This is a question better solved by Google than by asking here: http://blog.ycombinator.com/meet-the-people-taking-over-hack...

That said, Dan Gackle (pronounced Gackley, like the town in North Dakota: http://www.gacklenorthdakota.com/) should consider adding his full name to his HN profile: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dang

And much as I like the opacity of the Bruno Schulz quote, it probably would be a good idea for him to also mention there that he is the moderator of the site, and thus the likely recipient of those questions emailed to [email protected].

I agree. I'm a weirdo who reads all of 'dangs moderator comments and I think he should have a [mod] tag in his comment datelines, too. It seems like people pretty regularly confuse him for just another busybody user.

My take is that not having the moderator moniker on his profile makes for less confrontational communications in regard to problematic behaviors. Sarting with the lightest touch that might work is probably better in the large and over the long run.

Once the [mod] tag is invoked the communication is to some extent out of band and fully public. It's a potential gasoline pour.

I really like the mechanism where a moderator can choose to add the [mod] tag to posts that they want to, but by default they just appear as a normal user.

For example, in the past dang has posted some really interesting content, but that should not be distinguished with a [mod] tag. Similarly interesting but non-moderator comments should not be distinguished.

Obvious solution: the moderator account should be called goddang.

People might also confuse non-"dang" users for him if they have a similar username.

I think a "mod" tag makes sense.

"it probably would be a good idea for him to mention there that he is the moderator of the site"

I have mentioned that also in the past as I am sure others have.

Likewise for sama, for pg, for that matter anyone else that is involved in HN or YC. (Some do of course but for the life of me I don't know why sama and pg do not). All not listing info like this does is simply enforce some secret society of HN. Which is funny given how many comments seem to rally against things like that. It's like "let's shun the newbies and put them at a disadvantage vs. established people who know the ropes and the players..". "Isn't it funny when a newbie doesn't know they are speaking to Sam Altman in their reply haha.

For what it's worth, one of the features of HN is how firmly it discourages the segregation of insiders from outsiders. That's why there aren't long running insider jokes and there is a relatively low tolerance for meanness.

I don't think the way it is handled is perfect or ideal, but community is a hard problem.

Daniel Gackle (pronounced Gackley)

https://blog.ycombinator.com/meet-the-people-taking-over-hac...