[bunniey]

I will preface this with three things.

1. This is serious.

2. This is justified as being a post/serious staff app, despite it not being a position that is typically applied for, because there are other positions that aren't typically applied that people post apps for (admin positions)

3. I actually had a third thing but somehow forgot it so this will be a placeholder until I remember it

Name: bunniey/notrand/whatever everyone knows to just call me Rand at this point

Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:40546659

Discord name: bunniey#6969

Why am I applying: I'm applying because I like the community, that's the bottom line. I believe I use the forums in a way, more often than not, that is fairly neutral, and more critical-thinking-forward, whether that's posted publicly or privately. I believe heavily in conversation, and don't want to see (which I don't believe it has) any amount of censorship, and think any thread can be salvageable as long as it's still being actively engaged, before it turns into pure shitposting. I aim to make sure people get to say their piece, but also want to make sure it doesn't just become a back and forth of ceaseless bickering. I care about this place, and don't like seeing people leave the community completely over things like staff appointments and forum drama.

What can I do for the community: I think this role in general can transcend the idea of just content moderation into more of a debate moderation role as well. People tend to leave people to their devices until there is shitposting or harassment, but it doesn't tend to really foster a conversation. Of course I'll keep up with content moderation as well, that's easy enough, but taking a more proactive approach on combating arguments and thread derailment in a way that people can come away from thinking the conversation was positive is equally important, and important for the health of the forums as a whole, especially recently.

Other: I think, if one were to compare me to some people that achieve staffing positions (through voting or not) under a microscope, you can see that things I've been involved in tend to be pretty negligible in comparison, and are always fewer and farther between incidences. People that speak with me one-on-one, no matter how heavy of issues I have with them, tend to come out of the conversation thinking we made a heavy bit of progress.