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I've noticed a (large) number of users (myself included, as will be apparent) on Stack Overflow have recently amended their usernames to include a "Show of Support" for Monica Cellio. I was wondering is there a way to determine how many folks throughout the SE communities have done so?

This is sort of a two- or three-pronged question:

  1. I would imagine this would not be possible for ordinary users.
  2. Maybe moderators have tools to retrieve such statistics.
  3. Perhaps most importantly, how would such actions potentially 'impact' SE staff.

As an aside: From personal experience, I think such 'gestures' can be effective! In a recent post on which both another user with a similarly-changed username (Lightness Races…) and I had made comments, a third party (a relatively new user) was prompted to ask, "Who's Monica?" Direction was, of course, duly given to the link I have included herein.

Edit, not by the OP, to try to make a case for the validity of this Question: We have reached a point where almost everything that can be said about The Mess has been said, and said several times. Also, Monica has retained legal counsel. Both reasons argue for something like a cease fire on our part, but one where we maintain strong pressure. Modification of user name is one way -- not the only way -- to keep the issue visible. Data on this this point would be helpful in deciding the most useful tactics to keep the pressure on without being counterproductive. I emphasize that this is not meant to be divisive; strong supporters of Monica have shown their support without adopting this tactic.

put on hold as too broad by Jason Bassford Supports Monica, Ward, Stormblessed, Robert Longson, hims056 Nov 11 at 4:41

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

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    A SEDE query looking for usernames with Monica's name within them might help, if you could filter them based on users that have posted to Meta SE or have changed their name within the past month would probably get you your results. – Script47 Nov 8 at 20:47
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    You can count mine didn't change, which doesn't mean I don't support Monica. – πάντα ῥεῖ Nov 8 at 20:48
  • @Script47 OK, thanks. I've not come across SEDE queries before - I'll need to do some exploring (and learning, I guess). – Adrian - Reinstate Monica Nov 8 at 20:49
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    No seriously, why is this an important data point? – Makoto Nov 8 at 21:00
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    @Makoto Well, w.r.t. my point (3) - It would be nice to know if the message is getting through to the folks who could change things for the better. – Adrian - Reinstate Monica Nov 8 at 21:03
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    I fail to see how that would actually be a measure of this. My gut tells me that, since Monica declared that she wasn't going to go through the new process, the fact that everyone's changing their usernames isn't going to accomplish anything. This is still Stack Exchange's system. There can be disagreements - and yes, there are lots of them - but it's ultimately their way or the highway. – Makoto Nov 8 at 21:07
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    I was supporting Monica ever since everything started, but only recently changed my username. Does that mean my support didn't "count" until I changed it? – weakdna says reinstate monica Nov 8 at 23:14
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    @weakdnasaysreinstatemonica I most certainly did not intend that to be the implication of my question. I also only changed my username recently - I saw more and more others doing it and thought it was a nice idea. I was just looking for some feedback and/or possible inspiration as to what type of things 'ordinary' SE members can do. – Adrian - Reinstate Monica Nov 8 at 23:18
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    @Makoto, you are confusing 2 isssues. There is a new reinstatement process, yes, and it might even be fairly reasonable. But the problem here is that Monica was not fairly treated to begin with, not expulsed under any sort of decent standard or procedure. So the normal followup should be public apologies and automatic reinstatement. In her shoes I wouldn't subject myself to a farce of a retrospective reinstatement procedure either, that's just pointlessly insulting. – George M Reinstate Monica Nov 9 at 0:57
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    There are no Monica supporters. Move along, there's a shiny new question over there. – James Reinstate Monica Polk Nov 9 at 15:32
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    @Makoto Core issue is that procedure for removing moderator was not followed, so she wasn't rightfully removed. Because of that she should not be subjected to process for reinstating and she should be just reinstated, plain and simple. (Yes, I am aware SE can do what they want...) – Her Majesty Queen of ARC Nov 9 at 16:08
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    @ReinstateMonicaNow Thanks for the edit. 👍 – Adrian - Reinstate Monica Nov 9 at 19:20
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    @Makoto at this point this is about SE apologizing for framing Monica as a bigot of some sort. Reinstatement is completely optional. – JonathanReez Supports Monica Nov 9 at 23:33
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    I realize that close reasons don't actually mean anything, but "too broad"? Really? – SolveIt Nov 11 at 5:27
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    Voting to reopen, there's nothing "broad" about asking for specific statistics. – Mari-Lou A 2 days ago
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Related:

I echo the top part:

Such a list would not be sustainable.

A SEDE query could do this though, but I don't really see the point.

19

To get an idea, I simply go to the Users page of a site (https://meta.stackexchange.com/users) and type in the word 'reinstate' in the filter to get an idea how many. There's 36 users per page.

At the moment, there is 154. I've watched this over the past couple weeks, and it has slowly and steadily grown. Given the number of SE users, I question whether that is enough to get any attention by SE employees. And even if it did get their attention, they would also have to care (which I also doubt). But everything has to start somewhere.

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    Not everyone who supports her is going to use the word "reinstate" Some might say: "supports" or "stands with" or any number of clever variations. You would have to do a search for "monica" and then manually review all of the irrelevant ones. Example: meta.stackexchange.com/users/628364/… – SurpriseDog Nov 8 at 22:23
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    @SurpriseDog So, let's say that takes the count up to ~1,000. Doesn't sound much but, if many of these are highly active participants (as they seem to be in the SO tags I follow), then the message is getting across to the site's visitors. This may have an impact if advertisers, etc., start getting twitchy. – Adrian - Reinstate Monica Nov 8 at 22:26
  • @SurpriseDog the search for 'reinstate' is a good probe/indicator. Do we need an exact number? – Sextus Empiricus Nov 9 at 11:13

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