Scratch

Hi, everyone. As you probably already know, the Scratch team is holding elections to choose four new community moderators and I am lucky enough to be one of the candidates. I only ask that before you vote, please take the time to consider each candidate carefully. (<hypnosis>vote for me</hypnosis>) As a community member, I see some specific issues that need to be addressed by the moderators, present and future:

-- Lots of duplicate/stolen projects appearing in the Newest section of the front page. While this is going to happen no matter what, new users sometimes need a gentle reminder that they shouldn't take credit for other people's hard work. These projects often erupt in comment wars when the owner of the original project finds that it's been re-uploaded by a different user.

-- The FAQ forum is in shambles. Consider these questions:

Just About Everyone wrote:

Can you add a <when I receive [] > block?

Where do you get the Scratch source code?

What's a Scratch mod?

How do you scroll?

How do you do bullets?

How do I import multiple images?

When am I gonna get Scratch on my iThingy?

They have been asked many times and thus answered many times. If the FAQ forum was more comprehensive, common answers would be easy to find.

-- The video on the homepage (logout to see it) shows some ancient version of Scratch being used, maybe 1.1 or 1.2.1. I actually tried putting one together a while ago, but there were way too many good projects to include. I won't promise that I can replace that (screen capturing is not one of my skills), but with the cooperation of the Scratch team I'd certainly give it a shot.

-- Personally, I feel that the "how popular am I" fad found in the Misc forums is damaging to the mindset of new Scratchers. Too often we feel that our worth as a community member (and as a person) is defined by our popularity. I feel this way about "Best Scratcher" and "Hall of Fame" style 'contest' threads too.

Hey, but why vote for me? All the other candidates are capable of tackling these issues as well. Off the top of my head, here are a few reasons why I think I am very qualified for the job.

-- I've been using Scratch for three years now, and I've seen the community shift and change. Over the years many Scratchers have come and gone, and although I've stopped posting projects of late, I still contribute and participate on a regular basis.

-- My actual programming experience is relatively extensive. Sure, the primary job of the moderators is to keep the peace, but I can also help with many common (and not-so-common) questions regarding (*le gasp*) actual use of the Scratch software, as well as questions that occasionally pop up about other programming languages. I'm not a Smalltalk guy, though. I am more than willing to give new Scratchers the support they need in building their projects.

-- I have taken leadership roles in the community in the past. Since I joined, my projects have been featured twice (I think a few of my galleries, too, for what it's worth). I have also been asked to beta test and to curate the homepage.

-- As a forum member I feel that I'm polite and respectful. I can't remember ever having lost my temper on the Scratch website. I have no alternate accounts (other than halfbaked_fullmoon) or aliases and I have been banned exactly zero times.

-- Finally, I think that I should address my low post count. Out of the eight candidates I have (I believe) the second-lowest post count. This seems strange because I have been a Scratcher longer than any other candidate. Rather than looking at my post count as a sign of my moderator potential, consider that since I don't post much in the Misc. forums, most of my time on the forums is spent helping people or making and refining suggestions. I see my 800-odd posts as a sign of discretion. I rarely post unless I have something meaningful to say. However, all this may mean to you is that you've never heard of me. Please, click through my recent posts and see what I've had to say.

When I joined Scratch, there were something like 50,000 projects uploaded to the website. You don't know how proud I am to see that number swell beyond 1,000,000. Scratch is a big deal; it is a unique space on the web for creativity and awesomeness. It has given me a lot, and I am eager to give something back. So when you're trying to decide who to vote for (and it is haaaard!), please give me consideration. You will not regret it.

-Fullmoon