This thread really only exists for transparency's sake, and because a number of users had noticed us using mod powers and wanted to know what was going on. I initially held off on making an announcement post because I was worried it could be misread as a grandiose "new sheriff in town"-type gesture, but the alternative would have meant turning the moderation team into even more of a secret club than it was already.
As far as I'm concerned, being a moderator is a necessary chore that doesn't confer any additional respect. Somebody has to delete spam, respond to user reports/requests, enforce the rules, and yes, give out warnings and bans. I accepted the request to be a mod because I didn't want anyone else to come along and abuse these powers to make themselves emperor of the forum. Agora is a largely self-moderating and self-directing community, and I think I speak for the rest of the moderators when I say that none of us have any desire to change that. A moderator's job should be to
moderate the community by minimizing unnecessary drama and other BS, not to lead the community and cause drama as a result.
We are, of course, all community members in our own right, with our own opinions and things we like to argue about, and I don't think that's going to change. The immediate goal for the mod team is to figure out a way to ensure there's a clear-cut distinction between that kind of personal posting and mod actions going forward. I am sure
@remember_summer_days will continue to love Jesus,
@handoferis will continue to be a grumpy SA oldfag,
@Punp will continue to hate anything AI-related, and I will continue to be right about everything, but my hope is that as a team we will be able to keep each other on reasonably short leashes and only put on the janitorial cap when necessary. I think we will have done a good job if we never have to make a boring accouncement thread like this again.