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'd deal with flags as and when they arise, and in particular enforce the policy that users must be welcoming to new users. If a steady escalation of measures needed to be taken to ensure they didn't cause harm, I wouldn't shy away from doing so.

If moderators have a voice regarding site policies I'd use mine to advocate for a return of the "be nice" policy.

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

I don't think another mod would go unilaterally closing questions without good reason so I probably wouldn't get involved. I'd assume good intent and probably ask them about it before anything else.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

I think the site should be more welcoming to new users. From time to time that might mean allowing people to come together here and ask a question, and answer it. In the past there have been some who relentlessly close/delete people's questions, with the apparent aim of preventing people from getting questions answered. They have not yet learnt that doing so is completely unnecessary, because the upvote/downvote functionality is already effective at raising the best content to the top and at moderating poor content out of view.

Often experienced users, they have become jaded by seeing the same thing over and over again year after year, and are failing to empathise with new users, often relative youngsters who may be seeing that question and asking or answering it for the first time. And they are frequently sitting upon a mountain or reputation amassed over a period of years, whose value they may feel is eroded if reputation is given away too easily to users whose volume is high (who they call rep farmers).

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator? [ A similar version of this question was asked in the prior moderator election and led to responses that seemed informative to me. ]

In a prior election I posted something along the following lines, and it is something which I have probably pushed for in meta. I am pleased to see my analysis has been incorporated into the conversation:

Math Stack Exchange exists in a space which extends from "a place where askers and answerers can come together to ask questions and give answers" at one end, and at the other end "a curated library of questions and good answers". I m not looking to revolutionise anything, but I have been vocal in the past that in my view, the site provides the greatest service, towards the FORMER end of this spectrum.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

My greatest weaknesses here are that I'm time short and I'm not a good enough mathematician to have strong opinions on the quality of most answers and questions. But it is likely that my available time will increase in the coming months. I have made minimal and sporadic reviews of the review queue and I can help users with answers in a very narrow niche such as here (different site but indicative: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/474255/ and Why application of Sharkovskii's Theorem to Collatz is wrong? ) and I highlighted some issues on meta once: Is CRUDE healthy?

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator? Answers to this question will: Give insight into the nominee’s knowledge of the site. Current and ongoing site issues are good to know about as that will help the moderator focus their attention to more important problems Provide details on the nominee’s moderation strategies; people have different ways of dealing with problems in the community. Additionally, being aware of how people will deal with community problems will help others imagine/predict how they will act if elected. For example, not communicating with the moderator team about controversial decisions will be a clear sign of poor moderation skills. Be able to be used a test of the nominee’s motivation and willingness to moderate. For example, vague or less detailed answers may signal that the nominee does not fully know what they plan to solve or how to do so.

In general I'll try to make the site more welcoming for new users. I'm not a fan of the downvote without a comment. In fact a good policy change would be to require either a comment in order to downvote, or a +1 on an existing comment so askers can receive better feedback on how to improve their questions.

Pronoun politics etc. is a minefield of intolerance for all organisations right now, as was recently brought to the fore in the dismissal of Monica Cellio and the fallout which followed. There are people on both sides feel strongly that their own opinion of the world is the compulsory de facto standard for everyone else. I personally think we should be as tolerant of each other as we can and I certainly won't be forcing people to tiptoe over eggshells over other people's sensitivities. At least to the extent that I can uphold that spirit of tolerance and remain within the policies of the site. The more we focus on our differences, the more we divide ourselves. I'll do my best to stay out of it and focus on being welcoming to new users, and moving forward on the common ground we're here for - maths questions.

7. There might be people disagreeing with my view. But here is my question for our candidates. First, it needs some motivation. Over my few years at this site, I have noticed the following two trends. Because of these trends, I now spend very little time on the site and am not as enthusiastic about answering questions as I was a few years ago. Decline in the quality of new questions: In the past, I enjoyed looking at new questions and often wondered why I hadn't thought of them before. Most of those questions were formulated out of genuine curiosity. Nowadays, most questions are plain, dry, and resemble typical homework problems. Lack of quality answers: There is a noticeable shortage of people capable of writing quality answers. Knowledge alone is not enough; the willingness to invest time in crafting well-thought-out responses is also important. In the past, I have learned many interesting things by reading answers. Now, I mostly see a bunch of bounty hunters waiting for someone to post simple questions. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

If people want to come together here to ask crappy questions and get them answered then my advice is fine, leave them to it. Low quality content will be handled by the upvote/downvote mechanism. I'd love to see talented answerers give more insightful answers to really interesting questions. If you're in the fortunate position of being able to discriminate what that is then maybe upvote and add a bounty to the great questions, and encourage like-minded users to do the same. Then you and those like you would find it easier to identify and focus upon those areas where your gift of insight can have the greatest impact. I'm sure with a little thought about how interesting content can bubble up to the top better, solutions can be come up with and implemented, assuming the network is willing.

In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Exercise certain privileges which are not afforded to the wider user base.

9. 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 am only a man and therefore I will definitely screw up and get criticised for it more than once and I'll just have to suck it up, make amends where I see fit to do so, and move on - and so will those who it affects.

I think the biggest problem will be people wondering why a moderator is asking such misguided whacko maths questions. I might add a disclaimer to my profile in that regard.

10. 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?

I think I'll bring something different to what the existing moderators bring. In that regard, I'd like to think I will make the moderator team more effective. I don't think how I will be more effective is really a material question to MSE.

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?

First of all, I need to understand the reasons behind that.

The psychology. The frustration.

And from there I can start bringing clarity and peace.

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

I would talk with both the mod and the poster. And give my arguments.

I would also try to improve the question or insist that the user does so.

Having asked a lot of questions I am pretty sure I am capable of it.

I might suggest splitting or simplifying the question to get more insight and more responses.

Or I might suggest to make the question less open.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

I believe " missing context " is often a nonsense or "cheap all-in " argument.

As example sking for a context for integrals makes little sense.

I believe a better motivation or feed back is neccessary.

If a question is not your taste does not mean it is bad beyond repair.

And if a question seems to come out of nowhere, it is still a valid question.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator? [ A similar version of this question was asked in the prior moderator election and led to responses that seemed informative to me. ]

To put is simple : This is not a site for basic homework or wiki knowledge.

We do not make homework or do not provide an alternative for textbooks or wiki.

And we expect some effort.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

It makes me sad if potential good questions are closed that could have been saved and we loose users by it.

Ofcourse they need to put in effort.

But I want to see them motivated and not give up.

I think I could help with that as a mod.

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator? Answers to this question will: Give insight into the nominee’s knowledge of the site. Current and ongoing site issues are good to know about as that will help the moderator focus their attention to more important problems Provide details on the nominee’s moderation strategies; people have different ways of dealing with problems in the community. Additionally, being aware of how people will deal with community problems will help others imagine/predict how they will act if elected. For example, not communicating with the moderator team about controversial decisions will be a clear sign of poor moderation skills. Be able to be used a test of the nominee’s motivation and willingness to moderate. For example, vague or less detailed answers may signal that the nominee does not fully know what they plan to solve or how to do so.

Ofcourse communication is important.

We should respect all users that themselves respect the community.

We should avoid situations like the Monica affair.

Privacy should be respected.

As said before we should give good feedback to questions that could be improved.

We should also take into account that not everyone has english as a primary language.

AI is something I consider a serious threath.

Too quote Einstein : Things should be explained as simple as possible but not any simpler.

I think newcomers might have a hard time with questions because more and more kinda duplicates will occur.

7. There might be people disagreeing with my view. But here is my question for our candidates. First, it needs some motivation. Over my few years at this site, I have noticed the following two trends. Because of these trends, I now spend very little time on the site and am not as enthusiastic about answering questions as I was a few years ago. Decline in the quality of new questions: In the past, I enjoyed looking at new questions and often wondered why I hadn't thought of them before. Most of those questions were formulated out of genuine curiosity. Nowadays, most questions are plain, dry, and resemble typical homework problems. Lack of quality answers: There is a noticeable shortage of people capable of writing quality answers. Knowledge alone is not enough; the willingness to invest time in crafting well-thought-out responses is also important. In the past, I have learned many interesting things by reading answers. Now, I mostly see a bunch of bounty hunters waiting for someone to post simple questions. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

Good communication, feedback and psychological insight will help alot.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

They solve problems that are beyond mathematics !

They can be diplomats or law enforces. It depends.

9. 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 think it will be more intimiding to some, so I try not to be intimidating.

10. 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?

Im young and I have a slightly different view on things.

I am unlike most high rated users more of a question person, which I believe will help.

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 make it known to them the issue at hand. If their behaviour doesn't change, then it would be grounds for further action, like a short suspension.

If the arguments are the most common problem, then their ill-temper may be grounds for further action, regardless of their valuable answers; there is no place for excessive anger here. Flags, on the other hand, could be for a number of reasons, so I would treat them on a case-by-case basis.

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

Bring it to the community's attention in meta with my reasons for why I would undo the other mod's work, the same way ordinary users would.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

I am a firm advocate of context in questions. I would encourage a stricter approach to moderation on this point.

When it comes to hint answers, I would help foster the community to promote the use of spoilers with hints, thereby building a culture of depth in answers.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfil dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator? [ A similar version of this question was asked in the prior moderator election and led to responses that seemed informative to me. ]

My view on the primary purpose of MSE leans towards it being "a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics". Our greatest asset, to me, is our regular users, whose commitment & expertise are invaluable.

One point at which this clashes with the knowledge repository aspect of the site is in, for example, answers to solution verification posts: I am inclined to be in favour of tailored responses when duplicates of the question already exist; however, if such answers add little or nothing to the knowledge base, I might go against this.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

I engage primarily with the group theory tag, in which I have "the golden hammer": I can close practically any question tagged with group theory single-handedly, and so I have had a taste of what moderation at that level is like. I have many review badges too.

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator? Answers to this question will: Give insight into the nominee’s knowledge of the site. Current and ongoing site issues are good to know about as that will help the moderator focus their attention to more important problems Provide details on the nominee’s moderation strategies; people have different ways of dealing with problems in the community. Additionally, being aware of how people will deal with community problems will help others imagine/predict how they will act if elected. For example, not communicating with the moderator team about controversial decisions will be a clear sign of poor moderation skills. Be able to be used a test of the nominee’s motivation and willingness to moderate. For example, vague or less detailed answers may signal that the nominee does not fully know what they plan to solve or how to do so.

My understanding is that people are far too willing to answer poor quality questions. I will endeavour to help ensure such things do not pay in the long run.

7. There might be people disagreeing with my view. But here is my question for our candidates. First, it needs some motivation. Over my few years at this site, I have noticed the following two trends. Because of these trends, I now spend very little time on the site and am not as enthusiastic about answering questions as I was a few years ago. Decline in the quality of new questions: In the past, I enjoyed looking at new questions and often wondered why I hadn't thought of them before. Most of those questions were formulated out of genuine curiosity. Nowadays, most questions are plain, dry, and resemble typical homework problems. Lack of quality answers: There is a noticeable shortage of people capable of writing quality answers. Knowledge alone is not enough; the willingness to invest time in crafting well-thought-out responses is also important. In the past, I have learned many interesting things by reading answers. Now, I mostly see a bunch of bounty hunters waiting for someone to post simple questions. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

Much like my answer to a question above, I will try to foster the culture of the site in favour of such things.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

The community seems to do a lot of the moderation itself already and I commend them and the current mods for their ability to do so. Moderators, I believe, help settle disputes, resolve flags, tidy up comments sections, and I'm sure there are many things even the regulars don't know about behind the scenes.

9. 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 would be a huge responsibility that I will step up to to the best of my ability; I would be honoured.

10. 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 is a plethora of tools available to the moderator that a high reputation/trusted user, like myself, does not have; not least is the ability to summarise, edit, and relocate comments - and I believe I could have a positive impact on such things.

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?

Sometimes users get into disagreements and discuss them, but may escalate into arguments with name calling, accusations, etc, and many comment flags.

I can just delete such comments as it is uninvasive and gives others a reminder to remain civil. Sometimes, most comments are just from the argument. In this case comments are purged and constructive/helpful ones kept. I can leave a reminder to stay civil too.

Of course, if the behavior continues, I can discuss the reasons with them in a private room. Additionally, they may bring issues, like harassment, being valuable to prevent it next time. Finally, or if the comments were abusive beforehand, I would send warning message and then increasing suspensions so they cool down and reflect.

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

Well intentioned people can disagree, even moderators, so private moderator communication is helpful. I will ping and ask why they did the action and politely say why I disagree. Hopefully, we can review our points and compromise a decision.

However, when we do not, additional members from the moderation team can go in and share their ideas about it. If me and the moderator with whom I disagree have strong contentions, then we would let the rest of moderation team decide. This is so that our potential biases do not interfere and a fair decision is made.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

Including work in questions should be deemphasized and other context emphasized.

I have noticed many new users confused regarding including work/an attempt just stating “I tried _____ theorem, but I then I was stuck”. Later, when asked to show it, they are confused thinking they already did. Also, some just state it to keep their question open not knowing why it’s important. It is easily done and does not say what the asker already knows. Therefore, guidelines should further clarify writing out work.

If they still cannot or are unsure how to include work, then guidelines should focus on other context. For example, motivation for why it is interesting or why they want to solve it. Additionally, writing the question’s source could give the actual math problem the asker wants to solve.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator? [ A similar version of this question was asked in the prior moderator election and led to responses that seemed informative to me.]

For me, the purpose is collaborating to create a learning resource from which people’s problems are solved. Especially, the site helps thousands/millions of people to learn without logging in. For example, visuals/detailed explanations help other more deeply understand theorems. This site is not just for expanding knowledge, but also to teach students that are stuck. Contributors give step-by-step solutions and various explanations than in class helping to clarify.

Specialist help adds to that collection as there are many users that can help answer thanks to the variety of users. Future readers access it too and learn advanced concepts. The variety of quality knowledge is a huge advantage of the site. As such, useful specialist knowledge does not clash with the site’s purpose.

However, there are highly individualized questions with little context only on their importance, only benefiting the asker. A lot have been asked many, many times. To prevent this, we must maintain high quality and help improve low quality questions. If not, they should be separated and users should keep themselves from answering, to promote site quality. More details are in question 6.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

I enjoy review queues with over 1200 regular reviews and 2000 close votes. When possible, I comment about how to further develop the post and usually edit for formatting, clarity, and removing unnecessary/mean content with over 300 edits. I often flag low quality posts, spam, rude comments, and strange behavior like editing conflicts to clean up the site. I visit meta almost daily and contribute mostly via comments, some on questionable (and now deleted) posts with some questions/answers.

Next, I regularly visit the Math Mods’ Office sometimes leaving messages about problematic behavior. On top of that, I contribute to CURED pretty regularly, learning more about site standards and indicating rude edits, posting patterns, and other anomalies (most of which taken care of and thus helpful). To help site quality, I also close/delete from there questions.

Finally, about a month ago, I have used the contact feature to report a data explorer security exploit with issue fixed only about a day later. I would give more details, but the Stack Exchange team has decided to keep details mostly hidden.

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator?

A recent one is handling old questions now not up to site standards. There are debates/various opinions in meta about whether to close or let them be with mixed results in review queues. I put forward that such questions should be mostly left alone unless made active as they now have more exposure. It is up to the community to moderate them, but time is better spent on newer, relevant questions and not purposely looking for them. Many were popular due to just giving a hard/“impressive” problem, but leave no deep understanding of the topic and contribute less to the site’s purpose as a learning resource, like in question 4. As a moderator team, we can add it into site practices and I can answer on meta about it. If needed, I can cast the last close vote too.

Next, even with Enforcement of Quality Standards (EoQS) and high reputation users suspended for its violation, they keep answering problem-only/duplicate questions with many upvoted/accepted. In turn they quickly gain reputation, regardless of question quality, and there is a failure to community moderate. I would continue clearing EoQS flags identifying problem-only questions, those really lacking context/details, and duplicates asked many times, answered by high reputation users warning or suspending them if the behavior persists. To prevent it, I would encourage more context partly by guiding questions. I can cast the fifth close vote or, if it is very low quality, a binding close vote and the fifth reopen vote after improvement. Thus, question quality goes up and EoQS violations go down. CURED is also useful for closing, reopening, or deleting (for those with an accepted answer preventing auto-deletion) combined with the diamond for more users to see them.

7. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

I think there is not a huge decline, but we can improve some. Question 3 addresses it by changing some guidelines for context on questions. In short, many new users are confused by “including work” on new questions and it should revised for clarity and other types of context should be emphasized. Additionally, answerers generally want to put in the amount of effort the asker has put in. Therefore, by increasing quality, answerers will be more motivated to increase their answer quality.

As for increasing answer quality, the first way is using CURED (a chatroom for closing/reopening, (un)deleting, and editing) is an asset for increasing answer quality. I can remind other users to participate in the room to edit answers in need of improvement and reopen/delete them if needed. Also, guidance for users on quality standards and site policy can be given here which will help others understand site curation. This will remove poorer answers while leaving higher quality ones.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

I believe that moderators deal with scenarios that could hurt the community and are reporters to Stack Exchange. They can intervene when the Code of Conduct is broken and during exceptional scenarios like suspicious voting and talk to, warn, or even suspend a user. I think in community emergencies or complex sock puppetry, they are responders by contacting Stack Exchange first.

Mostly, they maintain quality of and clean up the site. I will deal with many flags about problematic comments, posts, and users. This janitorial task is one of most crucial in my moderation where I can destroy spam. I have a few hours to can spend daily and think I will enjoy handling flags.

9. 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 try to avoid situations, like very heated debates, ending in regret and angry comments that would prevent me from being a moderator. I try not to post what I do not want my name to be connected to and having a having a diamond will be a bigger responsibility. It would be similar to being accepted to a job; you need to use your position professionally. With a diamond, I will be more careful with what I say while still being patient and firm in tense situations.

10. 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?

Binding close votes on very low quality questions save time for other users. Binding delete votes/spam flags are used for removing appalling posts, but sparingly as regular users cannot undo them.

I enjoy analyzing patterns of problematic usage, like very similar question styles indicating shared accounts or secretly done actions, like editing in revenge statements post-deletion and quickly deleted angry comments. Unfortunately, “access to moderator tools”, and logically privileges after it, have limitations and diamond powers have few to more deeply understand the problematic behaviors. Finally, users listen more to moderator, who has more authority, and remind others to be civil.

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?

If mod tools allow it and other mods also see this user as a problem commenter, putting them on a comment cooldown might help them reflect on what the problem right then and there is.

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

I feel like I personally would take a close look at the post that was closed/deleted and if necessary, I could edit the post to make it better and then (if closed) I could unilaterally decide to reopen it, however if necessary first consult the rest of the mod team. Or otherwise (if deleted) I could maybe message the rest of the mod team to ask what specifically about the post made it have to be deleted and then cast an undelete vote if I felt that it was necessary.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

Regarding big-list

IMO except in rare cases (and those cases would be handled on a case-by-case basis), maybe have big-list be more for MO as IMO their policy on open-ended questions is a bit more lenient than MSE's.

Regarding proof-verification

Keep this, keep this, keep this. Proofs are a part of mathematics that is useful in many different branches to verify/disprove results. Also, students get stuck with proof writing sometimes. Maybe something doesn't make sense to them, so now where to ask? And in my honest opinion, it should be here, where we should be able to give quality feedback on the proof.

Regarding hint answers

They should be allowed, but only if the hint is a quality hint (at least 100-150 characters and gives a good starting point) and not just 30-75 characters to get around the minimum 30 character limit.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator? [ A similar version of this question was asked in the prior moderator election and led to responses that seemed informative to me. ]

I feel like this is sort of a trick question - although I could be wrong - because I feel like individual help does help build said repository because we are still fulfilling the goal of building the repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

Aside from my ~2-3 month hiatus, I have been (and plan to keep doing so on all sites on which I have access to review queues) fairly active in the review queues mainly from time to time on Puzzling.SE and plan to downvote/flag questions/answers/comments when necessary.

I also plan to be much more active mainly on MSE Meta then I am now, because as a mod, I will have to plan to interact more and more with my community who I am supposed to keep engaged through

1. Solving problems on Meta

2. Making plans to fix those problems

3. Following through with those plans

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator? Answers to this question will: Give insight into the nominee’s knowledge of the site. Current and ongoing site issues are good to know about as that will help the moderator focus their attention to more important problems Provide details on the nominee’s moderation strategies; people have different ways of dealing with problems in the community. Additionally, being aware of how people will deal with community problems will help others imagine/predict how they will act if elected. For example, not communicating with the moderator team about controversial decisions will be a clear sign of poor moderation skills. Be able to be used a test of the nominee’s motivation and willingness to moderate. For example, vague or less detailed answers may signal that the nominee does not fully know what they plan to solve or how to do so.

Right now, the most pressing issue is probably AI-generated/plagiarized content. Due to how easy it is to create it, it could be that at this very moment said content is being posted at this moment and unless we thoroughly checked every post, we simply would not be able to tell.

However, AI-gen content is most likely less of an issue since there are more obvious tell-tale signs than there are with plagiarized content - like with AI, we can very easily tell most of the time that something seems off about the flow of the post or straight up giving incorrect information.

Although with plagiarized content, we can use a checker to see if something has been plagiarized. Examples of this include Grammerly's plagiarism checker or with this other plagiarism checker. However, I do feel like extreme caution should still always be taken when checking posts for AI-generated/plagiarized content.

7. There might be people disagreeing with my view. But here is my question for our candidates. First, it needs some motivation. Over my few years at this site, I have noticed the following two trends. Because of these trends, I now spend very little time on the site and am not as enthusiastic about answering questions as I was a few years ago. Decline in the quality of new questions: In the past, I enjoyed looking at new questions and often wondered why I hadn't thought of them before. Most of those questions were formulated out of genuine curiosity. Nowadays, most questions are plain, dry, and resemble typical homework problems. Lack of quality answers: There is a noticeable shortage of people capable of writing quality answers. Knowledge alone is not enough; the willingness to invest time in crafting well-thought-out responses is also important. In the past, I have learned many interesting things by reading answers. Now, I mostly see a bunch of bounty hunters waiting for someone to post simple questions. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

Decline in the quality of new questions/answers

I can definitely see that. Just take a look at the first three questions that I ever posted on here. (all 10K+ links) If you are able to take a look, you'll see that not only were all 3 low quality, but also one was an exact dupe of the question before it, posted exactly one hour before the other.

What I'm trying to say here is that I can see the problem with people not being able to take the time to learn how to format their questions because I've had that same problem before.

In fact, when it comes to answers, (you 10K+ users are free to dig around in my deleted answers) I also sort of have had the same problem in the past where I was not able to take in the question entirely to answer it properly, and that is probably where the answer issue comes from also.

Possible steps to be taken to improve the quality of new questions

Suggestions:

• Introducing the AskWizard from SO

• Longer wait to post questions/answers for new new users (<25 rep users compared to <10 rep users right now)

How this could be implemented:

AskWizard from SO:

• This could probably be asked as a feature-request on MetaSE to ask if this could be implemented on MSE (i.e. if there was a way that it could be implemented on other sites other than SO), and if it could, we could have that be a tool that new new users are required to use. Also, we could have it be optional after new user restrictions are lifted as to help users who don't have the new user restrictions but haven't been on the site for some time.

Longer wait to post questions/answers for <25 rep users:

• IIRC I have read from meta posts from across SE that mods could change the amount of reputation needed to unlock certain privileges, so my thinking was that maybe (with mod team approval of course) we could possibly raise the amount of rep needed to remove new user restrictions.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

They make sure that they keep their community engaged while also making sure that the community is in check.

9. 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?

Personally I don't think that this would affect me too much, since I already distinguish myself as mod on subreddits I moderate. (Such as r/foundthemathematician and r/suddenlyMajorasMask)

10. 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?

I feel like it would give me a lot more knowledge of what to expect when it comes to moderating large online communities/forums which I could apply to communities I mod on speedrun.com, Reddit, and Discord, and possibly others in the future.)

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] Initially, I would give the user a warning. In the event the user persists, then I suspend the user for a week, a month, or a year, depending on the level of rudeness.

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

[Answer 2 here] As a first step, I will discuss this with other moderators. If they don't agree with me, then I will try to edit the question or suggest the user to post a new question with a clear logic.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

[Answer 3 here] In the first place, I will change the policy that allows moderators to suspend users without providing a warning. And secondly, downvoting should not be done to those who are new users. They should be motivated and inspired to pose more good questions instead of being discouraged. Thirdly, users with high reputation should not be suspended for long periods, such as a year or two. High reputation users should be respected in MSE.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator? [ A similar version of this question was asked in the prior moderator election and led to responses that seemed informative to me. ]

[Answer 4 here]For me, MSE fosters an inclusive learning and collaborative environment for anyone interested in mathematics, whether they are students, educators, or professionals. My suggestion as a moderator is that the user should just not answer a question if they don't know the answer or aren't interested in the topic. It is unacceptable to downvote the person asking the question.Downvotes should not be allowed on new user posts because if new users receive more downvotes, they will automatically be suspended for 3-4 months without any intervention from the Moderator.Maths stack exchange's primary goal is to create a library of detailed answers to mathematics questions and to foster learning, and to facilitate understanding and collaboration between new and experienced users

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

[Answer 5 here]No involvement in moderation issues

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator? Answers to this question will: Give insight into the nominee’s knowledge of the site. Current and ongoing site issues are good to know about as that will help the moderator focus their attention to more important problems Provide details on the nominee’s moderation strategies; people have different ways of dealing with problems in the community. Additionally, being aware of how people will deal with community problems will help others imagine/predict how they will act if elected. For example, not communicating with the moderator team about controversial decisions will be a clear sign of poor moderation skills. Be able to be used a test of the nominee’s motivation and willingness to moderate. For example, vague or less detailed answers may signal that the nominee does not fully know what they plan to solve or how to do so.

[Answer 6 here] One of the most pressing problems on MSE is that some users are treated in a condescending, arrogant, and rude manner. As a moderator, I will respect all users. I will also not discourage any user. I will try to motivate even if the user posts a less impactful question or answer. I will try not to suspend the high reputation user as much as possible.

7. There might be people disagreeing with my view. But here is my question for our candidates. First, it needs some motivation. Over my few years at this site, I have noticed the following two trends. Because of these trends, I now spend very little time on the site and am not as enthusiastic about answering questions as I was a few years ago. Decline in the quality of new questions: In the past, I enjoyed looking at new questions and often wondered why I hadn't thought of them before. Most of those questions were formulated out of genuine curiosity. Nowadays, most questions are plain, dry, and resemble typical homework problems. Lack of quality answers: There is a noticeable shortage of people capable of writing quality answers. Knowledge alone is not enough; the willingness to invest time in crafting well-thought-out responses is also important. In the past, I have learned many interesting things by reading answers. Now, I mostly see a bunch of bounty hunters waiting for someone to post simple questions. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

[Answer 7 here]The quality of new questions can be improved by giving references to users, which will help them gain some understanding and improve the quality of the question. In addition, the user who answers the question should include the diagram if the answer contains a diagram. By visualizing the diagram, we can better understand the answer.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

[Answer 8 here]A moderator improves the quality of the site's questions and answers. A moderator is responsible for responding to flagged posts and maintaining community standards.

9. 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 9 here]My goal is to always stay humble. I will not misuse the diamond tag or take pride in it

10. 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 10 here]I moderate to ensure that the conversation is fair, respectful, and informative, not to express my own opinions.

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?

This depends greatly on the nature of the arguments or flags. If someone is being outright abusive, they should be warned or even immediately (temporarily or permanently) suspended. I would not delete their whole profile, with all their answers, but would most happily delete abusive comments and so on - of course. In a more realistic case, they would be committing (or being accused of) minor offences and the arguments would be small-scale bickering. In that instance, I would talk to them first; not placing myself on either side of the fence, but alerting them that they are bringing disruption with them, even if that's not necessarily their intent, and if it willingly continues then they may face further consequences (e.g. temporary suspension, chat-banning,...). I might judge that they are doing nothing wrong at all. It, of course, depends. But in all cases, I would confer with other moderators too unless we are in extremely clear-cut territory.

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

I would gently "challenge" them, directly. "Respectfully, I have to disagree with this particular decision..." and so on; I would not undo their decision without having talked about it. Respect for fellow moderators is obviously important. But, if I feel things are wrongfully deleted/closed (as I am known to sometimes do!) I will happily verbally question that - and if I feel the deleted item has particular value, I will vouch for it - but I would not undo their decision unless a majority of the moderators agreed with me.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large.

The most concrete thing that comes to mind: I would want to not exactly change the enforcement of quality standards policy, but soften its implementation in some cases. I know many feel like it is not implemented enough, and that is also true. But it is ludicrous that volunteers who have given so much to this community should be suspended on these grounds; it is also ludicrous that new, well-meaning users will benefit from having immediate downvoting and closure as their first impression of the site. But let me be clear: I would by and large do nothing different. Cases where I feel standards (which are, you know, standardised, and not always fit for purpose in fringe cases) are too harshly imposed are rare. I only get passionate about instances where I feel delete-voters (e.g.) have not stopped to care for the human behind the question, and really see if there is something of value in the question or any future answer.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator?

For me, the primary purpose of MSE is to be the internet's most accessible and high quality mathematical skill base. If you are to be a Q&A, then you automatically leave yourself open to people wanting specialist help - you know, asking the Qs. So while I understand the question, I slightly reject its premise. For me, good questions are those where the original poster and all future readers interested in the topic may benefit; good answers do the same. Our site has as much value as a human community as it does as a vast encyclopedia. I did not grow to love MSE because I knelt in awe at the number of high quality answers... I grew to love the people, and their helpfulness. These clash, in my view, less often than people think. "There are no original thoughts": watching the specific doubt of another being addressed is good for you, too, because you may well have that doubt at some point. Though, perhaps not good for you, the reader, specifically, because you may well be quite knowledgeable in that topic already: the clash is most keenly perceived by those among us who are already "expert" and experienced with the site, but we shouldn't forget the bias we have.

So as moderator I would broadly toe the usual line, discouraging questions which are too specific to a person and closing lazy questions. I would however be glad to help anyone asking in good faith, and ask the community to do the same, even if the question seems small or 'uninteresting' (to the knowledgeable ones); there is pedagogical value, future and present, in many a basic question. Also, we could make the "does it have future value?" quibble with niche, high-quality questions - but many niche questions can be very interesting, and we should be proud of our ability to be able to answer technically expert, niche questions; yet these often receive very few votes and little attention. These count as seeking "specialist, individual help" but definitely have great value for us. I'm considering options for promoting these kinds of questions; perhaps, as we keep meta posts for undelete requests and so on, we might keep a community watch on niche, expertise demanding questions; I'm not sure the 'search for currently unanswered' or tag-searching features completely do the job.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role? (I asked this last election here.)

I haven't used the review queue system much as an ordinary user; I would, of course, as moderator since it would now be my job. I tend to engage with these more personally, just closing, flagging (or disputing closures of) posts as I find them in the wild. As moderator I would also be much more active than I am currently on community chat.

6. An effective question has always been: What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator?

The two most pressing issues for me are: public relations/openness to newcomers, and the habit we seem to have of not voting for questions. Whenever I see a well-written question, especially if it is clearly a hard question, I will upvote it - even if I have no interest in the answer. I notice people tend to give interested comments under questions without voting for them; excellent questions often receive dozens of views and fewer than two votes. This is a problem not because the questioner needs the ego-boost of more votes, but because when we don't vote for questions they don't get promoted so much by the site, and they are forgotten: and then we have failed, for our service has failed to give attention to a genuinely high-quality question (meanwhile, any old integral post immediately gets 7 votes...). I've said a bit about how I'd address either already (the former just requires, I think, more willingness to give benefit of the doubt and good faith, helping newcomers with their posts and saying "in future, do this..." - that kind of thing) - for the second issue, I'm thinking we could do with several community-maintained lists of niche and forgotten questions, but haven't finalised ideas about how it would work.

There might be people disagreeing with my view. But here is my question for our candidates. First, it needs some motivation. Over my few years at this site, I have noticed the following two trends. Because of these trends, I now spend very little time on the site and am not as enthusiastic about answering questions as I was a few years ago. Decline in the quality of new questions: In the past, I enjoyed looking at new questions and often wondered why I hadn't thought of them before. Most of those questions were formulated out of genuine curiosity. Nowadays, most questions are plain, dry, and resemble typical homework problems. Lack of quality answers: There is a noticeable shortage of people capable of writing quality answers. Knowledge alone is not enough; the willingness to invest time in crafting well-thought-out responses is also important. In the past, I have learned many interesting things by reading answers. Now, I mostly see a bunch of bounty hunters waiting for someone to post simple questions. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

I would not say there is much of a decline in the quality of new questions, but I've only been here for a few years. I see many questions daily that perhaps don't thrill me specifically but clearly are good, 'hard', and of value to anyone interested in that particular topic; their main sin is being niche, rather than of poor quality. We just have to promote interesting questions better (vote! people). For the lack of quality answers, I would say any answers to difficult or subtle questions do tend to be good; the phenomenon of "bounty hunters" (bear in mind, there is value in helping people with "basic" questions, so "bounty hunter" is sometimes a fair accusation, sometimes not) giving simple answers is one I have noticed too, but (1) we should not discourage simple questions (2) if the challenging and more interesting questions were promoted more, you would see more good answers. It is of course possible for a hard question to be answered correctly but uninterestingly/pedagogically poorly, but this is rare. Our more expert volunteers are quite good at presenting ideas. Besides, we can always add another answer if we think a teaching point has been missed (which I sometimes do). Don't mistake seeing a "green tick" on a question as a sign it is totally answered and no longer improvable upon.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Mostly, hopefully, not that much (as the Stack Exchange official guidelines suggest). One would hope abusive incidents are rare; but we handle them if they occur. The community is quite good (.. maybe a little too eager..) at closing and deleting questions themselves, so the strong arm of the law tends not to be needed so much. Moderators just have more authority, and they can make public announcements with that authority.

9. 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 feel completely fine about that. I will not change my profile or any past comments, meta posts, etc. I love this site, and have little to hide from it. If people are embarrassed, say, when they see my old 'baby' questions as I first began to cut my teeth on university mathematics while still in school - with the moderator diamond attached - then shame on them.

10. 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?

Moderators can instantly delete, close and undelete, reopen; as a trusted user, I often felt my reopen/undelete votes were ineffective, at best very slow to make a change, since we require several other members to weigh in. Moderators can also make Meta posts or assertions with more confidence and be more supported by the community. No one needs to listen to me, but they might be more likely to listen to a moderator.

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?

It depends on the circumstances. I see the moderator's job as, first, to protect the health of the community, and second, if possible, teach users how to contribute positively, where needed.

In more detail, I'd start by reviewing the nature of the flags and past communications with the user. If the flags are unconcerning (e.g., comments marked 'no longer needed'), then no action is needed. On the other hand, if the user has a pattern of disrespectful or abusive communication, then I would take action. That's not OK: we can't have people on the site exposed to disrespectful or rude communications. The appropriate action would depend on the circumstances, but might involved handing off to another moderator who has experience with this user, sending a private mod-message to provide feedback on norms and expectations on this site, issuing a suspension, or in some cases reaching out to the user privately (in a private chatroom). I have experience handling these types of situations on CS.SE, so I know that different approaches are needed with different users.

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

In most cases, I'd defer to the other mod and move on to spend my time elsewhere. The site is active enough that there are plenty of other ways I can contribute positively. If it bothered me, I'd reach out to them in the private moderator chatroom to try to learn more from them about what I might be missing.

3. If you had to change any of math.se's community-specific policies and precedents, what would you choose, and what would you hope to achieve by this change? Here, "community-specific" refers to practices only in place on math.se, not the network at large. Some examples would be how we define context, how we enforce against lack of context (both asking and answering), community norms around big-list and proof-verification, "hint" answers, etc. I propose this question because it shows the candidate's knowledge and opinion of local policy, and provides insight on what they hope to achieve using their influence as a moderator.

It's not my place to change community policies. They are set by the community. I have all sorts of opinions about community policies, but it's not my place to use a position as moderator to change them.

If I could invite awareness around one pattern, it is asking questions that will be relevant to many people. One thing I've noticed on Math.SE is that many questions are very specific: e.g., how do I solve this particular exercise. It's my sense that many of these questions could be generalized to something that is useful to a broader audience, e.g., asking about techniques for solving a class of problems. It's challenging, but I see an opportunity for members of the community to formulate a more general question and post it as a new question. Sometimes it seems like we get a little caught up in debates about whether to close or not close a question, when there is a third way: e.g., post a new more useful version of the question (and perhaps even close the existing one as a duplicate of it). I also wish that Math.SE culture was a bit more accepting of edits that improve the quality of a question, though I do recognize there are good reasons for the current culture.

4. Math.SE seems to, in practice, fulfill dual purposes: to be a repository of mathematical knowledge in a Q&A format, and a place for people to get specialist, individual help with mathematics. Often these purposes align, but sometimes they clash. Which do you see as the primary purpose of MSE? What influence do you anticipate this might have on your actions as moderator?

I personally resonate more with the "repository of mathematical knowledge" mission. That is the mission that I am most motivated to spend my energy supporting. I do also want to help people learn concepts, make mathematics more widely accessible, and disseminate useful information to people who need them.

That's my personal bias. I recognize that others have other priorities and motivations, and I respect that.

I doubt my views will have much impact on my actions as moderators. My views will influence the perspective I come from when posting on Meta, and might make me slightly more likely to close low-quality questions that are flagged by the community. But most of the day-to-day activity of a moderator is unexciting, mundane "grunt work" that doesn't touch too much on these controversies: e.g., handling flags of comments that are no longer needed, dealing with rude or disrespectful interactions, handling sock puppet voting and question ban evasion, and so on.

5. What has your involvement in moderation issues looked like in the past? For example, have you helped maintain particular tags, been active in review queues, or provided help on meta? How do you see this changing as you step in to a more official role?

I have tended to focus on content quality. I have posted comments suggesting how to improve questions and edits to directly improve questions. I also have helped explain site policies on Meta.

As far as tags, as someone who currently works in computer science, I have tended to focus on tags and topics on topics that I know well: numerical algorithms, discrete math, elementary combinatorics, solving systems of equations, statistics, etc.

6. What is/are the most pressing issue(s) on Mathematics Stack Exchange and how will you address it/them as a moderator?

I think the top challenge for the site is retain and attract experts and answerers. Another important challenge is question quality -- which I believe is intertwined with attracting experts.

I'm going to push back on the premise. Moderators have only a modest degree of influence on the most pressing issues -- and it's not really their job to solve these difficult issues. Moderators' job is to keep the lights on, to handle the tedious but necessary gruntwork, and enable the community to do its thing. I believe the most pressing issues have to be addressed by the community. Moderators can have influence by advocating for directions that they think will be positive for the community, but this influence comes to a large extent from the persuasiveness of their arguments, rather than from their position as a moderator.

7. What steps can be taken to improve the quality of new questions and encourage expert users to invest time in providing well-crafted answers on the site?

I think the single most valuable thing that would improve the quality of questions is to seek to make them useful to a broader group of people. I often see questions about some very specific problem (e.g., solve some exercise for me, compute the Taylor series of a particular function, etc.). I don't know whether anyone other than the original poster is ever going to have exactly the same problem again. I think it would be more useful to consider how it can be generalized to be useful to a broader audience. For example, sometimes one can ask for strategies for solving a class of problems. I recognize this takes work and is non-trivial.

I have been persuaded by the Stack Exchange philosophy and motto of optimizing for pearls, not sand, i.e., focusing on what we can do to encourage great questions and great answers.

8. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

I view moderators as analogous to butlers: their job is to serve the community, try to anticipate the needs/preferences of the community, and act on their behalf. I also like the metaphor of moderators as janitors: they clean up some of the unpleasant trash, so the rest of the community doesn't have to be exposed to it. There's a good discussion here.

9. 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 would be a privilege to serve, and I would seek to be careful how I communicate in light of the diamond that will be attached. If there are any concerns, I'm glad to hear them and seek to address them. I do make mistakes and I'm glad to hear about them and grateful for the opportunity to correct them and try to set things right.

10. 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?

I anticipate a few specific ways that I will be well-suited to contribute:

As a moderator at CS.SE, I have gained experience at using the Stack Exchange tools to track down sock puppet rings, and I think I'm good at it, so I think I'll be able to help with that as needed. This requires moderator tools.

I am willing to deal with the tedious task of handling comment flags. I find it satisfying and I think I can make a contribution there. Of course, that can only be done by moderators.

Moderators have tools to address disrespectful, impolite, or abusive behavior on the site, and I think I can do a good job at that as well. I think I am reasonably good at detailed and diplomatic communications to explain our expectations on this site and how we'd like to see people adjust their behavior in the future.