Dance of the Title Fairy: Accepting Applications

[Psyche]

it’s a very tempting pun but it’s also clearly flawed as a title
i don’t know how to feel

if only titles were above usernames

[Psyche]

it gets a little abstract if you do that, though

[Psyche]

people really dig puns i guess

[Psyche]

man am i ambivalent but whatever

[Psyche]

like
im a sitechatter and i never noticed this thing
am i so out of touch?

[Psyche]

no it is the title nomination that is wrong

[Psyche]

im leaning toward the idea that it should be a facet of a bigger title
i’m all for simplicity (for example I love “Shea”), but it doesn’t seem like it captures enough about Postie to be *especially* good on its own
we can pop the ! at the end of something else, perhaps even an apt username pun

[Psyche]

Ok guys. So I'm probably choosing the Fairy quite soon. At the same time though I think I will share a compilation of the ideas that were generated during the application process, with the hopes that the new fairy will take them into account during their fairying. The hope is that we achieve something a bit more syncretist than in past terms.

[Psyche]

they'll have all authority and all. just think they'd appreciate a lot of these good ideas.

[Psyche]

Syncretist

Solid word use

ive spent many years waiting for the chance

[Psyche]

Applicant Feedback

On what it means to be title fairy...

"the culture of the site is wide and varied, and the Title Fairy is the one who really brings together a lot of disparate elements from each of those subcultures; they don't necessarily need to be part of all those subcultures, but they need to be someone who respects them."

"With each new fairy, the idea of what exactly a title should mean has changed, but the constant has always been that titles should be special and a sign of inclusion within the Mafiascum community."

"someone i like"

"to an extent, the Title Fairy's job is being the arbiter of taste"

"the primary responsibility of the Title Fairy, in addition to moderating the discussion, is to be a backstop for the process. It's pretty easy for people to get carried away in the moment and push through a silly title, or one so 'had-to-be-there' that even people who WERE there will forget it in a few months."

On the practices and qualities of a good title fairy...

"one of my guiding principles is that not everyone will like every title, so if you're going to anti-nom a title, it has to include some explanation of why you think it's bad beyond just "I don't like it," and it is then the prerogative of the people who support it to respond and explain why they feel the critique is invalid. my role would be to decide which of these two parties offers a stronger position and explain why I think that position is stronger"

"tapped into the collective mafiascum unconscious"

"won't put up with bad titles and will encourage good titles"

"won't be afraid to shut down or redirect an unproductive or hostile conversation"

""perfect is the enemy of good": I am willing to accept a good title even if it's not the greatest title"

"can provide useful insights into whether or not a title is good or deserved"

"Let the community drive most of it and only intervene when I absolutely have to or think it’s absolutely needed"

"have a great interest in the titling process"

"If the title fairy can't explain the title to others, then it is usually not the best of titles"

"bring some artsy flair to the thread"

"If someone is incessantly shitposting constantly without it being productive or in general griefing, warn them first and then exercise the ban power"

"I don't know everything that's going on in the forum all the time and that it's important to listen to what others have to say"

"deescalate any heated confrontations and if it's not possible, give a forced cooldown period"

"have the confidence to stand against an overwhelming opinion if I believe it would not be the best choice, but on top of that not so stubborn as to refuse to listen to others"

"make sure that the Title Fairy thread remains a resource that is accessible to everyone"

"allow smallchat banter, even shitposting, but only as a means to an end--some brilliant titles have come from discussions that a more hard-lined stance against those things would never allow for"

"have good taste and won't be pushed into making a bad title happen"

"handle it similar to sleepy krew"

"keep the thread from derailing for too long"

"take a pretty minimalist role but still control titles in a way that people would still be proud of the institution"

On specific ideas going forward...

"rejuvenate the title forum beyond the current group that use it"

"off-topic for its own sake tends to at times crowd out even the possibility of on-topic discussion and I would absolutely look to cut down on that, mostly in the TBM model of mass deletions, with short bans for those who don't heed warnings"

"dislike the "5 noms means it progresses the title" thing, because it's always the same people. maybe set up a weighted system where people that nth lots without adding to the conversation are weighted badly and people whose opinions I like are weightly more heavily"

"create a second thread for talking about the process and criticisms about how I'm doing and evaluate that criticism"

"crack down on continual joke-posting...Title Fairy thread should be for titles only"

"establish some baseline parameters for how long people should wait before nominating someone for a title based on something they've done"

"slightly relax restrictions on people discussing their own titles in some cases"

"title thread policy should be discussed in the thread for that purpose, rather than constantly drowning the title thread down"

"be more explicit about a change in how titles are viewed that I think has already occurred: a title doesn't have to be perfect forever...They can be given a title related to something about their presence on site that feels important to them at the moment - the title will still be special and still be a sign of inclusion in the Mafiascum community. If at some point it no longer fits them as well, they can have it removed."

"reaching out to relevant parties and specifically asking them to weigh in"

"directly foster engagement with the titling process, perhaps through giving notice of active title nomination discussions either in sitechat lobby or the MS discord server or even through attempting to directly PM people who I think may have interest in the current proceedings"

"prune the thread periodically"

"have less of a hard-and-fast 5 "nths" rule. While that rule has always just been a trigger for the title fairy to chime in, I think there's too much expectation that some particular number of nths means something."

" try out anonnymous nthing and anti-noming"

"be grumpy all the time and ban people that shit up the thread so that it wouldn't be somewhere people are afriad of having in their egosearch"

[Psyche]

How I Decided

For most of my decision process I was overwhelmed with quality applications and didn't know how to pick between them. I ultimately (like, on June 8, 2018) ended up implementing some pretty objectively measureable yet arguably measurable filters to shrink the pool and make it more manageable to think through. Per my prompt, I want someone active across the site, broadly liked, and cool with the admins. I also wanted someone with a flair for good title noms. Therefore, your application was eventually filtered out if:
1. You haven't had more than like a couple posts worth of presence in the past year in all three of the Mafia, Discussion, Other Games subforum sections of the site, or 2 plus community contribution stuff outside the title subforum.
2. You were given anything more than a short cooldown ban since the start of 2017, or any sort of warning or ban in the Title Subforum while I ran it.
3. Your account (or known past accounts) weren't more than ~18 months old (like, created before 2017)
4.

If

you participated in the 2017 SUPP, you didn't do above average. (I can't ding you if you didn't participate, but I had to look for other ways to measure how much people like you.)
5. You've never done a title nom well-liked enough to become a title.

I know that these filters are pretty harsh; I wouldn't pass through all of them myself. But that's why I used them. Please understand: I do agree that someone can be a good title fairy even if they don't pass through all these filters, but there are a lot of people who can be good title fairies who do pass through all of them. This filter is a way to begin deciding between them all that I can defend on solid ground.

So I narrowed nearly two dozen apps to like four with these. From there, in line with my goal of syncretism mentioned earlier, I finally picked the applicant whose application and attitudes expressed around the site suggested they'd introduce innovations necessary to satisfy most of the other people who have applied for the position.

This isn't to say that the applicant should in any sense feel constrained by this goal: they will after all, have full authority over the subforum yadda yadda yadda. Besides, I'm sure that when the applicant gets enough experience in the position, their vision for the position will change and they'll go on their own way. But it seemed like a reasonable place to start.

[Psyche]

It was very tough picking between the final people but ultimately I’ve decided to go with DeathRowKitty. DRK may not have participated much in my thread, but is one of only 4 applicants to pass all of the filters listed above. She’s been here a long time, has no recent ban history, is provably well-liked, has made successful title nominations, and maintains a presence all across the site. Furthermore, her application was extremely detailed, including specific and well-considered proposals for improving the titling process that I’m certain based on the applications and thoughts I’ve obtained throughout this process will be well-received by the majority of scummers across the community.

You guys talked about shitposting and about community engagement, about how noms and nths should be considered and about ways bad ideas can be curtailed and made the most of. You continued in my inbox the ling-running fued about how hard it should be to get a title and how vigorously quality standards should be enforced. It’s for this final reason that I ultimately picked her over other highly qualified alternatives: she isn’t just a median between the varying attitudes about how this institution should develop, but managed to proffer a detailed vision for integrating and moving beyond them. DRK has truly convinced me that she can do it.

I want to thank you all for your applications. Very few of you wouldn’t do a great job in this postion and the ideas and proposals you shared were not ignored or slighted — I’ve done my best to highlight them here in these final posts to the thread and above all, they played a fundamental, positive role in my decision process for picking the next Fairy. Whatever your reservations about me or my decision process, I hope you can support DRK as she tries her best to faithfully carry out her new role in service to the community.

[Psyche]

i kinda want to put an avatar meme here but i’m already being a bit grandiloquent

[Psyche]

I’m unlocking the thread but noms are paused, etc.