The thing that one needs to reign in to create any kind of functional culture is social punishments of the virtues and values that are good and should be supported and are the lifeblood of the site by my lights.
Well, I agree with all of that except the last three words. Except that it seems to me that the things that you’d need to reign in is the social (and administrative) punishment that you are doing, not anything else.
I’ve been reviewing older discussions lately. I’ve come to the conclusion that the most disruptive effects by far, among all discussions that I’ve been involved with, were created directly and exclusively by the LW moderators, and that if the mods had simply done absolutely nothing at all, most of those disruptions just wouldn’t have happened.
The only reason—the only reason!—why a simple question ended up leading to a three-digit-comment-count “meta” discussion about “moderation norms” and so on, was because you started that discussion. You, personally. If you had just done literally nothing at all, it would have been completely fine. A simple question would’ve been asked and then answered. Some productive follow-up discussion would’ve taken place. And that’s all.
Many such cases.
The absence of moderation does not create some special magical place in which speech can flow freely and truth can be seen clearly.
It’s a good thing, then, that nobody in this discussion has called for the “absence of moderation”…
My models of online platforms say that if you want a place with good discussion the first priority is to optimize its signal-to-noise ratio, and make it be a place that sets the right social incentives.
Thanks Said. As you know, I have little interest in this discussion with you, as we have litigated it many times.
Please don’t respond further to my comments. I am still thinking about this, but I will likely issue you a proper ban in the next few days. You will probably have an opportunity to say some final words if you desire.
The only reason—the only reason!—why a simple question ended up leading to a three-digit-comment-count “meta” discussion about “moderation norms” and so on, was because you started that discussion. You, personally. If you had just done literally nothing at all, it would have been completely fine. A simple question would’ve been asked and then answered. Some productive follow-up discussion would’ve taken place. And that’s all.
Look, this just feels like a kind of crazy catch-22. I weak-downvoted a comment, and answered a question you asked about why someone would downvote your comment. I was not responsible for anything but a small fraction of the relevant votes, nor do I consider any blame to have fallen upon me when honestly explaining my case for a weak-downvote. I did not start anything. You asked a question, I answered it, trying to be helpful in understanding where the votes came from.
It really is extremely predictable that if you ask a question about why a thing was downvoted, that you will get a meta conversation about what is appropriate on the site and what is not.
But again, please, let this rest. Find some other place to be. I am very likely the only moderator for this site that you are going to get, and as you seem to think my moderation is cause for much of your bad experiences, there is little hope in that changing for you. You are not going to change my mind in the 701st hour of comment thread engagement, if you didn’t succeed in the first 700.
Well, I agree with all of that except the last three words. Except that it seems to me that the things that you’d need to reign in is the social (and administrative) punishment that you are doing, not anything else.
I’ve been reviewing older discussions lately. I’ve come to the conclusion that the most disruptive effects by far, among all discussions that I’ve been involved with, were created directly and exclusively by the LW moderators, and that if the mods had simply done absolutely nothing at all, most of those disruptions just wouldn’t have happened.
I mean, take this discussion. I asked a simple question about the post. The author of the post (himself an LW mod!), when he got around to answering the question, had absolutely no trouble giving a perfectly coherent and reasonable answer. Neither did he show any signs of perceiving the question to be problematic in any way. And the testimony of multiple other commenters (including from longtime members who had contributed many useful comments over the years) affirmed that my question made sense and was highly relevant to the core point of the post.
The only reason—the only reason!—why a simple question ended up leading to a three-digit-comment-count “meta” discussion about “moderation norms” and so on, was because you started that discussion. You, personally. If you had just done literally nothing at all, it would have been completely fine. A simple question would’ve been asked and then answered. Some productive follow-up discussion would’ve taken place. And that’s all.
Many such cases.
It’s a good thing, then, that nobody in this discussion has called for the “absence of moderation”…
I certainly agree with this.
Thanks Said. As you know, I have little interest in this discussion with you, as we have litigated it many times.
Please don’t respond further to my comments. I am still thinking about this, but I will likely issue you a proper ban in the next few days. You will probably have an opportunity to say some final words if you desire.
Look, this just feels like a kind of crazy catch-22. I weak-downvoted a comment, and answered a question you asked about why someone would downvote your comment. I was not responsible for anything but a small fraction of the relevant votes, nor do I consider any blame to have fallen upon me when honestly explaining my case for a weak-downvote. I did not start anything. You asked a question, I answered it, trying to be helpful in understanding where the votes came from.
It really is extremely predictable that if you ask a question about why a thing was downvoted, that you will get a meta conversation about what is appropriate on the site and what is not.
But again, please, let this rest. Find some other place to be. I am very likely the only moderator for this site that you are going to get, and as you seem to think my moderation is cause for much of your bad experiences, there is little hope in that changing for you. You are not going to change my mind in the 701st hour of comment thread engagement, if you didn’t succeed in the first 700.