We need more candidates for the 2021 election!

Question

Game Development is currently having an election where we're looking for two new moderators - which means we need at least three candidates to have a competitive election. As of writing, we have only one candidate. This question is designed to act as a call to action as well as a place to discuss the election, the work of moderating this site and candidates you feel would be good to nominate in the election. While we don't have a way for you to nominate someone officially, people often underestimate the support they have from the community and need a bit of a nudge to consider nominating themselves.

So, here are some of the questions you could answer below:

1. Are you considering running in the election? If so, is there something holding you back; if not, why not?
2. Do you have any questions or concerns about what being a moderator means?
3. Who would you like to see running in the election?
4. For current moderators - what's the workload like (how much time does it take from your day) and what sorts of things do you do?

If we don't get sufficient nominees by 20:00 UTC on Monday the 26th, the election will be cancelled and we'll need to consider the next steps. The moderators here would really appreciate the additional help. What I can say as an outsider who has been a moderator on other sites in the past is that Game Development is generally a pretty chill site - there aren't a ton of flags that need handling and it doesn't seem like the sort of site where a huge investment of time is needed. The call for new mods is less due to the huge amount of work and more to wanting to share the work around the moderators and relieve some weight from the existing crew.

I would bet that if you are the sort of person who's here 3-5 days a week at least, being a moderator wouldn't change your participation in the site in a major way.

Answer 1

Are you considering running in the election? If so, is there something holding you back; if not, why not?

Since you ask: I considered it.

I nominated myself for the 2013 election, and I'm right now wearing the T-shirt I got for trying. The logo is so faded I can barely see it, but it means a lot to me. I am apparently still №1 close and reopen reviewer despite my long inactivity, and I've helped clarify rules and organise site events in the past. I'm probably qualified, experience-wise.

On the other hand, I've mostly felt like a solo janitor, rather than part of "the community". I don't really know anybody here, and I've felt out of place in the chatroom the times I've tried visiting. I take these as signs that I would not make the best representative. In 2013 I tried for it anyway, figuring I loved the site enough that I could make it work regardless. I didn't get the position, but continued to do what I could to keep the site tidy.

Then Stack Exchange (the company) made a bunch of user-hostile decisions in 2019–20, like retroactively changing the user content license without users' consent, and throwing a bunch of good long-time moderators under the bus in various ways. It made me feel like I'm just being used, with how sparse and uncaring the explanations were. Since then, I haven't participated much. I've been watching because I still care, but haven't found enough reasons to forgive, or time to forget.

Maybe someday.

Answer 2

I considered running and concluded being a mod would change my participation in ways I do not want.