Mirror Link: Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Previous Thread: https://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-15010457/discussion-abolishing-the-mod-rank
SECTION I: Policy Need
As staff as a body has changed in responsibility and culture we need to re-examine how we use the Moderator position.
I.A Moderator Role
Moderator currently exists as two married parts. One, the staff hierarchical role of Moderator. Two, the actual moderator tools within Wikidot.
Currently the functioning differences between the Operational Staff(OS) role and Moderator(Mod) role are that:
1.) Moderator serves as a social role and may be bestowed whether or not the staff member requires the tools it comes with. Moderator is a shorthand for "trusted user".
2.) Moderators can view AdCap Coordination in the staff Discord.
3.) Moderators can join the Disciplinary team.
4.) Moderators can request that any disciplinary action against them only be voted upon by other Moderators and Admins per Section V.B.III of the Charter.
5.) Moderators receive the Moderator wikidot tools.
Do we have a need to keep any of these?
1.) No. As Mod is promoted via the same process as any other OS, there is no guarantee that the role reflects a trustworthiness above OS. This is a holdover from a time of much more striated staff structure which gave little weight to those at the bottom, a time when JS were not even allowed into, or even informed of, a major staff space.
As time has progressed this has changed with the merging of rank segregated channels, removal of blackboxes and also a shift in culture as seen by the much decreased use of those still extant segregated staff spaces that allow only OS+, mod+ or captaincy+.
2.) No. There is no reason AdCap should not be viewable to all staff of at least OS.
While in the past it may well have made sense, currently adcap see limited use and when it is used, very little, if any, warrants a blackbox of this degree.
As in 1 this would seem to be a relic of when staff spaces were more segregated, when the dynamic was geared towards the staff role one had determining the weight of one's words and opinions on matters, a trend which has been reversing as seen with the merging, unblackboxing and even opening to the public of various staff channels.
I would like to see this as a continuation of that trend.
3.) No. Regardless of the diminished recruitment pool, candidates need to be approved by the Disciplinary team. There is no need for their recruitment pool to be artificially limited to the Moderator and Admin ranks.
4.) No. As long as Moderator also functions as a social role, a jury of that Mod's peers may only feed into toxic power dynamics. Even without the Moderator role, the staff member in question can still request a jury of their peers; that jury will simply be broader.
5.) Yes. The healthy functioning of the site is heavily reliant on the Moderator wikidot tools.
Of these, the only true benefit of the Moderator role is that Mods are given Moderator tools.
Given this, I firmly believe we should divorce Moderator wikidot tools from our current staff hierarchy, and eliminate the social component from it entirely.
I.B Moderator Role Bestowal/Removal
As staff and the site have grown, teams have been added, as have subteams which have become more specialized. In some cases there are even teams that deal with offsite content rather than the SCP Wiki itself, such as the Discord Team and portions of Internet Outreach. We have even at times had staff who are not site members.
Staff members who do not use Wikidot moderator capabilities obviously do not require those capabilities. Yet we are not in the habit of reviewing the frequency of its use by Moderators, or, if indeed they need it at all, nor do we currently remove Wikidot moderator capabilities from Moderators who do not require the role, which currently would essentially be demotion to OS.
Those accounts who do not use Wikidot moderation capabilities, be they Inactive, Reserve or active staff engaging in other work are security vulnerabilities, as there is always the possibility, however slight, of someone with malicious intent gaining access to a staff member's wikidot account, or some other unforeseen event causing issue with the site.
While this is true for anyone with Wikidot moderation capabilities, when the account holder is not using these capabilities it is a completely unnecessary risk. We have in the past been in situations where accounts have been compromised, and while we have made changes to lower those risks I believe this is worth doing for the same reasons we typically remove moderation capabilities from retired staff.
On the flip side, it is entirely possible that a team, such as the Deletions subteam of MAST for instance would, despite having a healthy amount of OS and JS, not have enough active Moderators to keep up with a workload which requires Wikidot moderator capabilities. Given promotions happen every four months, it is easy to quickly fall behind on such tasks, going four months without sufficient Moderators on a given team or subteam can be disastrous.
SECTION II: General Policy Proposed
As such I propose
1.The elimination of Moderator as a staff rank and that all current Moderators become Operational Staff.
2. The creation of a "Wiki Moderator" role (someone give me a better name please) which exclusively confers Wikidot Moderator status on the SCP Wiki, and no other powers or privileges.
3. The creation, implementation and utilization of processes for the conferring of the "Wiki Moderator" role on qualifying staff member, as laid out in Section III
3.1. All current Moderators will immediately be given the opportunity to be put up for the newly created role if they so choose.
4. The creation, implementation and utilization of processes for the removal of the "Wiki Moderator" from staff members who no longer need them, or due to disciplinary reasons, as laid out in Section V
As a result:
All current Moderators would immediately become Operational Staff with the "Wiki Moderator" role.
SECTION III: Nominating candidates for the Wiki Moderator Role
At any time, acting Team Captains may put forth one or more of their team members as candidates for the role*.
*Acting Team Captains may only nominate the aforementioned candidates for the purpose of aiding the candidate in accomplishing staff goals under the purview of the team whose Captain nominated them. However, those possessing the Wiki Moderator role may use these powers for any team they are members of.
Admins may at any time put forth one or more candidates for the role for the purpose of aiding in staff duties requiring the role.
SECTION IV: Obtaining the Wiki Moderator role
Nominating Administrators or Acting Team Captains will create a voting thread detailing:
1. Their candidate(s)
2. Why they require the Wiki Moderator role
The thread will remain open for one week and can be extended with Admin Fiat.
While the thread is open O.S. and Admins will be able to vote on whether or not each candidate should be given the Wiki Moderator role.
Requirement for a candidate to receive the Wiki Moderator role is a simple voting majority, with a static quorum of 10 voters.
Candidates may not vote in their own election.
SECTION V: Removing the Wiki Moderator Role
The Wiki Moderator role should be removed from staff members at the following times:
When the staff member is Retired, Inactive or Reserve*.
By request of the staff member in question*.
As a result of disciplinary action at the request of the Disciplinary Team.
If they have not utilized the role for a period of 60 days**.
By consensus of their Captains.
By Admin consensus.
*in these cases the role may be obtained again with assent of admins and/or team captains (in cases where the staff member used the role for the purpose of tasks nder this team's perview) without requiring a staff vote
**alternatively, upon request by one or more Admins and/or Team Captains the staff member may be notified of impending removal and granted one additional month before re-evaluation and potential removal of the role.
SECTION VI: Use of Wikidot Moderator powers/ Mod Primer
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END
Thank you to Rounderhouse, torcsandantlers and Siddhartha Alonne for their help with the proposal.
Thank you to Zyn for helping with the Mod Primer
Edit: I've had to edit this a few times because I've fucked up the link to and from the O4 mirror, the timer, and then somehow had this twice in a row, show be fixed now!