First off, a post like this takes a lot of bravery to write, and for that, irrespective of the outcome over the next few months: thank you for the humility, and thank you for the courage to have owned up and taken responsibility for the decision. I don't know many people who would've done this if they could have avoided it.

It's good that you've gone over the data and noticed the change, although the main comment I would put in is: next time, don't make sweeping changes. Talk to people. I know that MSE feels rough sometimes (Yaakov noticed this on another thread - the feedback can be raw), but it's just like everything else: when you talk to people who care, they'll often be very direct about it. It's not a bad thing, although it can sometimes be synthesized down a bit to a less raw form (and that's something we should all strive towards).

Overall, I am very surprised that the feedback changed so rapidly. Probably felt like a cry for help from the people who were left by the wayside in the last 6 months (though, not all - I'll openly admit, I did not fill in any survey because I thought from the previous one and the lack of reply to the dataset that they'd just end up in /dev/null - I'm glad I was proven wrong!), which really does highlight that SO/SE and the community are two parts of the same organism/symbiotic relationship: if one starts to dominate, the other one suffers.

The code of conduct may still need some improvement, as does the welcoming wagon. Let's work together on this - because, at the end of the day, when we're all on the same boat, we're all a lot happier :-)

First off, a post like this takes a lot of bravery to write, and for that, irrespective of the outcome over the next few months: thank you for the humility, and thank you for the courage to have owned up and taken responsibility for the decision. I don't know many people who would've done this if they could have avoided it.

It's good that you've gone over the data and noticed the change, although the main comment I would put in is: next time, don't make sweeping changes. Talk to people. I know that MSE feels rough sometimes (Yaakov noticed this on another thread - the feedback can be raw), but it's just like everything else: when you talk to people who care, they'll often be very direct about it. It's not a bad thing, although it can sometimes be synthesized down a bit to a less raw form (and that's something we should all strive towards).

Overall, I am very surprised that the feedback changed so rapidly. Probably felt like a cry for help from the people who were left by the wayside in the last 6 months (though, not all - I'll openly admit, I did not fill in any survey because I thought from the previous one and the lack of reply to the dataset that they'd just end up in /dev/null - I'm glad I was proven wrong!), which really does highlight that SO/SE and the community are two parts of the same organism/symbiotic relationship: if one starts to dominate, the other one suffers.

Similarly, though, two of the main issues during this crisis (which is still ongoing; as I'm sure you can understand, a single post doesn't undo 6 months of pain. Think of it like the rubble of a bridge - it takes a while to rebuild) were the communication by edicts and the overmoderation, typically of things that disagreed with the "common" view from your side. Those are tendencies that are typically tempting, but dead-ends in terms of communication. At the end of the day, it all boils down to talking with others, not to others - open two-way communication channels, be open to being wrong, and don't be afraid to admit it. It's just like engineering, failing fast is also a communication precept.

The code of conduct may still need some improvement, as does the welcoming wagon. Let's work together on this - because, at the end of the day, when we're all on the same boat, we're all a lot happier :-)