This is a complete transcript of the July 2023 bureaucrat vote debate that occurred on June 25, 2023. It was between administrators 5090061uusd and BlindCartographer, with the moderator being bureaucrat Cluckster. Some parts have been edited for grammar and for reader comprehension.
Cluckster:
- First up, BlindCartographer. The first question for you is why should you become the next bureaucrat and remain as the Head of Discussions?
BlindCartographer:
- Well, to start with, I have lots of experience concerning community management, building, and control. There have been several wikis I have been staff on (most notably the FNF Wiki and FNF Mods Wiki), and for the former I single-handedly improved the discussions from their anarchic state to a much more orderly and less toxic one. Additionally, this was also my reason for becoming a Fandom Star, the work I did on the discussions of various wikis. I also have more experience than my opponent, being a user and staff for longer. I have been involved in several discussion reforms on the wiki, such as the development of the discussions abuse filter. As of the present time, I plan on tackling the toxicity and negative post/behavioral trends that exist in the discussions. This in itself is, as stated above, something I have plenty of successful experience in. A main concern of many may be my activity. However, as of a few days ago, my summer break for university has begun, so I will become more active and engaged in the community and discussions board. I now also have Discord, which will only make it even easier to be involved in the community, especially when it is an urgent situation.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Now, to 5090061uusd: Why should you become the next bureaucrat and Head of Discussions?
5090061uusd:
- I should become the next bureaucrat (and the Head of Discussions) because my opponent has not been as active as he once was. I'm on the discussions every day, which elevates the chances of trouble or drama being put to an end before it gets too out of control. Most users also seem to be more familiar with me instead of my opponent, which is another reason I should become the next bureaucrat.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Now back to Blind, what makes you more qualified than your opponent?
BlindCartographer:
- What makes me more qualified than my opponent is, as previously stated, mainly my experience. I have experience cross-wiki with not just discussion moderation, but also reformation and rehabilitation. Yet again as I previously stated, there have been several wikis in which I have been tasked with discussion reformation and moderation, most notably the FNF and FNF Mods wikis, however the Terraria and Murder Drones wikis would also apply. I also have more experience and time spent on the wiki itself.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Same question for you, Uusd, what makes you more qualified than your opponent?
5090061uusd:
- I'm more qualified than my opponent because I have been more active than my opponent on the wiki for a while, as previously stated. It will also be easier to have a bureaucrat who focuses solely on Wikitubia without being distracted from other users from other wikis in need of assistance, as Wikitubia is the only FANDOM wiki that I use.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Back to you Blind, what is your rebuttal to Uusd's reasoning for why you are less qualified than him?
BlindCartographer:
- I will agree that I have been less active recently, however as I will now no longer be distracted by university and other academic pursuits, I will be much more available. My activity on other wikis has not yet proven to be an obstacle in my ability to engage with and moderate other wikis I am active on, and I do not believe it will this time. Additionally, if a user tags me in a post or reaches out to me via message wall, I will respond hastily, likely within mere minutes.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Now to Uusd, what is your rebuttal to Blind's reasoning for why you are less qualified than him?
5090061uusd:
- My rebuttal is that responding within "mere minutes" does not mean that a situation can be dealt with thoroughly. Although if I take longer to respond and deal with and address an issue that a user is concerned with, I will make sure that their concerns are addressed in the most responsible way.
Cluckster:
- Alright then. Back to Blind, what changes would you want to make to the Discussions if you remain as Head of Discussions?
BlindCartographer:
- The biggest issue that is presently effecting the discussions is the uncontrolled amounts of uncivil, inappropriate, hateful, or otherwise toxic behavior. This would be my main objective upon becoming bureaucrat. This is also something I have plenty of experience in, as both the Murder Drones Wiki and both FNF wikis were in bad states concerning the overall behavior of the userbase. I would beg to say it was much more uncontrolled than Wikitubia. Put simply, my main goal would be to stabilize the behavior of the discussions, decrease the overall toxicity, and create long-term methods to further enforce that for the future.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Back to Uusd, what changes would you want to make to the Discussions if you become Head of Discussions?
5090061uusd:
- Changes I would make to the Discussions would be to enforce more rules more strictly, and to mitigate events where arguments, harassment, toxicity, or any other forms of conflict that may arise. I would also introduce more rules to the Discussions board that users would be obliged to follow.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. And finally for Blind, what is one compliment you have towards your opponent?
BlindCartographer:
- Uusd, I believe you have been a great staff member to work alongside in the time I have been here. You consistently enforce rules and have shown nothing but a strong will to build upon and support the community. That is something I can appreciate both as an administrator, and personally appreciate.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. And finally to Uusd, what is one compliment you have towards your opponent?
5090061uusd:
- Thank you for those kind words, Blind. Very appreciated. And I also appreciate your way of administrating the Discussions board and pages. Being an administrator is not an easy task that a lot of users can handle, and your help means a lot to not just myself, but for many users of Wikitubia. That also goes for the other wikis whose communities you are a part of.
Cluckster:
- Thank you both for answering my questions I had prepared us. Now, I will give a chance for some observers to ask questions in our wiki discussion Discord channel. Enayy asks, "One of my least favorite aspects of the staff team has been the speed, or lack thereof, of the admins, content and discussion-side. Do you intend to increase the speed, activity, and overall reliability of the staff team while still maintaining good analytical skills and good judgment? How do you plan to do this?". Blind has the question first.
BlindCartographer:
- I myself plan on being a very swift administrator when it comes to dealing with issue which are presented to me. However, this does not mean I will deal with them poorly and in a manner which is not in-depth. I will simply be able to respond quickly, take whatever immediate action is necessary, and then decide what course of action would be best to take from there. Additionally, I hope to streamline the process for other staff members as well, mainly via the use of the AbuseFilter, and hopefully encouraging users to use the report feature.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Next, Uusd has the question.
5090061uusd:
- To answer Enayy's question, I admit to not being the fastest-working administrator when it comes to the Discussions. I do plan on working more efficiently and quicker, especially in a way that does not lack good judgment by investigating deeply and coming to a clear and precise conclusion that is fair for all parties involved.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Tylerota2 asks, "What are your goals for being a bureaucrat?". Blind will answer first.
BlindCartographer:
- My goals of being bureaucrat largely involves the reformation of both the discussions itself, but also any processes used by staff to deal with any issues which they may have to deal with. I ultimately seek to strengthen our existing methods, processes, and features, while eliminating anything that consistently causes issues and/or acts as a detriment to the community. This would also go hand-in-hand with my goal of acting as a representative for the discussions at large.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Now, I will hand the question to Uusd.
5090061uusd:
- To answer Tylerota2's question, my goals as bureaucrat would be to improve my editing side of Wikitubia. Although I'm more specialized in the Discussions board, I would like to also help out further with issues in pages of Wikitubia. I plan on spending a reasonable amount of time in fixing many things, for pages and discussions.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. ITurkishmapping asks, "How long do you plan on being here?". Blind will answer first.
BlindCartographer:
- I plan on being here for at least the next few years. I would estimate somewhere around the next 3-5 years, assuming nothing would interfere with that.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Uusd will have the question now.
5090061uusd:
- To answer this question, I plan on being here for another few years. I'm not sure how long I would like to spend as a user, and bureaucrat if I were to receive more votes than my opponent, but I don't plan on leaving any time soon.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Blind, do you have any final thoughts?
BlindCartographer:
- My closing thoughts are that I hope to be bureaucrat so that I may, in short, finally solve the issues that have consistently plagued the discussions, along with strengthening what we already have in place and further streamlining processes used by staff to make Wikitubia a better, safer, and happier place overall. May the best man win, Uusd.
Cluckster:
- Thank you. Uusd, do you have any final thoughts?
5090061uusd:
- I wish my opponent nothing but the best of luck in winning this election. However, if I end up winning, I will make sure to finally solve the issues that have plagued the Discussions and make sure they don't become a nuisance for a long amount of time.
Cluckster:
- That will conclude this debate. Thank you both for participating.