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First, the tl;dr: Starting today, I am no longer a community moderator on Super User.

Over the past weeks, I've made the decision to step down as a moderator. I was elected on July 24, 2012, and it's been a bit more than three years that I've been part of an awesome moderator team. Countless flags have been handled since then, and many discussions have been made here, on Meta.

I was—and still am—very enthusiastic to lead this community by example, providing guidance to new and old members alike, with the goal to make this site the number one resource for finding help to any kind of computer issue people may have. At the same time, being a moderator allowed me to learn how to communicate online, how to encourage, to arbitrate, to guide.

However, in the last months I've noticed that my personal circumstances changed. Not for worse—quite the contrary. I've moved places, started a new job, and I'm pursuing a PhD in computer science. But at the same time, these circumstances just do not allow me to invest the time I personally think is necessary for me to keep up to date with what's going on at Super User, our users—our community—and Stack Exchange at large. This is why I've resigned. I just could not handle as many flags as I think were needed. I just could not follow what was going on. I felt like I lost touch with the community in general. Simply because there was too little time I could spend.

It's important to mention that there has been absolutely no pressure whatsoever from my fellow moderators or the Stack Exchange community team. There has been no dispute that caused this. Some might think there are expectations for moderators to handle X flags every month, destroy Y spammers, and close Z posts. Some might even have those expectations (although I've yet to find this person). You could argue that I stepped back because I could not fulfill those expectations. But it's not like that.

There's a lot of respect for the work all of us volunteers do, and it's fine if moderators don't contribute as much as others, or as much as they used to at some point. This was a purely personal decision, because I think I cannot live up to my own standards that I set over those past years.

I'm leaving the mod team and giving the diamond back, but I will continue to be a regular user. I'll be happy to edit posts, answer questions, and occasionally track down spammers, if time allows to. I don't see myself ever leaving this community, for I've learned so much from it—and there's still much more to learn.

With this I want to thank every community member for their support, for their contributions, which make this site one of my absolute favorite places on the Internet. And of course, a warm-hearted Thank You! to all of the other mods, who will continue to lead the SU community: Daniel, Ivo, Journeyman Geek, Mokubai, Nathan, Oliver, random, Sathya, and studiohack.

I will see you around!

<3

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    Man you'll be sorely missed in the Mod dept, esp wrt tracking down chain spammers, sockpuppets and crazy levels of edits . best wishes in your future endeavors :)
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    Aug 14, 2015 at 16:42
  • 3
    It's weird to see your name without the diamond, you've pretty much had it my entire career here and you've always been a "lead by example" type mod. Congrats and good luck on your new endeavors! Aug 15, 2015 at 9:05
  • 7
    Would you edit in "♦" to your username? (At the end of it, as it used to be since 2K12)
    – RogUE
    Aug 15, 2015 at 12:23
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    Should I upvote or downvote? :-(
    – RogUE
    Aug 15, 2015 at 12:24
  • 2
    I second what everyone has already written. You did an exemplary job as a moderator. Best of luck moving onward and upward.
    – fixer1234
    Aug 15, 2015 at 16:06
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    @RogUE that character can't be entered in usernames.
    – nhinkle
    Aug 17, 2015 at 3:42
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    Missing you already, slhck. Wishing you all the best and don't forget to say hello! Please let me know if I can ever be of assistance!
    – studiohack
    Aug 19, 2015 at 1:14
  • Hats off to you (all of those collected in the Winter Bash).
    – Jan Doggen
    Aug 21, 2015 at 12:52
  • tl;dr = "too long; didn't read". You say the post is too long for yourself? So why you wrote it so long? Or why you used "tl;dr"? Anyway, thanks for your mod service!
    – miroxlav
    Aug 21, 2015 at 17:41
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    @miroxlav No, it's not too long for me—it's actually rather concise for what I had in mind. "tl;dr" is something that people usually say (ironically) to summarize a post for those who may not want to read it in its entirety. And thank you!
    – slhck
    Aug 21, 2015 at 20:48
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    @slhck, thanks for all your help, you will be missed. I wish you the best in all your endeavours! Peace
    – pixel 67
    Aug 24, 2015 at 11:40
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    Thanks for all the hard work, slhck! Aug 25, 2015 at 4:57
  • 2
    Really good question! Sep 1, 2015 at 0:51
  • OMG, a PhD (Pretty hard Degree) you will barely have time to eat!
    – Moab
    Sep 21, 2015 at 18:51
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    @McDonald's Thanks, I'm slowly getting there … it's crazy how time flies. Doing your PhD in Germany usually takes about 3–5 years.
    – slhck
    Aug 11, 2017 at 8:38

4 Answers 4

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slhck is an awesome person, was an awesome mod, and his contributions to the community will be remembered and endure for a very long time, helping countless other users fix their temperamental broken software.... especially ffmpeg. ;-)

He also helped me grow as a person and as a community member during my formative first few months on SU.

Looking forward to continued ffmpeg answers from slhck while he pursues his PhD.

Thanks, man. Can we call you "Dr. slhck" when you get your plaque? ;-)

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  • Thank you. I remember a few discussions where we may not have always agreed, but they were definitely worth it. I'll happily continue to read your well-reasoned Meta posts. (And yes, you may call me that, but that's gonna be at least another three years from now, I guess, heh.)
    – slhck
    Aug 14, 2015 at 15:36
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    @slhck Your ffmpeg answers were well written and easy to follow. If you find the time make sure to stop by once in a while. The questions never end! Just curious—will the PhD involve multimedia?
    – llogan
    Aug 22, 2015 at 19:45
  • @LordNeckbeard Thanks. I will, when I find some time. Thanks for helping out on those ffmpeg questions. And yes, it does, it's about finding out how people behave when they use web TV and streaming services in the presence of poor delivery or audiovisual quality. A bit of behavioral psychology mixed with technical influence factors.
    – slhck
    Aug 23, 2015 at 14:12
  • So I think its the time to call you Dr. slhck @slhck.
    – avirk
    Sep 8, 2019 at 6:18
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It hurts my eyes to see the letters “slhck ” without the little rhombus (a.k.a. diamond) after them — but better that than to have you disappear altogether.  Thanks for your service, and good luck with your “personal circumstances”.

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I remember you were one of our more active mods, but your activity has been down recently and it's sad to see you give up the diamond. You've been very helpful to the community as well as to me personally, and I do owe you a significant debt for your work.

slhck, good luck on your future endeavors, and I hope you continue to contribute to this site. We miss you as a mod.

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You don't know me but I know you; because you helped me a lot without with your answers.
And I'm not the only person like that.
Let me thank you by the name of all unknown users for the huge work you have done here.
Men, helping people without knowing them is something that few people can do!
And you did it day by day, night by night, making SU better and better place for all of us.

Thank you for the heroic job you have done. Thank you for your answers. Thank you.
Hope FFMpeg tag will stay alive ;) Hope to see you ♦ again!

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