New Staff Member Election

[J-Max]

Frankly, I think we should distinguish between "tearing down candidates" and "pointing out weaknesses of candidates".

 

In the past, people have been promoted because their weaknesses were unknown or unconsidered. After time had passed, those problems, that those who kept silent already knew about, became apparent.

 

If somebody has a legitimate concern about someone, they should by all means bring it forward, whether the concerned individual is being considered for modship or not. Of course this shouldn't be a battle, this should not be determined by people tearing each other down, but to shut out criticism will only lead to a blind decision being made.

 

So before this all is over, I'm going to be going over what I believe the weaknesses of everyone brought forward in this thread. This includes myself. I want this process to be as amicable as possible, but a discussion where we only bring up positives is intentional ignorance.

 

Have to agree here. As long as it doesn't lead to spite it should be open discussion. The mods have full control over the thread(s). so can dish out warnings and such if it gets too personal.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Oh sheet there's gonna be an actual vote vote?

BRAWL TIME

 

Also yeah, more than one is ideal. Yeah.

[Phelphor, of the Deep]

Frankly, I think we should distinguish between "tearing down candidates" and "pointing out weaknesses of candidates".

 

In the past, people have been promoted because their weaknesses were unknown or unconsidered. After time had passed, those problems, that those who kept silent already knew about, became apparent.

 

If somebody has a legitimate concern about someone, they should by all means bring it forward, whether the concerned individual is being considered for modship or not. Of course this shouldn't be a battle, this should not be determined by people tearing each other down, but to shut out criticism will only lead to a blind decision being made.

 

So before this all is over, I'm going to be going over what I believe the weaknesses of everyone brought forward in this thread. This includes myself. I want this process to be as amicable as possible, but a discussion where we only bring up positives is intentional ignorance.

Good points. Ive been around here and there so I know the finer points of certain people who were in similar position later revealed their true nature (only after getting said job.)

 

People need to be honest as well, for example I do not feel I would be able to donate enough of my time to the job. This is one of the reason why I declined the offer. Others should follow suit.

 

I think some people who may get the job would honestly abuse the power given which means if they get the job it would be back to square one once more.

 

We will see how it goes in the next few days.

 

Also we need to see who needs to be dismissed as that will tells us how many and what position will be available.

[Blake]

Now, I definitely don't think that mouths should be kept shut forever. I only feel that you shouldn't be too loose lipped this early on in the process. I would hope that there's some sort of top 5 of the nominees who go up for vote, and I would say that discussing those is more merit worthy.

 

Of course, I could be entirely wrong. There are some choices I thought weren't great, but I don't want to step on any toes before things get more serious. I just figured it would be a nice idea, if it worked out.

 

Que sera sera.

[Mr. Best Male 2008]

I nominate Krow for mod and best mod. As much as my meme campaign was a meme I actually do want to contribute to this forum. YCM was a pretty big part of my life back in the day. I'd like to give back since I got unbanned (Shoutout to Dad <3). 

 

I have experience in this area. I've ran multiple, and some popular fansites. I'm one of the higher ups at my job and own a side business with employees so I deal with discipline almost on a daily basis. 

 

Due to the nature of my work I am also available at all waking times so activity isn't an issue.

[Phelphor, of the Deep]

I don't one should vote for themselves. one can say they want the job and want to be nominated.

 

Then again even applied, people will get their friends/etc. to vouch so, this concept does have its flaws.

[VCR_CAT]

jesse was mentioned earlier in the thread and i support that too, just throwing that out there. said individual is clearly able to deal with winter professionally despite their drastically contrasting perspectives on funking everything. that's a pretty important personality trait to have in a mod imo. also for similar reasons to darj

i'm not fully to the point of nominating you but have you considered yourself by the way?

 

I wasn't sure how many people would be on board with the idea, and with the last moderation-consideration thread I think Cow laid out some good reasons for why I might not be fit for the job. I'd be willing to give it a shot if people wanted me, but yeah I don't think I'll be nominating myself.

[Chaotic Angel]

Hmm... I don't want to be nominating myself either, but having discussed with Sakura before about being one I don't mind giving it a shot IF I am absolutely needed.

 

On the other hand, I recommend Cow and Parenthesis to become mods in their own right. Chaos Sonic seems like a good candidate as well, don't get me wrong.

 

I mean, it's going to be a hard call. There's a lot of members we know and should deserve a moderating spot. I can't say for sure who though.

 

TLDR: Cow, Parenthesis and Chaos Sonic are my recommended members other than myself.

[Dad]

When I originally brought this forward to the team with the idea of a new election, my intention was to do multiple cycles.  Receive the wanted nominations and ask the members to reduce it to top five out of the nominated candidates.  This would then be taken to a vote between five candidates to reduce the pool to three.  This process continues to remove one more candidate by vote, leaving two candidates for moderation.  The members would choose between the top two and whoever won would be placed in a trial period like everyone else.

 

There's currently an ongoing discussion about adjusting this for other purposes which we're not ready to discuss just yet, so please be patient with us.

[bury the year]

When I originally brought this forward to the team with the idea of a new election, my intention was to do multiple cycles.  Receive the wanted nominations and ask the members to reduce it to top five out of the nominated candidates.  This would then be taken to a vote between five candidates to reduce the pool to three.  This process continues to remove one more candidate by vote, leaving two candidates for moderation.  The members would choose between the top two and whoever won would be placed in a trial period like everyone else.

 

There's currently an ongoing discussion about adjusting this for other purposes which we're not ready to discuss just yet, so please be patient with us.

 

 

Not to henpeck, but this seems superfluous. If the idea is that "we need to reform the mod team with any semblance of expedience," then holding multiple rounds of voting accomplishes nothing that a single first-past-the-post vote does not. Frankly, do one round of voting and get it over with already.

 

Additionally, I would feel much more comfortable with this process if the staff team is able to hold some form of "veto by consensus," whether it is once the nominations are received, or after voting has been tallied. (i.e. If a majority of staff doesn't believe a member should serve and can provide an explanation, they shouldn't be allowed to participate in the election.) While I acknowledge that something of the sort was what undermined the last attempt of a mod election, from the perspective of a former moderator of this site and others, the majority of members are unfit for staff duties. That very well may include members who've been nominated or who have posted in this thread.¹ While the staff team certainly isn't infallible, they at least know what characteristics they desire and require of other prospective staff. This will help to guard against spoilers or any other attempts to undermine the process.

 

And as to stay true to the purpose of this thread, I nominate Giga/Parenthesis and Birdie, and no others, for the position of moderator. Their virtues have been praised in previous posts, so I'll just echo the sentiments there and call it a day.

 

¹This is totally me being vague, but I don't feel it's appropriate to list any particulars unless it is specifically requested of me.

[Phantom Roxas]

I think the multiple rounds are necessary, as having one round just suddenly decides everything could risk the appearance of an improper election, or one that did not accurately reflect the will of the community, as well as one nominee being too easily favored among everyone else.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

I think the multiple rounds are necessary, as having one round just suddenly decides everything could risk the appearance of an improper election, or one that did not accurately reflect the will of the community, as well as one nominee being too easily favored among everyone else.

 

And this is what the election is trying to convey in all honesty.

 

Let's be honest, having the unfair and/or improper election would give off the imposing appearance that the Mods are being shady with this type of election, which isn't the case. The multiple round voting is pretty much a sheer-fire way for the community to get involved and choose who they want to join the ranks. Cause you gotta think, the community is voting for someone to join the Mods, and while it isn't a PR Mod and just one to be there to give inputs and have a good work-ethic, they'll still be representing the YCM community in this regards.

 

So having the multiple round isn't a bad idea really. Just my two cents really XD

[bury the year]

I think the multiple rounds are necessary, as having one round just suddenly decides everything could risk the appearance of an improper election, or one that did not accurately reflect the will of the community, as well as one nominee being too easily favored among everyone else.

 

 

Counterpoint: if someone has the intent to discredit the election because their desired outcome wasn't achieved, no number of format changes will stop them from doing so.

 

TBH, I don't care too much one way or another about the actual format of the election: my main concern was the one I expanded on at more length in the second paragraph in my post. I'm just coming at it from the perspective that it takes less logistical prep to run it as first-past-the-post than an alternate format. If y'all want to do so, more power to you.

 

(And this will be my last post in this thread: not invested enough in the whole staffing drama to care any more than this.)

 

EDIT: Yet, since everyone objects to my wording, I mean this: I've said my piece and feel no further need to justify it.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Counterpoint: if someone has the intent to discredit the election because their desired outcome wasn't achieved, no number of format changes will stop them from doing so.

 

TBH, I don't care too much one way or another about the actual format of the election: my main concern was the one I expanded on at more length in the second paragraph in my post. I'm just coming at it from the perspective that it takes less logistical prep to run it as first-past-the-post than an alternate format. If y'all want to do so, more power to you.

 

(And this will be my last post in this thread: not invested enough in the whole staffing drama to care any more than this.)

Think about it this way. Say members 1-5 would be fine with Mod A, B, C. If there's a single vote then they can only choose one. This forces a split vote which might end up with a Mod none of those members wanted getting it, because they didn't all vote for Mod A, B, or C.

 

Also to be perfectly blunt it feels really weird having someone disagree then proceed to say they're not invested in it.

[Blake]

The attitude of “but someone can still complain or be unhappy” is one of the reasons something like this came to be, in the first place.

 

Someone can always complain. Always. If you live by such devil may care logic, it leads to problems because you justify any and every action by that logic.

 

The team has been criticized for that on multiple occasions, but none moreso than recently. It’s better to put in a system of checks and balances than to do whatever and assume the worst of people. The more checks and balances you have, the less validity those claims will generally hold.

 

You should always strive to do things in the safest and most effective way, and it’s fairly well known that straight-up giant polls often have skewed results, due to only being able to cast 1 vote. Even if you made the polls so that people would cast multiple votes, this could easily lead to people voting for 3, then seeing one of those three best their preferred, and retract that vote in favor of them. It’s a hassle, and it’s a less fair alternative, overall.

 

It is also extremely unfair to label this drama. Again, this event and those leading up to it couldn’t have been more civil. They were handled well, with talking occurring on both sides. All of one party handled it somewhat poorly in the long run, and that was a major part of why it needed to be discussed.

[J-Max]

As long as the right person is chosen, i'm cool with any way it's done.

[Phantom Roxas]

Feeling a bit nervous regarding a few of the choices, so I'll offer a few hats into the ring. Another thing I'd probably suggest is that some mods could perhaps he better for at least "mentoring" potential candidates to an extent.

 

- VCR_Cat: A very conditional nomination. There are several threads where I think he brings a welcome perspective to Debates, but things can be very heated. However, he does strike me as the kind of person who knows exactly what the role of a moderator would call for, and could perhaps adjust. As far as giving a new voice to the team, I could like to see VCR work alongside them.

 

- Fusion: He is someone who is frankly high on my personal list for who should have been promoted a long time ago. In the Complaints thread, I noted that I believe the Multimedia section is sorely lacking for a mod. Fusion is someone I see fairly often across Multimedia, and while I realize that this election is not meant to be looking for mods in certain areas, I do think a member's presence in given areas offers great insight for how they could be a mod of any given area.

 

- J-Max: I forgot that you were the one who banned Ragnarok. For the most part, I remember how Icy and I were both particularly frustrated with him. You seem a lot more different now than you were back down. Relaxed, I want to say. I don't believe you're anywhere close to risking the same problems that got you banned in the first place, and as far as seeing some former mods back on the team, I'm personally thinking of people who were mods before even I was, and I'm pretty sure that means you. I looked up to you back in the day, and I'd like to see that again.

 

- Catterjune: It actually took me way too long to realize that Catterjune was Pika. For the same reasons as above, I'm picking a much older member of the team, and Pika was definitely someone who brought something to the team that I'd love to see again. A willingness to get the job done, and a good personality. The team is either too lax or too vindictive (Or some bizarre mix of both, where the mods either do something that seems malicious, except it was done through complete incompetence), and I think Pika hits a great balance without going to either of those extremes.

 

- Krow 4 mod No.

[J-Max]

Thanks Roxas. I have grown up a lot since my past here. Found a lovely lady, on medication to help my PTSD from a abusive relationship and finally feel like that I can be me. Sick of a whole hentai thing, it was a facade to try and blend in the past. Then I realized that the people here just wanted me to be me. 

 

Sure I will always face the stigma of being perma banned but I believe that I can be a voice and provide thoughts accordingly. Been here 10 years on and off lol.

[Phantom Roxas]

Thanks Roxas. I have grown up a lot since my past here. Found a lovely lady, on medication to help my PTSD from a abusive relationship and finally feel like that I can be me. Sick of a whole hentai thing, it was a facade to try and blend in the past. Then I realized that the people here just wanted me to be me. 

 

Sure I will always face the stigma of being perma banned but I believe that I can be a voice and provide thoughts accordingly. Been here 10 years on and off lol.

 

You're the last person I'd hold a stigma to. I'm nominating you because I think you've been able to come back from your ban in a positive way.

[Halubaris Maphotika]

Sure I will always face the stigma of being perma banned but I believe that I can be a voice and provide thoughts accordingly. Been here 10 years on and off lol.

Hey I got banned for "hentai" too!

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

I was wondering, are all the nominated people to be considered or only those with a certain amount of support?
Granted we only have a small number of people actually giving their thoughts, relative to the entire site, so that's a bit tricky as well.

[Kazooie]

I'm going to add onto this.

 

I'm not participating in the election myself.

 

That's not a maybe thing, that's not an if thing. I'm... A little bothered. It definitely feels like the return offer I had was kinda revoked without saying anything officially, given that radio silence I had gotten when I expressed I was open to returning, as long as it was run by the members first. It kinda pissed me off, and this coming out kinda annoyed me too, cause it feels like the mod team is playing with that by revoking it.

 

I doubt it's intentional. But it leaves me with a bitter feeling in my mouth. I'll return if the members want me, but I don't think it's fair to put me right into an election with other people when I had the position and an offer to return same as Dad did. So please, leave me out of the election. If I return at a later date, great, but this just feels kinda scummy and unfair to me.

[Halubaris Maphotika]

I'm going to add onto this.

 

I'm not participating in the election myself.

 

That's not a maybe thing, that's not an if thing. I'm... A little bothered. It definitely feels like the return offer I had was kinda revoked without saying anything officially, given that radio silence I had gotten when I expressed I was open to returning, as long as it was run by the members first. It kinda pissed me off, and this coming out kinda annoyed me too, cause it feels like the mod team is playing with that by revoking it.

 

I doubt it's intentional. But it leaves me with a bitter feeling in my mouth. I'll return if the members want me, but I don't think it's fair to put me right into an election with other people when I had the position and an offer to return same as Dad did. So please, leave me out of the election. If I return at a later date, great, but this just feels kinda scummy and unfair to me.

Plans change. Sometimes return offers turn into something else.

 

That's the nature of the position, nobody is entitled to it, regardless of whether they were "offered" it beforehand.

[Yui]

Plans change. Sometimes return offers turn into something else.

 

That's the nature of the position, nobody is entitled to it, regardless of whether they were "offered" it beforehand.

I think the point Birdie's making is that if her return offer was warped into an election, which it shouldn't be in the first place, she should at least be informed about it. And if it isn't, she should at least be filled in that this election has no standing on her return offer so that it doesn't look like it became that.

[Dad]

I'm going to add onto this.

 

I'm not participating in the election myself.

 

That's not a maybe thing, that's not an if thing. I'm... A little bothered. It definitely feels like the return offer I had was kinda revoked without saying anything officially, given that radio silence I had gotten when I expressed I was open to returning, as long as it was run by the members first. It kinda pissed me off, and this coming out kinda annoyed me too, cause it feels like the mod team is playing with that by revoking it.

 

I doubt it's intentional. But it leaves me with a bitter feeling in my mouth. I'll return if the members want me, but I don't think it's fair to put me right into an election with other people when I had the position and an offer to return same as Dad did. So please, leave me out of the election. If I return at a later date, great, but this just feels kinda scummy and unfair to me.

 

Let me clear this up, considering this entire election was my idea.

 

It was never intended as a withdrawal to your return.  I came up with this literally on the drop of a dime.  I've personally expressed interest in your return, and so have others on the mod team, so I'm not sure where this is coming from.  If you wanna stay out of it, feel free.  But if you think I did this because "I don't want Birdie back", you would be wrong.