4
$\begingroup$

I'm withdrawing from the election. I entered initially because I was concerned that we didn't have enough candidates who had a history of participation in the site and an adequate background in physics. This is clearly no longer the case, so I don't need to be a candidate.

It should be pretty obvious which candidates have a philosophy of moderation which is similar to mine. If you were considering voting for me, please vote for them instead.

I doubt anyone is concerned, but no, I'm not leaving the site. I'll continue participating. And I will be more active in the future in flagging unconstructive questions and homework, cleaning up ones with potential, and helping to educate new users about our social norms. Keeping this site healthy is everyone's responsibility, not just the moderators.

Finally, while I have the microphone, a comment about the 'community vs outsiders' issue that's arisen during this election. I think SE's employee's do genuinely have the best interests of the community at heart; their incentives are aligned with ours. It's not completely clear to me that the same can be said for the volunteer moderators from other sites who've shown up during the Maimon-LeQuella kerfluffle. But if you're worried about this sort of thing, the only recourse you have is to vote and continue participating.

$\endgroup$
9
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ OK, it's kind of too bad as there were a number of things I liked about your candidacy. But it's your call :-) Make sure to let the SE team know! (they will probably see this post too) $\endgroup$
    – David Z Mod
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 15:59
  • $\begingroup$ What's the correct way to contact them? $\endgroup$
    – user1504
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 16:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @DavidZaslavsky Yep, saw it and passed it along. Sorry to hear you wish to withdraw, user1504, but I respect the decision and I'm glad to see that you're still going to be around. $\endgroup$
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 16:02
  • $\begingroup$ @AnnaLear: I confess that my impression of the external volunteer moderators did play some role. I think the success of MathOverflow in comparson to the SE2.0 sites pretty clearly demonstrates that SE sites grow best when they are free of outside interference. $\endgroup$
    – user1504
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 16:05
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @user1504 well, several SE2.0 sites (Mathematics, Arqade, etc.) are doing quite well, perhaps better than MO in terms of traffic. We can discuss this elsewhere if you like. (Physics Chat probably) $\endgroup$
    – David Z Mod
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 16:08
  • $\begingroup$ @user1504 sry to hear that since I just voted for you... :P $\endgroup$
    – Vineet Menon
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 17:00
  • $\begingroup$ @VineetMenon: You can change your vote, at this point in the election. $\endgroup$
    – user1504
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 17:03
  • $\begingroup$ @user1504: naah! I'll just let my vote die in der.. $\endgroup$
    – Vineet Menon
    Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 17:37
  • $\begingroup$ you were my 3rd option, so i'm kind of bummed by this, but i respect your reasons $\endgroup$
    – lurscher
    Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 2:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
10
$\begingroup$

Thanks for letting us know.

We can't remove your nomination at this stage of the election, but we will withdraw it when it comes the time to tally things up.

And as I said earlier, I'm sorry to hear about your decision, but I'm glad that you're sticking around on the site.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .