What times of day are you typically online and available as a site moderator?
I'm online and available at various times throughout the day, and sometimes quite late into the night (Eastern Time - USA). My flagging history often correlated with times the moderators weren't available, so I might continue to fill in those gaps well.
Do off-topic questions on this site get closed appropriately? Would you, as a moderator, work to make any changes to our on-topic guidelines or the process for closing off-topic questions?
As much as possible, I would continue to learn the methodology and reasoning behind the other moderators's decisions for closing questions as off-topic, and take that into consideration when making my own; I've typically understood and agreed with most in the past. There are a few things I'd like to open up a discussion on down the road, with the goal of increasing activity and voting on the site. However, I would only do so through Meta questions to receive feedback and ideas from the entire community, and only implement those that had a majority of support for and agreement on from the other moderators.
How have you been helpful and welcoming to new users? How would you do so as a moderator?
I believe a community-based Q & A site is strengthened through continued participation and growth, which is crucial for new and relevant information. So it's critical to invite and encourage participation from new, current, and past members through voting and providing positive feedback whenever appropriate. I've often welcomed new users, including on closed questions, to send the message to them and others that their participation is both welcome and valued on the site. I would continue to do so even more as a moderator, and encourage other members to as well.
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?
Naturally I will adjust to take the new responsibility into consideration, but for the most part I've always viewed my contribution on the site as part of an important resource for others, with the goal of helping them by providing the best answers, comments, edits, and feedback I was capable of. So in short, I'm fine with it, and would continue to try to do my best under this new light.
How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?
Communication and diplomacy is the cornerstone of every cooperative situation, so I would chat with them to learn their thoughts and reasoning, with the goal of mutual understanding and agreement. I think it's also important to keep the larger picture of cohesion and support in mind (for a volunteer, difficult job to do), rather than getting held up on single issues.
In your opinion, what do moderators do?
They help to keep the site and information it contains on track, free of unrelated/unhelpful posts, take action on votes and flags, resolve disputes or concerns when they arise, seek input from the community via Meta for ways to improve it, keep the community informed, and generally look out for the interest of each member and the community as a whole, without bias.
In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?
In addition to the capabilities afforded to members with higher reputation, I believe the role of the moderator apart from those members is to help maintain a sense of order, civility, and quality of information on the site by removing spam, offensive comments & posts, and uncooperative/abusive users, should that occur.
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 try to help him/her recognize that their contribution was appreciated, but civility is equally important and greatly affects the reception of that. (I believe there was a Meta question which arose shortly after I became a member in which I attempted to do that.) Should their actions fall outside the guidelines of acceptable use, such as being offensive or abusive to other users, then I would private message them in attempt to seek their cooperation. If the behavior continued, then I would temporarily suspend their account, and ban them if need be after that. I would of course seek input and agreement from the other moderators before taking any severe actions (i.e., suspension or banning). In general, my approach would always be diplomacy first, followed by firm recourse if necessary for the good of the community.
