feel I made some progress with how I handled the situation. I was able to remain calm and objective

Gypsy Spellweaver

06:20

@YvetteColomb Congratulations. Practice makes permanent.

NVZ

@YvetteColomb that's nice

Arbitration is part of my job as well.

Gypsy Spellweaver

@NVZ Attribution is part of mine.

Extroverted Main Man

0

Q: “Reserved” seats at crowded foodcourt? (Japan)

I am at a crowded foodcourt, food stalls all have a 20 minutes queue, and not a single seat is available. Eating outside of the foodcourt is not an easy option either. But then there is this 4 people table with nothing but a small bag put at the middle of it. I can only suppose that a person or...

public-issues etiquette japan

Gypsy Spellweaver

Here we go:

interpersonal.stackexchange.com/q/1432/27#comment-4253

> this is interpersonal behavior so it will be same every where. Adding a country and asking same question doesn't make sense.

Gypsy Spellweaver

06:45

@SQB Do you think restaurant is really appropriate for a food court situation? Seems to me that in most cases the rules for the two are rather different, especially in the current question.

SQB

06:56

McDonald's is a restaurant as well.

So as an umbrella, which a tag is, yeah.

Hamlet

Just proposed some edits nukeing the Europe tag, if anyone wants to do some review queue work

SQB

Later perhaps, when I'm not on mobile.

Hamlet

@GypsySpellweaver tags are supposed to help people find questions to answer, not communicate every little detail of a question

SQB

@Hamlet also, should it be nuked?

Gypsy Spellweaver

@SQB @Hamlet I defer.

SQB

07:01

The problem with locational and cultural tags is that, with the five tag maximum, you can only have one or two.

Gypsy Spellweaver

@SQB I believe that consensus, of a sort, was reached that europe was actually too broad to be useful in nearly all cases.

south-america would similarly be too broad.

Not even a universally common language in either case, how then, can there be a common culture that would make the tag helpful or meaningful?

SQB

And yet there are common aspects.

Then again, in The Netherlands, where I live, there are differences between provinces that would make for different answers. Above the rivers / below the rivers is one such divide.

Gypsy Spellweaver

@SQB Are the common aspects significant in an interpersonal skills context?

SQB

But tags aren't hierarchical, so how fine-grained do we want to tag?

Gypsy Spellweaver

Enough so to justify a tag?

SQB

07:09

@GypsySpellweaver depending on the subject, yes.

Gypsy Spellweaver

I have zero knowledge of the situation in Europe, and the countries thereof, to speak to the issue. I only defer to those who seem to have such knowledge. I know that I'm very unlikely to have the answer to a question outside the USA. Even in-country, as it were, I'm still likely, though not always, going to need to know more than just USA for context.

Hamlet

@SQB yeah.

@SQB yeah, I know. Different parts of India could be their own country

I just figure country tags are a good starting point, bc they're easily defined based on borders

Gypsy Spellweaver

I think that, as you said, tag are not hierarchical, so the Europe tag would usually need additional context anyway. That lead the discussion towards dropping it and removing the temptation to use that as "the" context tag, and reducing the use makes room for other, hopefully helpful, tags in the five slots allowed to a question.

Hamlet

@GypsySpellweaver yep.

Gypsy Spellweaver

Me and my mobile weren't fast enough to participate in the discussion, but I read it with interest.

Hamlet

07:21

Questions should also be tagged with a culture tag, e.g. the stack exchange tag. But those are harder to define, so the push for those tags should come later.

Introverted Meta Man.

1

Q: Should we be using the Europe tag?

The Europe tag has been used on some occasions, and their have been some edits trying to remove them in favour of specific country tags. Europe is indeed diverse, but their are some points that do seem to be trans-European. Issues involving things such as holiday (vacation) locations, or areas ...

discussion tags

Gypsy Spellweaver

Ok, since I'm not on mobile at the moment, and the thread is moving slow enough that I can think and reply in time, mostly, I'll jump in and present my penny's worth of input.

I think the europe should remain, but be heavily monitored, and removed/replaced when needed.

More work for the community, and possible disputes with OPs thinking it is the only context needed when those with answers still need more context.

Those in the know seem to think that there are some interpersonal issues that do resolve to the continental level rather than the fine-grained local/country level. Admittedly I am clueless on that.

Hamlet

@GypsySpellweaver very few

Gypsy Spellweaver

Having only personal knowledge and experience in the USA, I do know that many things are not the same from one region, state, or metropolitan area, to the next. Still there are some, usually as a result of federal laws, though not always, that might be considered universal to the USA.

Hamlet

And on a site about interpersonal skills, where people admit to not understanding a single culture, how can you tell the difference between someone in the know and someone who doesn't know what they're talking by about

Gypsy Spellweaver

07:34

@Hamlet On the internet I operate under three premises:

Hamlet

There's nothing stopping someone fro marking a question tagged with one country as a duplicate of a question tagged in another country.

Gypsy Spellweaver

1) Identity is, to 5 9s, a myth.

2) Anonymity is, to 5 9s, a myth

Hamlet

@GypsySpellweaver tags don't communicate every little detail. Use the question body.

Gypsy Spellweaver

3) By their works you shall know them

@Hamlet If the answer works I am not concerned with whether or not the informant knows my cultural guidelines or not.

@Hamlet That is the fine line upon which I've seen many a debate, on several sites. =)

Same say tags are for "filtering" questions. Others say tags are so that "experts" can watch a given tag and know when they are needed for an answer.

I have noticed that each site has their own interpretation of tag guidelines, and that, once the site has had time to mature, graduated or not, that their chosen system works for them.

Hamlet

@GypsySpellweaver the point of including this info is so it can be helpful to people answering questions. If someone answers a question without that info, great. Doesn't mean the info isn't important.

Gypsy Spellweaver

07:41

Eventually, as we hammer out the usage of tags here, we will reach the same level of usability for our tags on our site.

Hamlet

@GypsySpellweaver that's literally different ways of saying the same thing. There's no debate.

It comes down to: tags are a tool for finding questions. Show me someone with experience on the network who disagreed and I'll be surprised.

Gypsy Spellweaver

I may go down in history as one of Mr. Franklin's mugwumps, but I usually can see both sides of an issue, and recognize the validity of each.

SQB

Off mobile now, so I can some more context.

Grote rivieren

The Grote rivieren, literally translated Great (or Large) rivers, is a landform in the Netherlands. Also, the term is commonly used for a divide in Dutch culture linking to the broader Dutch-Flemish culture. == History == The Grote rivieren have throughout history been a dividing line across the Netherlands. At many points in time have the rivers formed a boundary between states or empires. Notable examples include the northern border of the Roman Empire in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, and the border between the Dutch Republic and Spanish and later Austrian Netherlands at various points...

Gypsy Spellweaver

@Hamlet I don't disagree at all. The question, relative to what tags we will need, is how will those looking for questions use the tags?

SQB

On some issues, the difference between USA vs Europe are larger then the Inter-European issues.

Gypsy Spellweaver

07:46

@SQB As egotistical and self-centered as the USA can be, I rather suspect that some issues is around 99%.

@SQB Interestingly enough, here in the USA there is a section of one state that is sufficiently different from the rest of the state that they keep trying to become their own state.

Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The Upper Peninsula is the northern of the two major peninsulas that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It may also be referred to as the UP or Upper Michigan. The peninsula is bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by the St. Marys River, on the southeast by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and on the southwest by Wisconsin. The Upper Peninsula contains 29% of the land area of Michigan but just 3% of its total population. Residents are frequently called Yoopers (derived from "U.P.-ers") and have a strong regional identity. Large numbers of French Canadian, Finnish, Swedish, Cornish,...

Extroverted Main Man

0

Q: Not hearing my wife when I'm distracted

Often when I'm working on the computer or watching tv, my wife says something to me and I have no clue what she said. I remember being a kid and repeating "Dad" 30 times before I got his attention. Is this genetic? How can I improve on this? I feel like I'm working backwards because I worked s...

family self-improvement

Yvette Colomb

08:07

@SQB early this coming week; Monday or Tuesday. — Robert Cartaino ♦ yesterday

our mods will be selected

A J

08:40

Yep they will

@Catija It happened what I anticipated

Introverted Meta Man.

08:58

0

Q: Should the same questions coming from different cultures be considered duplicate or not?

As we all know, we have started to include culture/country in the questions asked on main site and ask others to do the same. Though, this is a good idea to get rid of answers that won't work in a particular culture. However, how do we deal with the same questions coming from different cultures?...

discussion asking-questions exact-duplicates

SQB

09:32

Another thought on removing europe from questions: we should be careful not to first remove europe and then close the question because it has no locational tag at all.

Extroverted Main Man

12:21

0

Q: How to arrange Atypical vs. Neuro-typical social needs?

Like 8 months ago I met a friend who has a very similar perception as I have in regards of having autism and Asperger's. Since this friend was therapy wise multiple years ahead I learned a lot from that friend about myself. One thing I learned was that apparently Atypical persons have no real re...

autism asperger

Jack Parkinson

12:35

Hello all o/

Henry WH Hack v2.0

Hi

Extroverted Main Man

12:54

0

Q: How to permanently leave a group activity without insulting a friend

Currently I am in a group activity (pen&paper online) we started 2 years ago and which is held weekly. I consider everyone of this group as my friend. But I have had arguments with the leader of this group (game master). These issues seem illogical to me and the arguments tended to be with preju...

friends friend-groups activity

Extroverted Main Man

14:29

0

Q: How to act when people bring a baby to work

I am uncomfortable interacting with babies because I personally don't find them cute or interesting to interact with. I also am not good at faking positive interactions with babies, because I really just don't know how to act with them. I'm not good at making the 'baby voice' or making silly face...

united-states work-environment social-event

Jack Parkinson

Excellent question, IMO...

Henry WH Hack v2.0

@ExtrovertedMainMan My reaction will be: Why did you bring that child here? (I have bad luck with babies)

Extroverted Main Man

17:42

0

Q: How to approach a strategy game against a 5-10 year old child you don't know

I saw a related question on Parenting, but this one is different, since it's a) about older children and b) not your own child. Disclaimer: This is based on the experience of a friend - I will call him Bob. However, I was present and it got me thinking. Let's go: A social event with many activ...

communication social-event introvert

NVZ

Sorry, all, if my edits flooded the 'active' feed.

Today was a quiet day. So I thought it's a good time to do some cleanup and stuff.

Catija

@NVZ I think that at this point we should be more concerned about fixing quality issues than about mucking up the front page. We don't have so many questions per day that going to the "questions" tab is that onerous. :)

Gypsy Spellweaver

@Catija +1

Zizouz212

Hey folks!

Gypsy Spellweaver

hey

NVZ

17:53

@Catija Was that a reply to me? I didn't get you.

Catija

Hey @Zizouz212! Still waiting on that post on the HNQ Meta question... though, at this point, if they're really going to be announcing moderators today or tomorrow, it may be moot.

NVZ

@Catija I'm just doing my part. But also, yeah. Quality issues; priority.

Catija

@NVZ Apologies if I wasn't clear, the point of my comment was to imply that you shouldn't need to feel like you have to apologize for it at this point. The work is valuable.

NVZ

Ah. Thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant my edits were not welcome.

Zizouz212

18:12

@Catija Meta question?

@NVZ Haha same! XD

Catija

@Zizouz212 The answer to my answer on the post about stopping the HNQ?

Zizouz212

Oh right!

Hamlet

-1

A: Should we be using the Europe tag?

Yes For some issues, the answer will differ from country to country. For some, from continent to continent, for others even from city to city. Since we have no tag hierarchy, we can't simply tag a question amsterdam and have the-netherlands, western-europe, europe, and big-city inferred or impl...

I'm not really getting through here; anyone want to write an answer that does a better job explaining things?

@Zizouz212 @Catija my opinion is that (1) the HNQ is horrible, and (2) none of the problems on this site are caused by the HNQ and removing the HNQ won't make things easier.

Catija

@Hamlet That sounds like what I wrote in my answer - ish.

NVZ

At least, by HNQ, we get new users to know about the site. Some of them will stay here and become great contributors.

Catija

18:21

It's a bit early but I bet we could get some data comparing users whose first post is on a HNQ post and whether they posted subsequently.

Hamlet

@Catija didn't read your answer too closely TBH, but if you agree with me I'm sure it's good :D

Catija

I'm useless with the SEDE, though.

NVZ

This user, for example, came here from HNQ; wrote a decent answer based on their experience in the domain. Around 165k rep on RPG.SE

2

A: How to permanently leave a group activity without insulting a friend

For reference, I’m one of the higher-reputation users at the RPG Stack Exchange, so I hopefully have some relevant domain experience to offer. One of the things we often tell people in your position there is that “no gaming is better than bad gaming.” Knowing when and how to walk away is importa...

Zizouz212

@Catija I might be able to do that

And it's perfect because data gets updated every Monday :)

Catija

The difficulty is classifying what a HNQ is... there's no SEDE marker for it, so you have to go by views.

Hamlet

18:22

@NVZ yeah, RPG is great with experience-based answers; I'm not at all surprised

Zizouz212

Meh, just find anything with over 1k views

Catija

Yeah. Probably good enough.

Zizouz212

This is not quite what you're getting at, but I think it provides a more general overview as to how many people have answered: data.stackexchange.com/interpersonal/query/341448/…

NVZ

Oh my. I'm the only one without blue in my name.

This is awkward.

You guys discussing SEDE and stuff. I've got no clue about those.

Catija

SEDE has nothing to do with moderators. :)

Zizouz212

18:26

@NVZ Actually, I generally have no clue. I just type things in until something looks right :P

Catija

data.stackexchange.com

NVZ

"How do I politely escape from this awkwardness?"

Zizouz212

@NVZ Refresh the page :)

NVZ

@Zizouz212 "What country is that answer applicable to?"

Zizouz212

No, I meant actually refresh the page

NVZ

18:28

LOL (/joke)

Zizouz212

Well, there is an easy way for mods to reduce themselves to regular users in chat...

Catija

Change parent site.

But then you can't get into the TL, either. And that's sad.

Zizouz212

Yeah, just got kicked out :/

Catija

Dork.

NVZ

I suppose TL is some mod-only chat room?

Zizouz212

18:33

Yep. Good place for mods to support each other, discuss mod-only things...

Catija

TL = Teachers' Lounge. :D Half mod/site issues, half debauchery.

NVZ

I see.

Zizouz212

Probably more than half debauchery :P

NVZ

Like, 3/4th of it? ;P

Catija

Oh, wait, we forgot venting.... or does that fall under mod/site issues?

It's really quite boring and yet drama-filled at the same time.

Gypsy Spellweaver

18:37

@NVZ not the only non-blue. Though I do know what SEDE is, Stack Exchange Data Explorer, kind of like a custom GUI for access to a snapshot ad the SE database.

NVZ

@GypsySpellweaver Welcome. I was under the impression that it's me and meta man against the blues.

Gypsy Spellweaver

Haven't explored it yet, however. =)

Zizouz212

@Catija Yeah nevermind... This kind of stuff is too complicated for me to even get working :|

Catija

... which is only updated once a week and has other... foibles. It's not perfect but it's what we have... but you need to be able to query it properly.

Zizouz212

~~Wait, aren't site analytics 2.5k?~~ schnapps, they're 5k

Catija

18:38

@Zizouz212 Apparently there's an SEDE room you can ping to ask for help with querys.

NVZ

Yeah. I know how to tinker with SEDE. I've bookmarked a few over these years.

And forked some.

Fork, right? Isn't that the term.

Tip of the tongue.

Zizouz212

Yep. Fork :)

NVZ

Not a programmer, I am.

I do some tinkering with code. That's it.

Zizouz212

I like coding simple things on the side, as a hobby. Wouldn't do it full time though :)

Although ironically, I'm a mod on a coding site :P

NVZ

Ha!

Catija

18:41

@NVZ Yoda, apparently, you are

NVZ

May I ask, what are you actually? @Zizouz212

Zizouz212

What am I? I'm a... human?

Catija

Pretty sure that blue thing isn't a human.

Zizouz212

Wynaut?

NVZ

@Catija I used to change arrangements of words; since childhood. But started avoiding that ever since I found out it's a yoda thing as well.

I don't like the guy.

No offense. :)

Zizouz212

18:45

@NVZ What did you mean by that question?

NVZ

The blue thingy in your picture. @Zizouz212

Is it crying?

Zizouz212

Oh! It's a pokemon :P

NVZ

Or laughing hysterically

Ah, that. :P

Zizouz212

But yes, it's laughing. Isn't it cute?

NVZ

@Zizouz212 That's too broad.

I don't like pokemons.

"shrug emoticon"

Zizouz212

18:49

\o/

NVZ

Not that.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This.

He's Mr. Shruggy. I keep him on my profile as well.

Zizouz212

lol

I don't work with those artistic pieces of text

NVZ

Well. There's a first time for everything. :)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think Shruggy is an introvert as well. Doesn't speak much.

Avoids conflicts.

Dislikes large gatherings.

Shrugs off snarky comments; doesn't get provoked easily.

Good guy.

SQB

19:20

I'm quite good with the SEDE, to be honest but not modest.

Catija

Nice! Skills we can use!

SQB

@Hamlet that's funny, because I feel that I'm not getting through.

Extroverted Main Man

0

Q: How to determine if a roommate should contribute to costs while away

I am a college student and lived in a house off-campus with 5 of my dude friends, 6 of us total. Our house is heated with oil, and is very expensive to replace. In the fall semester, we all contributed to the costs. But, this spring I was studying abroad in a different continent. Now, back in the...

friends money college roommates

SQB

Sometimes europe is the right level of locational precision, sometimes it's the wrong level, and sometimes it's irrelevant. Tag and retag as appropriate.

Zizouz212

@SQB @Hamlet Well, here's my viewpoint:

It's not so much the tags that I'm worried about, but whether that information is in the question. A broader tag could be okay, but as long as you get more specific in the question, then I think our goal is achieved. e.g. If I ask a question about a situation in Toronto, then I should say that in the question, and it should be fine if I only place [canada] or [ontario] as a tag. — Zizouz212 47 secs ago

Feel free to debate me on that one

Catija

19:33

@SQB I think that one of the more important parts of arguing this sort of decision is to use examples. You can say "there are times when ____" but we need to see what you think is an example for europe that wouldn't be better served by germany.

NVZ

@Zizouz212 interpersonal.stackexchange.com/questions/1470/… "I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is basically a polling question, and it's not suitable for our site. "

SQB

Case in point would be reserving pool side seats with towels.

Catija

But that's true for @Hamlet as well. Explain examples that have europe and explain why they should instead be france. We can all go blue in the face talking about hypotheticals but until such a thing exists, we can not really decide.

Zizouz212

@NVZ Oh. Well, it was asking "Am I right in this situation?"

SQB

Although that may even more widespread than Europe.

Catija

19:34

@Zizouz212 Deleted, not dead. :P

NVZ

@Zizouz212 I'm not quite sure how that's a polling question. Define polling in this context.

Catija

> How to determine if a roommate should contribute to costs while away

> I am a college student and lived in a house off-campus with 5 of my dude friends, 6 of us total. Our house is heated with oil, and is very expensive to replace. In the fall semester, we all contributed to the costs. But, this spring I was studying abroad in a different continent. Now, back in the USA, I received a call from the oil company saying we owe $500 for refills in the spring. My roommates think that I should contribute to the costs, even though I was in a different hemisphere and was not asked about refilling, amounts, etc.

Zizouz212

@Catija The title and the end of the question varied quite differently.

"Am I in the wrong? is essentially a yes/no style of a poll.

But yeah, probably should've went more in-depth with a reason :/

Catija

Monica has a different name for that... it's a non-question, though. It's someone just looking for validation.

NVZ

I don't think it's a simple yes/no. Some of our top-voted questions can be thought of as polling as well, if that's the case.

@Catija yes, exactly. It's a validation thingy.

Catija

19:37

If they're actually looking for guidance, we need to help them edit their question. That question could have been saved pretty easily, I think.

SQB

@Catija agreed.

Zizouz212

Totally agree. Feel kind of stupid right now actually... :/

NVZ

Okay, so, what I'm getting at is that our comments should be tailored to OP's level. "I'm voting to close" should not be the first words they see. My two cents.

SQB

Was it self-deleted?

NVZ

OP deleted it and went away. :(

Zizouz212

19:39

@NVZ Yeah, so I had cast a close vote, but I sometimes forget that custom reasons also automatically add comments

NVZ

Hello @SQB

SQB

@Zizouz212 no need to debate because I fully agree.

NVZ

You've got the highest for an answer, I believe. @SQB Congrats!

SQB

Hello @NVZ.

Through the power of the HNQ, yes.

Thanks.

NVZ

Of course.

SQB

19:41

It even got me a gold badge.

NVZ

I recently got 100 on an answer in travel.se

And I never visit the site. LOL

It was HNQ effect.

Zizouz212

@NVZ I think my highest post on the network is 70?

Yep. Meta Stack Exchange. Probably only voted cause I got other mods too :P

NVZ

@Zizouz212 I beat you there. ;) 160 on a single-line answer due to HNQ effect.

Zizouz212

160? Ah schnapps

SQB

19:57

I think the best I ever got was answering who the Lord of the Rings was, over on Science Fiction & Fantasy.

Zizouz212

cv-pls interpersonal.stackexchange.com/questions/16/…

Gypsy Spellweaver

20:14

@Zizouz212 In this case I don't think a context is truly needed. OP isn't asking what is/isn't sarcasm, or how to react to it, all of which can be regionally variable. Rather, the OP is literally asking how can I "adapt" this reflex? If I'm wrong, then what should I consider?

How to develop a skill shouldn't be regionally specific. How to use it appropriately, on the other hand, is regionally specific.

SQB

-1

A: Should we be using the Europe tag?

Yes For some issues, the answer will differ from country to country. For some, from continent to continent, for others even from city to city. Since we have no tag hierarchy, we can't simply tag a question amsterdam and have the-netherlands, western-europe, europe, and big-city inferred or impl...

@Catija examples added. Are they what you had in mind?

Zizouz212

@GypsySpellweaver So you're saying that it's culture-agnostic?

Gypsy Spellweaver

In this case, rare as it may be, I think this question is culture-agnostic, yes.

SQB

I don't think it is truly culture-agnostic, but the OP has provided no preciser location than "Europe"; I've tagged it accordingly.

Gypsy Spellweaver

OP wants to learn to develop a skill. Doing so, as indicated by the answers, is about paying attention to the speaker, and the "gut" instincts.

Zizouz212

20:24

Yes, but won't the development of such skills require cultural awareness?

The phrase It takes a village to raise a child comes to mind - social norms would definitely play some influence, no?

SQB

I think it does, but perhaps not down to the country-level.

Gypsy Spellweaver

The practice of the skill will, but the "how to develop" don't.

Zizouz212

So then the question boils down to "is self-development part of interpersonal skills?"

Catija

interpersonal.stackexchange.com/users?tab=moderators

Zizouz212

@SQB But to a cultural level it would

Gypsy Spellweaver

20:28

@Catija Congratulations

Zizouz212

@Catija Oh snap! Congrats! :D

Catija

God, now I'm scared :P

Gypsy Spellweaver

Catija

Thanks. :D

Gypsy Spellweaver

Just in case you need it. =)

Zizouz212

20:29

@Catija Of what?

You're pretty much on top of the universe of intepersonal skills :P

Gypsy Spellweaver

And, when it gets too fired up you can always use this ^^^

Catija

@Zizouz212 I appreciate the vote of confidence.

Zizouz212

Please welcome your new moderator team!

7

Gypsy Spellweaver

*\o/*

Catija

HA HA It's a little cheer leader!

Gypsy Spellweaver

20:36

@GypsySpellweaver @Catija You'll have to share these with the rest of the team. Should be enough to last a while. =)

Catija

@GypsySpellweaver I hope so... and it looks like a good collection of different types.

Gypsy Spellweaver

I can get out the big stuff if we need it.

Zizouz212

modelcityfirefighter.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2014/10/… that connects to upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/…

Gypsy Spellweaver

SQB

@HDE226868, @Catija, @John (Not in chat? That has to change!) congratulations!

I usually aim for one topic expert, one network expert, and one chaos monkey... — Shog9 ♦ Jun 7 '12 at 21:13

Curious who's who :)

Gypsy Spellweaver

20:49

Catija is the topic expert, no doubt.

Catija

I've been told that we're all the "Chaos Monkey"... but I don't know that I trust that information.

SQB

So now we can start flagging for real?

Gypsy Spellweaver

I think for this site the "Chaos Monkey" just might be HNQ.

Zizouz212

I'm calling you global social butterflies from now on

Gypsy Spellweaver

Hi @Mithrandir

Mithrandir

20:51

Yo

Catija

@SQB I'm sitting on 13 on main and 5 on meta at the moment.

Zizouz212

Everybody loves butterflies, they are pretty, and go everyone on earth

Catija

@GypsySpellweaver Awww, that's sweet. :D

SQB

@Catija time to start flexing your (collective) mod muscles.

Gypsy Spellweaver

@Zizouz212 Don't their wings start hurricanes too?

Catija

20:52

@SQB It's funny. Despite having been a mod for a year, I don't get to use them often because A&C is so low-volume.

Mithrandir

Alright, time to go give you guys and gals some practice...

Zizouz212

@Catija I think I'm the least qualified moderator that is a moderator.

I probably handle a single real flag a month

Introverted Meta Man.

0

Q: Please reorder the Help Center links to emphasize what should be asked rather than what not to ask

The three pinned posts on the "asking" section of the Help Center are: What types of questions should I avoid asking? What does it mean if a question is "closed" or "on hold"? What topics can I ask about here? In that order. I think that on most sites, the order is reversed - th...

support design help-center

6

Q: Please welcome your new Moderator team!

Throughout the beta, we need members from the site whose focus is to engage the community, both in community-building issues and site management. That's why we select a few members from each community to act as temporary, provisional Moderators. You can read about the program here: Moderators Pro...

discussion featured moderation

Mithrandir

@Zizouz212 I tried to give you some practice too but I think Art took them

Zizouz212

Oh, I think he's handled less than me overall

I think 80% of our flags are also those auto flags like "close w/o comment"

So the amount of real flags that we've got all-time is super low.

My two-year all-time count is less than one a typical moderator on a graduated site in the network handles a day

Mithrandir

20:58

...my all time count is 160 in less than half a year, and I've handled over a hundred more flags than the mod who's handled second most, so don't worry - lots of beta sites have low flag volumes

Zizouz212

@IntrovertedMetaMan. Shouldn't that be tagged [feature-request]?

@Mithrandir My all time is 130 (or something like that) in two years

Mithrandir

@Zizouz212 o_o

Catija

@Zizouz212 Nope. The CMs have to do it and it's not really a "feature" it's a request that they change something.

Zizouz212

Oh okay

I always just figured that if CMs did something, just tag it feature-request

@Mithrandir lol... Now add the fact that maybe only 25 of those are flags that have actually been generated by users.

And you can tell why I'm clueless with all the moderation tools :P

Catija

Nah, I get them confused too. Most of the time I forget about the support tag entirely.

Zizouz212

21:02

And Shog just answered it

Catija

Kinda hard to edit that page if no one will vote on what it should be edited to say :P

Zizouz212

Meh, I'll post an answer to that

Shog9

> $SiteName is for questions on how to communicate with people without saying words to them.

Oh, don't forget to customize the tour as well.

Zizouz212

@Catija What would be a list of things that are on-topic? It's surprisingly difficult to think of things

HDE 226868

@SQB Oh, cool. That happened. Thanks. :-)

Catija

21:15

@Zizouz212 Remember, broad strokes. Don't try to get too granular. Think of large types of subjects. "Questions about interactions with all of the people in your life, whether they're family, friends, coworkers, roommates, strangers or anything in between."

Zizouz212

So, I'm trying to model whatever I say off of Parenting, and they have a list of things that you can ask about

Catija

A lot of that list will have to wait until we have a better grasp on our scope but the page is easy to edit, so we can always adjust it.

Zizouz212

Yep, it's just difficult trying to think of the basics

@Catija (cc @HDE226868 @Hamlet @Mithrandir @NVZ @SQB) What are the criteria that makes a good question?

Catija

@Zizouz212 Specific relationship type including description, location, concrete example of issue, descriptive title, clear explanation of expectation (what do you want?)

Zizouz212

Okay thanks :)

Shog9

21:28

29

A: What should we put on our Tour page?

What guidelines should I keep in mind when making changes to /about? Make it short Make it clear Make it stick The about page is intended for folks who are visiting your site for the very first time. If you’re lucky, someone who has never used Stack Exchange before will stumble on your site a...

some ~~useful~~ relevant guidance ^

Zizouz212

@Catija Thoughts on this so far?

0

A: Let's start working on our help center "what to ask" text!

I'm just going to basically offer what to write on that page... (This is actually modelled completely off of Parenting. Also, on a separate note, I'm going to try and find references and build on this in the near future, so this isn't finalized. What topics can I ask about here? Interpersonal S...

Mithrandir

@Zizouz212 how many people did you intend to ping there? ;)

Zizouz212

Just the regulars in chat that I've talked to a fair bit about that kind of stuff :)

Mithrandir

I think you pinged two people when you pinged me ;P

Zizouz212

What? How?

Catija

21:32

@Zizouz212 There are two users named "Mithrandir".

Zizouz212

Oh right. -_-

Mithrandir

What makes a good question? It should be clear. This includes what culture, age, gender, whatever. It should have a specific goal in mind. It should be answerable, not just speculated about. It is preferable to be applicable to more than the OP but I don't know how much that's going to apply to IPS.

Zizouz212

Actually, it's probably a good idea to consolidate all of this information in a meta post

Catija

@Zizouz212 I think it's a good answer but I don't know that it belongs on that question, necessarily. If people want to nitpick little pieces of it, they can't.

Zizouz212

@Catija Why wouldn't it belong on that question?

Catija

21:38

@Zizouz212 It depends on how strict you want to take that question's "rules".

Zizouz212

Oh, the "one answer per topic thing?"

I could also make it a Community Wiki

Catija

@Zizouz212 Pretty much. The post is designed to be a link to meta questions that support a topic being "on topic" or "off topic" so that when we write the actual page, we can easily get the links to those. Also, if only one thing is discussed at a time, people can vote on each thing rather than on the entire post.

Shog9

what's the number one problem folks have asking questions here right now?

Zizouz212

@Catija Ah, makes sense.

Catija

@Shog9 Details, I think.

Shog9

21:41

Such as...?

Zizouz212

Lack of clear guidance on what information they need to include?

Shog9

Such as...?

Zizouz212

(I'm just speculating, I've also never asked a question on the site)

awkward silence I'm not sure at all

Shog9

This might be helpful

Zizouz212

Can't see that. :/

Catija

21:44

Including relevant information in the question that helps us do our best to answer - where they are, what sort of relationship they are in with the person they're talking about... or they try to ask a question that addresses every possible option because they don't have or want to talk about a specific example... many of the questions don't include a sample situation so we're guessing what the problem is... they're just incomplete questions.

Shog9

Until you know (or can guess at) what folks are struggling with, a bullet list of various forms of interpersonal issues isn't going to do anything useful; there's already a page that lists tags.

Try to identify bits of useful information for folks asking or answering questions here.

Chances are, you'll end up with plenty of those...

Catija

interpersonal.stackexchange.com/questions/1431/… As an example of something recent that is too broad.

The point of SE is to answer questions about problems you actually face but if you can't narrow down a specific problem, the question will probably be too broad.

Shog9

...But even if you can only nail down one, that's fine - if there's one problem that everyone here encounters, focusing on that & dropping all the fluff is gonna do 'em more good than one useful bit of advice in a mountain of words.

Catija

@Zizouz212 Over half of our closed questions are closed because they're "too broad".

Zizouz212

@Shog9 So what you're trying to say is instead of saying "What to ask", focus more on the "How to ask" parts?

@Catija sigh Too Broad is itself broad :/

Shog9

21:48

@Zizouz212 I'm saying focus on what folks struggle with.

I'm on a site called "interpersonal skills", tagged as being "for people looking to improve their interpersonal communication skills". That's... reasonably specific. Presumably I already think the question I'm about to write (or have already written...) is about, well, interpersonal communication in some way.

Nevertheless, I have about a 1 in 5 chance of screwing it up completely.

Catija

@Zizouz212 Yes... well, have you voted on my "close reasons other than off-topic should have subreasons" MSE answer?

Shog9

So... Given I already know this site is for improving my ability to communicate with people, what else should I know before I venture further?

Zizouz212

I see what you're saying

Shog9

Clearly, it's not a list of places and situations in which I might use my soon-to-be-improved skills...

...but knowing that the locale in which I'm currently struggling is important, yeah, that might help right?

Maybe, the language I'm communicating in? The backgrounds of the people I'm communicating with?

Zizouz212

@Shog9 Yep. I think that's definitely one of the issues

Going through the closed questions (there's 26 of them), and most of them seem to either 1) lack information (specific, cultural information which should be interpreted broadly) that you describe that is helpful to answerers or 2) are looking for broad-based answers that are like "catch-alls"

It feels quite telling

Catija

22:05

We have closed 65 out of 279 questions asked.

Zizouz212

@Catija Then a good chunk of them have probably been deleted

I'm only seeing 26 with a closed:yes duplicate:no search

Catija

A couple of downvoted and roombaed questions and some were dupes, I think.

Zizouz212

Ah okay

Catija

It's easy to see stats on closed questions but not so much on deleted ones. :(

heather

23:20

hello

Catija

Howdy!

heather

congrats on your modship!

Catija

Thanks :D

heather

you guys are going to do great.

Catija

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Mithrandir24601

23:25

@Zizouz212 Hi! :P

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