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When i joined this site, there were three moderators viz: Mr Alien, Ankit Sharma and Keshav Srinivasan.

Then two of them (Mr Alien and Ankit Sharma) were removed or they themselves retired (not sure). And new moderators Pandya and The Destroyer were appointed in their places. So, the moderator count remained unchanged at 3.


...................

So, i am just curious to know what's so special about the number 3? Should the number of moderators be always 3 by virtue of some rule? Can't we ever have 4 or say 5 moderators? If no, what is the reason?

EDIT:

After seeing the comments posted, i am adding another question viz: What will be the circumstances like when the SE Community will decide that 3 moderators are not enough to moderate this site? Does it in anyway depend on some site statistics like traffic etc?

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    Usually on beta, three users are appointed as moderator pro tempore. The site can have more than 3 moderators if required. Btw, you can see the history for our community here
    – Pandya Mod
    Dec 11, 2017 at 15:55
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    Actually there was a time when there was four moderators. First there was cheenbabes, senshin, and Mr. Alien, then I was added, then cheenbabes and senshin left and Ankit Sharma was added, then Mr. Alien and Ankit Sharma left and Pandya and the Destroyer was added. So in the second phase of that, there were four.
    – Keshav Srinivasan Mod
    Dec 11, 2017 at 16:00
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    The only circumstance in which our mod team might expand beyond 3 again is the same circumstance in which it expanded beyond 3 before: when there are too many flags coming in and the 3 mods aren't able to handle them all on their own.
    – Keshav Srinivasan Mod
    Dec 11, 2017 at 16:15
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    The question added as an EDIT can be more appropriately replied on MSE I think. In general, yes, it depends upon the traffic. e.g SO has 25 community mods!
    – Pandya Mod
    Dec 11, 2017 at 16:21
  • OK @Pandya so what should be done now according to you? Anyways you can do what you feel as correct. I have no issues
    – Rickross
    Dec 11, 2017 at 16:36

1 Answer 1

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So, i am just curious to know what's so special about the number 3? Should the number of moderators be always 3 by virtue of some rule? Can't we ever have 4 or say 5 moderators? If no, what is the reason?

There is no rule that there should be only 3 moderators on a site. There are sites which have just 2 moderators and those which have 25. We can always add more moderators if there is a need for it. That said, usually for Beta sites, 3 moderators are chosen at start by default.

After seeing the comments posted, i am adding another question viz: What will be the circumstances like when the SE Community will decide that 3 moderators are not enough to moderate this site? Does it in anyway depend on some site statistics like traffic etc?

The SE Community as such won't decide about the number of moderators who are needed for a site, it is decided by the sitting moderators of a site and the community managers. The community managers check the overall health of every site periodically and decide whether additional moderators need to be called upon. Additional moderators can also be requested by the moderators of a site, if they feel that there is a need to increase the mod team size (which is usually when there's a large queue at hand, continually for a few months). (And no, it does not depend on traffic, but rather the size of the moderator queue).

The procedure for graduated sites is mentioned on Meta and is the same procedure which we usually follow for the beta sites. From there:

Broadly, it's up to the moderation teams to indicate whether they need additional hands, and how many sets of hands would be ideal.

and

On beta sites, which do not have elections, Stack Exchange will appoint additional pro-tem moderators if additional help is needed.

Related post - Who do we ask if we want another moderator added during our beta?

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  • 1. there should be only 3 moderators on a site- I am not concerned for any site. I was looking w.r.t this site only. I am not aware of which sites have how many Mods. 2.We can always add more -- I don't think we can, the community can right? 3. That said, usually for Beta sites, 3 moderators are chosen at start. -- So is this a rule?
    – Rickross
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:00
  • When I said "we", I did not mean users of the site, I meant the community in general. Regarding the 3 moderators at the start, it's not a rule, per se, but a convention which has been followed.
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:05
  • Ok. but regarding the last para i think you need to back it up?
    – Rickross
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:21
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    Back it up, as in sources? Bump into any moderator across the network and ask them, it's the way how it goes. All my sources are present in the Teacher's Lounge. Anyway, I'll try to find some MSE posts about it, and update it.
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:24
  • If i am going to ask Mods in chatrooms why am i asking a Q here?
    – Rickross
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:28
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    You can certainly refer to this meta post if you want to add a new moderator to the team. meta.stackexchange.com/questions/277038/…. (I did mention the complete workflow of how to do it, in my answer, though. That is by experience)
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:31
  • You can edit the answer itself with the links you have.
    – Rickross
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:32
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    Yeah, I'll edit the answer when I do find a link which backs up my answer. This other post is a bit tangentially related only.
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 13, 2017 at 8:33
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    @Rickross Bhargav Rao himself is an elected moderator on Stack Overflow. He has given many answers on meta. His answer is better than any answer given on MSE by a normal user. The chatroom he mentioned is Teacher's Longue. It is the discussion room for all the moderators of SE and community managers. So, you need not to worry about sources for the paragraph.
    – Sarvabhouma
    Dec 15, 2017 at 19:08
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    @Nog nopes, I'll find some sources soon. There must be some of them.
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 15, 2017 at 20:00
  • @NogShine Sources will still be needed. So that all users can verify what he is saying is correct or not.
    – Rickross
    Dec 16, 2017 at 5:44
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    There @Rickross, I have edited the answer.
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 17, 2017 at 7:26
  • @BhargavRao So basically we will have more only if the current 3 decide in its favor right? So, basically if two of them (majority) want to have more we will have more?
    – Rickross
    Dec 17, 2017 at 7:30
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    @Rickross, yes. Or if the CM team feels that they need more, but it's more likely that it's the choice of the 3 present moderators.
    – Bhargav Rao
    Dec 17, 2017 at 7:32

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