Board Thread:Consensus Track/@comment-9062114-20140206023805/@comment-9062114-20140207011337

TombRaiser wrote:

As others have stated, it's not a popularity contest, and from the looks of some of these nominations and requests for patroller, chat mod, and forum mod, it seems to be just that..friends voting for someone just because they are friends. It shouldn't be so easy to be in any of these roles. Our patrollers have their title because they meet every requirement listed on the nomination page. We want patrollers who know their way around the wiki and can easily answer and assist users. Patrollers are users that take initiative, and who don't always need to consult with an admin. Of course there is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion.

The applications for chat/forum moderators are not being taken seriously, as many who applied have clearly not read the requirements in order to apply. If anything, the election of chat moderators and forum moderators may benefit from switching to nominations. We may even need to implement a length of time on re-applying.

As for admins mostly voting on patroller nominations, that could be because most admins don't use chat or participate in the forums that much to know who they should place their vote with on chat/forum mods. I am one of those admins that hardly ever goes to chat, so I will most likely not vote on a moderator application/nomination. I will vote on patroller nominations because I spend the majority of my time editing the mainspace articles. That is a very interesting point. And a good one at that, since there are many Chat and Forum moderators I know, who I don't feel really do much with the job. Another big issue is that people only apply for the positions to get power or respect on the wiki, not because they actually want to do the job. Five people have just applied to become a Chat Moderator in the last 24 hours. It very much does have the stigma of being a reward for popularity.

Speaking of that, I think more Admins should go on the Forums and Chat, since those are getting bigger as the community grows. Some Administrators keeping the peace in these areas wouldn't hurt, as there are limits to what the Chat Moderators and Forum Moderators are able to do.