Zaid -- <img src="https://stackexchange.com/users/flair/45444.png" width="208" height="58" alt="profile for Zaid on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites" title="profile for Zaid on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites"> </a> >1. How much time do you realistically think you can devote to the site? Time is a precious commodity for me, so I'm the kind of person who prefers quality over quantity. If I'm not spending time in the Review queue, I'm staying in touch with the community on The Pitstop, greeting new users with a personal touch or dreaming up interesting ways to utilize the site (see [here][1] and [here][2] for examples) >1. What would you do if you believe it is difficult to continue with moderation responsibilities in the long run? Given the present level of activity on the site, this is a highly unlikely scenario. If I find myself unable to moderate at the levels demanded by the site, I will inform the other moderators and work with them to find a suitable workaround. >2. What, if any, previous moderator (or similar) experience do you have from a different Stack Exchange site, a different website, and/or the real world (e.g. arbitration)? A lot of the work I do with new users and posts on the site call for moderator-esque qualities. The current moderators can tell you how many times I've had to reach out to them to use one of their powers of intervention to resolve issues. >3. How would you mitigate the issue of accumulation of unanswerable queries on the site? The Close Vote Cafe initiative is an example of what's been done in the past, though I doubt it remains an effective tool post-graduation. I believe our current policy of giving low-quality posts about a week's grace period for improvements is well-suited to the current level of activity on the site. >4. What policies would you adopt to ensure that the site's association with the "Be Nice" moniker remains? Stay nice. I'm usually pretty good at not taking affront to criticism or trolling; we've had a few such encounters over the years on the site and I can say unequivocally that having the last word in a heated discussion. >5. 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 hate to dissuade people from contributing, but there are rules to be followed to keep the place civil. This is how I imagine things can go down: 1. Mention the rationale behind the objection in the comments 2. If the issue persists, invite the user to a chat room and explain why what they are doing is detrimental 3. If that doesn't work, use peer-pressure. So if I was the one doing the explaining, let another moderator intervene and take further action >6. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been? Discuss it with them in chat, remembering that Q&A's are not life-or-death situations. If I'm not listened to, I don't feel aggrieved about it; if my views prevail, I don't get paid. >7. As a moderator, how will you keep your fellow moderators in check? By "in check", I mean stopping them running amok with the ban-hammer and doing crazy things they might regret later. Short of taking their keyboard and mouse away, I can't really *stop* other mods from doing what they want to do. >8. I have occasionally seen a user with a high network-wide rep (ie has a lot of positive interaction on other SE sites) cause a lot of friction on a site they have recently joined by insisting that "the site is doing it wrong." If this occurs here, and causes trouble with the easy going Mechanics community, how would you handle the situation? I'm always up for a discussion on how things can be improved. I'd invite them to share hard data to validate their opinion, and we can take it from there. If it is a case of micromanagement, the reason for the difference in modus operandi should become evident in the course of the discussion. >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? In all honesty, I'd feel more pressure to weigh my words before I put them down. >10. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep? I stopped worrying about rep a long time ago. Becoming a moderator should enable quicker resolution to things that need moderator intervention. [1]: https://mechanics.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1857/675 [2]: https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/51715/zaids-lumina-diary