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2024 Moderator Election

nomination began
Apr 9 at 20:00
election began
Apr 16 at 20:00
election ended
Apr 24 at 20:00
candidates
4
positions
3

On Stack Exchange, we believe the core moderators should come from the community, and be elected by the community itself through popular vote. We hold regular elections to determine who these community moderators will be.

Community moderators are accorded the highest level of privilege on our community, and should themselves be exemplars of positive behavior and leaders within the community.

Our general criteria for moderators is as follows:

  • patient and fair
  • leads by example
  • shows respect for their fellow community members in their actions and words
  • open to some light but firm moderation to keep the community on track and resolve (hopefully) uncommon disputes and exceptions

Full elections have three phases and an optional fourth phase (Primary):

  1. Question Collection
  2. Nomination
  3. Primary
  4. Election

Please participate in the moderator elections by voting, and perhaps even by nominating yourself to be a community moderator!

Additional Links

Questionnaire
The community team has compiled questions from meta for the candidates to answer.
  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

[Answer 1 here]

  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

[Answer 2 here]

  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

[Answer 3 here]

  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

[Answer 4 here]

  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching enough reputation to access moderator tools or become a trusted user?

[Answer 5 here]

  1. This site has quite a problem with a number of users that are posting AI generated content. What is your stance on AI generated content and are you prepared to deal with such posts?

[Answer 6 here]

Daniel

A test engineer of ~15 years, I've worked in a variety of industries1, for different sized companies2, and in multiple capacities3. I'm a certified software tester with ISTQB Foundation and Intermediate accreditation, a certified Business Analyst, and a certified Team Kanban Practitioner.

I've been a member of SQA for almost 10 years, and I've lurked for much of that, but currently sit in the Top 6% of SQA users.

As my career progresses towards more of a coaching and leadership role, I've found my desire to help others reach their goals become more prominent.

I'm a problem solver, and a firm believer in respect, fairness, and community.


  1. gaming, gambling, estate agency, financial tech, retail, and insurance tech.

  2. startup, corporate, international.

  3. consultant, permie, contractor.

Questionnaire

To answer some of the questions -

A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

I (probably) stand by my questions, answers, and comments. Although I'm sure there'll be things I'd be embarrassed to read again... but that's a sign of growth, right?

This site has quite a problem with a number of users that are posting AI generated content. What is your stance on AI generated content and are you prepared to deal with such posts?

A lot of SQA questions require human experience, and most AI generated content produce low quality answers and are easy to spot. I'm against AI generated content for a one main reason - if people are able to get their questions answered by AI, then there's no need for them to ask here, and the stack will eventually die.

Bharat Mane

Hi, I'm Bharat. I have 12+ years of working experience in Software Quality Assurance & Testing and worked with different software domains and number of testing tools. I've been a user here for 8+ years and I'm regularly contributing to this site since 2015.

I'm mostly active in reviewing the queues and raising helpful flags.

I would like to be a moderator in order to help entire SQA & Testing community giving my fair and frequent participation.

I enjoy flagging comments that are no longer needed and cleaning up questions and answers through both flags and LQP where I am currently all time top contributor.

Key Contributions:

  • 11 - Gold badges

  • 40 - Silver badges

  • 68 - Bronze badges

  • 624 - Low Quality Post review

  • 1156 - Suggested Edits review

  • 2000 - Close Votes review

  • 150 - Reopen Votes review

  • 400 - Late answers review

Questionnaire
  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I would first try and figure out what aspect of the user's behavior is causing the issues. Once that's identified and I feel the user needs to adjust how they interact with the site, I'd reach out to the user and do my best to convince them to change the problematic aspects of their behavior. If that fails, I would escalate by issuing suspensions as appropriate. At the end user should not violate the Code Of Conduct.

  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

I would reach out to other moderator and ask for their reason being closed/delete, and provide my own reasoning for why I disagree with their handling of the question. I expect that in the vast majority of such cases we'll eventually come to an agreement as to what the final state of the question should be, whether they have taken action mistakenly and he will reverse his opinion towards that question.

  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Moderators role is to observe and keep an eye on things. If any user user flagged/reviewed the posts from the Reviewer Queue and it comes to moderators attention that the given feedback is incorrect according to the rules/community then he can take the proper action or suggest user to correct the things with reason why this is incorrect.

  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

Diamond a moderator tool would more swiftly handle the bulk of data with non-answers and comments that are no-longer needed, and it helps with the moderator flag queue.

  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching enough reputation to access moderator tools or become a trusted user?

There are several things that a trusted user can’t do - handling flags, close questions, move questions.  As a moderator, I would invest my more time in handling Flagged items.

  1. This site has quite a problem with a number of users that are posting AI generated content. What is your stance on AI generated content and are you prepared to deal with such posts?

Detecting and flagging AI generated posts has been in focus of my moderator activities. I will assure that all the AI posts from the user have been handled correctly.

Thomas Owens

I'm throwing my hat into the ring for a Software Quality Assurance & Testing moderator role to ensure that this site has an active, reliable moderator team.

I've been using the Stack Exchange network since the early days of Stack Overflow (August 2008), and I've served as an elected moderator on Software Engineering (February 2012) and Project Management (August 2021). I'm very familiar with the tools and processes of moderating a Stack Exchange Network site.

I'm also familiar with the subject matter of the SQA & Testing site, having a background in software engineering. I have the technical knowledge to read and understand the subject matter of this site and engage with users not only about the intricacies of the platform, but also the technical merits of questions and answers.

Questionnaire
  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

Being respectful and nice to each other as human beings is central. Participating in arguments, especially those that raise flags from other readers, does not demonstrate respect and kindness. As a moderator, I could send warning messages and, if necessary, suspend the user. Although we may lose one contributor, I've found that disrespectful people drive away prospective contributors. A safe, respectful environment is necessary for sustaining and growing a community.

  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

I would not take a unilateral action to undo the moderator's action. I would first try to reach out to the moderator in a private, mod-only chat, to get their take and understand their rationale and if I'm missing something. If the rest of the site moderator team isn't around, all network moderators also have access to a chatroom of moderators and community managers, where I could get a second opinion. Only if there's strong evidence that it was wrong - and humans get it wrong sometimes - would I undo the action by reopening or undeleting the post.

  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Moderators are exception handlers and garbage collectors. We have access to tools that allow us to take rapid, binding action in cases where the community is unable to act fast to resolve the issue. We can also address people who are disruptive to the community by informing them of community standards and enforcing community norms.

  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

I have diamonds on two other sites in the network. I have no concern with diamonds being attached to any question, answer, or comment that I've made anywhere on the network.

  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching enough reputation to access moderator tools or become a trusted user?

A big concern is speed. Moderator actions are fast and binding. A problem that I've seen first hand is long wait times to handle flags around inappropriate content. As I do with the other sites I moderator, I intend to check in on a regular basis and clear our flags and help the review queues move along. Having access to moderator tools over the trusted user tools ensures that I can act swiftly when necessary to help curate and maintain the content of this library of questions and answers.

  1. This site has quite a problem with a number of users that are posting AI generated content. What is your stance on AI generated content and are you prepared to deal with such posts?

There is a baseline Stack Exchange policy: all AI-generated content needs to be attributed. Moderators have access to heuristics that can be used to assess if content is likely to be generated and have the authority to remove content that exceeds a threshold of confidence. I will swiftly remove generated content as soon as possible if it is not attributed. I will warn and then suspend users who continue to post generated content without attribution.

Beyond that, communities can choose to adopt stricter policies, such as a total prohibition on all generated content, even if it has been attributed. I'm personally in favor of such policies - we have one on Software Engineering. However, Project Management has chosen not to adopt such a strict policy. SQA & Testing has chosen to not adopt a blanket prohibition. As such, my moderation stance will be in line with the community: require attribution and allow properly attributed generated content.

Dee

Hi, I have 14+ years of hands-on experience in SQA/Testing, so I have seen nearly everything in QA.. but no, no not really, do not worry. I am still learning. My professional position is usually as a Test manager/Test lead/Quality coach.
Besides I'm a skilled Business analyst, ITSM consultant, Linux enthusiast, believer, father of 7, WingTsun adept ... and more ...
\> Qualitas cum Permission ut Interficias Insectorum

Questionnaire
  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

Valuable answers are most important. No answer is perfect, even those valuable ones. Flags are a normal part of questions/answers as (for example) the technology changes over time and other users could flag it.

  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

It depends on the level of intervention. Obvious problems can be addressed immediately, but it is usually advisable to start by asking "why?".

  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Moderators just moderate questions and answers. They have a little bit more tools than the other users to do it. Helping others

  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

It gives me no additional stress. I do feel such a special position is a responsibility. As one of those who participated in pushing this community to fill the starting limits, I never had the sense of "ownership" without ownership. So I'm here to help this community grow.

  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching enough reputation to access moderator tools or become a trusted user?

It is the part of the responsibility. Being a moderator is a way for me to be useful to the community. I don't cling to reputation or trusted status.

  1. This site has quite a problem with a number of users that are posting AI generated content. What is your stance on AI generated content and are you prepared to deal with such posts?

This is a rather complex, even philosophical question. Posting an AI-generated answer is not necessarily wrong, as long as the answer is correct and will work for other users. Unfortunately for such lazy people, using AI without checking the output, the opposite tends to be true. AI sometimes makes up nonsense.
There's also the problem of how to recognize such an answer, and I probably don't have any tools for that and everything around it is in rapid development.
In the case of AI use, it is a good idea to mark the answer as AI-generated, ideally also by which tool and which version, and possibly align this with community rules that may change in the future.
By the way, this part was Translated from the Czech language with www.DeepL.com/Translator, then checked and corrected. All answers including previous ones passed through Grammarly.

This election is over.