Rossc for Moderator position

Post Reply New Topic

I like that answer, now I will have to vote for you.

Sweet!
I would love Alex's take on all of this. How does Alex justify in light of what I have said to the mod posting in this thread about the necessary exclusion of promoting members who put up their hand? It seems this approach is really not working and even on a hit and miss basis rather flawed.

I don't believe for a second rossc wants the job. This thread is just an attention getting way of engaging in a discussion.

btw, I'm pretty sure that rossc knows (knew, at the first post) how mods are picked around here, and that such a post would guarantee he'd never be picked. As I said, I don't believe for a second he wants the job.

He does, however, want the discussion he's gotten.

Have fun.

You do keep saying this DW and saying it in many threads does not make it any more true.
To be honest I saw QM mutter something about there not being enough mods but they are trying their hardest or something. I could find the post but I am sure you would believe me, or I could prove you wrong if you didn't.

Then I thought Hell I could be a mod here. I have been a mod elsewhere. I have been hitting the online Autism communities for three years. I think I could find my stride here and after the huge stuff up lately with mods getting the boot maybe they need someone like...well me
.
I had no real idea of how they got mods around here so I thought bring it to the attention of Alex and the members and further get a few friends to chip in on my behalf may be best. They have. A lot of support and nice words. So fitting with this support community. Am I right?

So now down to the pointy end of discussions. If not me why not? Why do you feel I would be necessarily excluded? What makes you believe that Alex's pick someone on gut feel is better?

(Personally - and don't tell him I said - I think Alex is not omnipotent. I think that he can not possibly hope to know everything about every member or how they are viewed by their peers. I think he has yet to ascend to a plane of consciousness where he can perform this. In the meantime he IS limiting himself making "gut choices" It is irrevocably flawed and he has made some very silly mod chooses on this basis and he and we all know it. Let's not pretend this approach is better, more wholesome or any other rubbish. It is stupid and he has paid the price for it)

My apologies for making an assumption that is, apparently, incorrect. Just ... I thought you relished the devil's advocate role. As in, really like role, and are very good at it. Mod's don't get to play that role much. It surprises me to think that after all you've posted here and elsewhere you actually would want a moderator - AKA insider, team player - role. I don't know you that well, but it just doesn't sound like you. I've seen you be really effective in the outsider position; and people who are generally don't seriously want to give it up. Or, when they do, they tend to get frustrated fast. So, seriously, you would want a moderator job here? Maybe you were so frustrated with the void that you figured, "why not?," without really thinking how it would fit you? Can you see why I found it easier to believe you wanted to strike a solid discussion and raise the profile of the void so that Alex would make some changes?

For the record, Alex receives input from a variety of sources on who might make a good moderator, and who might be willing to accept it. The process of weighing that input and making the final decision is not something I am privy to, but I know that the input exists, and that it is not ignored.

I confess I was shocked when I first heard the "don't pick people who say they want the job" theory (which would be about the same time I learned I had been picked ), but I have since had a chance to observe that it is not wholly without merit. Sometimes it works well; sometimes it does not. Some changes have been made since I was made a moderator, and those changes, too, have their pros and cons. You can see that just from the discussion here. Alex has recently brought on a new moderator who has dug straight in, so hopefully it's all on the right track.

What changes have been made?

Is the "recommended to be a mod" part new?

Yeah I can see that and I really appreciate the sentiments and yes I was confused why you would say this but in explaining it you have done well pointing it out.
Truth is that I am approaching 40. Been a few years out from the activism on AFF. Had this account here and 3 years old with not much to show for it, saw the need for a mod and wanted to put my hand up.
Well thought out? Maybe, maybe not. In as far as I see I have the maturity, mod experience, thick-skin and what not. In as far as I ruminated over it at length before factoring it in? No.
But you see by what I read that I see a good need for a good mod and I see a failing in the current mod selection process. You were fine by the way and I have never said otherwise but we know there were some really crap choices. That is because they were hit and miss. Got it right for you and embarrassed the forum with other selections

Will I get board? Or will I work out? Two big questions and I don't have the answers and I don't think anyone will until I get in there and feel my way there.

Everything evolves. I was never asked if I was willing to do the job; the latest addition was asked.

The rest gets to stay between Alex and his various influences, and I don't lay claim to knowing what all of them are. I just know that my suggestions were given serious consideration, and I appreciate that.

Last edited by DW_a_mom on 18 Sep 2010, 3:02 am, edited 2 times in total.

Well, people do change, and what they want from life and how they approach things can also change ... Still, you want to choose things that will allow you to thrive, and not ones that end up stifling. Not that we always know what those will be going in; I did enjoy many aspects of the mod job, in ways I hadn't really anticipated, but I had to make a choice because too many things were on my plate. You know that saying, "if you want something done, ask a busy person?" Well, too many people seem to see me as that busy person, and learning to say NO has become necessary for survival.

I hear that mate and I think that at the end of the day who knows. I think at this point in time the internal questioning may well be moot. Having said that I do well understand your position and I don't think you need to beat yourself up or justify it. I think you are alright. Always have. You are a lot better and a heck of a lot more delicate in your posting than me but never underhanded or sly or manipulative. One reason you were in your tenure a very good mod.