@ShadowTheBurningWizard True, though a tag may look cleaner, requires only 1 person, and will help people 'keep a positive question record', which is important to some
He still got the diamonds so at least it's not instant. Hopefully they gave him at least a month, so he can also train the next (?) CM. (yeah yeah, I'm over optimistic here, I know.)
@ShadowTheBurningWizard Shog isn't really one CM though. He has a presence and commands a level of respect (OK, and hate, in some quarters) across the network that no other employee and very few users (Jon Skeet maybe) can match.
@JourneymanGeek Yes, Tim too. But Tim is less present in the boonies of the network and the various old timer chats.
I'm not talking about who is objectively more important (and I wouldn't presume to judge) but I do feel that Shog's name is the most recognizable by your average avid SE user.
I was gonna argue for the "left voluntarily" position by saying that he wouldn't have had his Staff/Mod badges still if he were fired, but they're gone now.
@curious Too much to copy/paste, but basically a user thought that a comment starting with "Dude" was sexist. SO mod disagreed and declined a red flag on the comment. Tim Post said that position was unacceptable
Every single one of the CMs would be a painful departure. Some may not be as well known to the broader network, but they've all been working their collective behinds off trying to keep this place from falling apart.
@Mithical eh sometimes people part ways for reasons neither side likes but both sides understand. I recall this happening last year to Blizz where a well liked and known CM was laid off. Everybody understood the 'why' and nobody liked it.
There are quite a few possible directions that make sense, none of which are malicious. Let's not speculate.
user168476
Like I get it, they're a business, they have no need to tell us anything but after building something where we felt heard and cared for, it feels like they're doing so much to undo that.
@djsmiley2kindarkness Sure, as long as we're not stating things as facts that aren't confirmed yet... I'm honestly not sure if I can deal with another rumour mill where I don't know or can't talk about the facts again. So I'd really appreciate it if everybody could just make do with whatever we get :/
@djsmiley2kindarkness Not always. Sometimes you start something small and it gets bigger. Much bigger. At that point you want someone who can help your business at a higher level
While this rumor mill may answer the question, it is better to post verifiable facts and let the rumor mill die. Rumor mill-only answers cause anguish and contribute to excessive downvotes and flags.
eh, iunno, i feel like at this point nothing that has been done can be linked directly to the new CEO, or joel, for that matter. considering neither really seem to... communicate in ways we normal people can see. you can of course speculate/assume..
Also, just so everyone has the full picture, there have been cases where he's used swear words and called users here bad things. (Not making an overall opinion of him, just adding in more facts to the bowl.) See scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/a/12184
And while we can point to a handful of cases where, under enormous pressure, Shog said something that wasn't polite, I can also point to hundreds of cases where he was unfailingly civil in the face of outright trolling. So...
