@theforestecologist hey, are you thinking of running?

Also, I don't think the two people you pinged are pingable in here, so I'll mod ping them.

@AliceD @WYSIWYG see above.

@terdon thanks for that terdon

@theforestecologist personally I can't possibly keep up with all the posts because of a lack of time. Chris agrees with that too, he a also busy. Further, I have the impression that the overall quality of the posts is declining on our site. Since our graduation things have slacked down and quite a few active and critical members are not around anymore. In all, we asked for two mods, instead of one replacement mod.

I would also strongly urge you to nominate yourself!

@AliceD I've considered nominating myself since I do quite a bit of editing, flagging, and reviewing anyway. My hesitation is because I'm in the first year of a full-time college professor gig, so my time availability is less than ideal (and at times patchy). I likely visit the site on average 1x per day (sometimes up to 3-4x), but when I get busy I might go a few days without being able to jump on at all.

Is this level of commitment tolerable given the addition of 2 mods (1 more than before)? I don't want to run if my commitment level is not up to the expectation that you and Chris have likely spoken about needing...

(That being said, I'm still the 3rd highest voter and the #1 editor so far this calendar year, and I'm still quite active in regards to flagging and reviewing...so maybe my level of involvement is neough???)

In summary: do you think it valuable for me to run if I can't guarantee daily availability?

@theforestecologist If you can keep up the current work you do here - I would go for it. With an additional 4th mod I think we're going to be in good shape, barred that person is willing to put effort in and has enough experience.

@theforestecologist also bear in mind that a lot of what mods do is gruntwork: handling flags and cleaning up comments and the like. It doesn't need to take up that much time. Of course, every now and then someone has a meltdown and drama ensues, but that's pretty rare usually. Go for it!

@theforestecologist - I think you would make a good mod. It takes time to learn the ropes, but after a while, it's not a terrible lot of work.

@terdon - another obvious choice! Have you thought of running?

@anongoodnurse Briefly, but decided not to. I already have 3 diamonds and haven't been very active here the past couple of years or so. I mean, I only posted 2 answers in 2017 and 6 in 2016. I don't really feel I'm anywhere near active enough to be a mod.

How about yourself?

@terdon I understand that. You'd be great, though.

Well, thanks :)

I also am not active here anymore, although I started visiting more before the elections were announced. I don't know. I don't think I know the culture well enough anymore to make the right decisions.

Yeah, culture disconnect is an issue.

Like, yesterday I posted a comment asking what research had been done, and realized I don't know if that's still even an expectation...

heh

@AliceD - "Further, I have the impression that the overall quality of the posts is declining on our site." This is why I stopped coming by. Do you feel things have changed for the better?

@anongoodnurse you know I stepped away for about 6 months and came back to find things even further declined as compared to this time last year. Things are definitely on their way down. To be honest, the more "old school" expert type folks like yourself (that expect citations and good posts) that we have a round, the stronger that aspect of the BIO.SE culture becomes

For that reason I've avoided walking away -- I want to keep that rigor and sense of expertise alive here

@anongoodnurse and thanks for the "vote" of confidence :)

Also, YES, both prior research and providing resources are required and expected. I'm sure I'll mirror a response from Christiaan in saying that its just been too much slop to keep up with from a mod perspective, which is why we need experienced users to stay active

@anongoodnurse things have not going better I guess. People like MattDMO, you, among others, have left the scene and it seems like the larger part is undergrad asking questions and answering them. We've graduated, but not matured. David is one of the last critical mohecans standing, but he's flagged a lot because people feel offended by him. Also, the stringent following of the be nice policy can make criticism difficult.

@anongoodnurse it is still considered essential, but I can't keep up enforcing it. That's why new mods are needed, badly.