Very much enjoyed this interview. I haven't paid close attention to StackExchange most of the time, but followed the referenced moderator demotion in precise detail when it happened and came away thoroughly impressed with the members of various moderation teams on the site who spoke up in her defense. I'm looking forward to watching how Codidact continues to develop. Thanks for such a thoughtful conversation about these topics.
In practice, I'm not convinced there's a major difference between model 5 and model 4: no matter how careful a set of rules is made, it will ultimately come down to having trusted and capable people taking the lead with them, and culture will always expand beyond what's explicitly coded in the rules. I'm a strong proponent of experimentation with different moderation models, though, and always like seeing how they play out in practice.
Very much enjoyed this interview. I haven't paid close attention to StackExchange most of the time, but followed the referenced moderator demotion in precise detail when it happened and came away thoroughly impressed with the members of various moderation teams on the site who spoke up in her defense. I'm looking forward to watching how Codidact continues to develop. Thanks for such a thoughtful conversation about these topics.
On the note of communities as gardens, this piece is among the most influential for my own moderation philosophy and, I believe, Scott Alexander's: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tscc3e5eujrsEeFN4/well-kept-gardens-die-by-pacifism
In practice, I'm not convinced there's a major difference between model 5 and model 4: no matter how careful a set of rules is made, it will ultimately come down to having trusted and capable people taking the lead with them, and culture will always expand beyond what's explicitly coded in the rules. I'm a strong proponent of experimentation with different moderation models, though, and always like seeing how they play out in practice.