6 ms·

I think the big difference is how oversensitive society is now. Before, your moderators just had to deal with outright illegal content, maybe a flame war or tw

I think the big difference is how oversensitive society is now. Before, your moderators just had to deal with outright illegal content, maybe a flame war or two (or just move the discussion to the flame war section). If you ran into anything as a user, it was understood that you should report it and that the moderators would get to it with varying degrees of speed. There was no expectation of a perfectly safe bubble. Now, if even the most milquetoast comment which could possible be offensive if I assume the absolute worst about the poster, isn't moderated post-hate, you'll be reported to the media who will almost certainly archive it and use it to fill the next 1 - 24 hours of their outrage media cycle. I honestly see a future where people file lawsuits against web sites for not moderating enough, a failure to keep safe or sort of negligence. "Your web site gave me PTSD or enabled cyber-bulling". What's worst, they'll win.

komali2 8y ago
I think this argument has been being made by people for two thousand years (this generation is too soft! Uphill both ways in the snow!) but I've yet to see a causation demonstrated.
- mmsimanga 8y ago
  Just watch an old movie from about the 90s and you will be surprised how politically incorrect some of those movies were. They are just a reflection of what was acceptable in those days.
  - Pfhreak 8y ago
    And in 20 years we'll watch media from this decade and be shocked at what we put in our media. Society advances, culture changes. Viewing the past through the lens of the present is always going to be a different exercise than viewing the present through the lens of the present.
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      Society advances, culture changes. I agree with the second part of that. Not necessarily the first. Viewing the past through the lens of the present is always going to be a different exercise than viewing the present through the lens of the present. Unfortunately, we live in a culture of intolerance. A few months ago there was a race car driver who lost his sponsorship because of something his father said before the driver was even born.
      - komali2 8y ago
        >we live in a culture of intolerance This is quite the theory - do you have more backing other than the single instance you've just quoted? And what is "intolerance" and why is this "bad"?
        reaperducer 8y ago
        You're asking for a lot in a very small space. HN isn't the proper forum to discuss this, and I can't take that much time away from work to educate you. If you can't see it for yourself, then there's nothing I can do for you.
        komali2 8y ago
        That makes a lot of sense to me, so I'm curious why you lobbed the theory over the wall at a public forum with no intention of defending it. Would you believe me if I told you "we live in the greatest age of free speech in human history - our societies are more tolerant than ever before?" No? Well, I've given as much argument as you, so I suppose we are at an impasse.
        zeveb 8y ago
        > > we live in a culture of intolerance > This is quite the theory - do you have more backing other than the single instance you've just quoted? Not the OP, but I recently saw this comment: > I never used the word tolerant but on that note, I don't think morally wrong views should be tolerated. The author was one komali2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230409 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230409
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    Yep. Society has changed a lot in recent history. Things that were considered OK in the 80's and 90's will end your career today. Example: The 1985 Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" is shortened when played on radio in Canada, and on non-rock stations on Sirius Satellite Radio because it has a verse that is now considered unacceptable. Example: In the 1990's sit-com Frasier, it was mentioned at least once that people were being referred to psychological counseling for homosexuality.
  - komali2 8y ago
    Agreed - it's quite remarkable. In conversations with non-white friends of mine, it's fairly eye-opening how recently they feel they've gotten a fair shake in films. Like, remember Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany's? It's insane what they got away with.

komali2 8y ago

I think this argument has been being made by people for two thousand years (this generation is too soft! Uphill both ways in the snow!) but I've yet to see a causation demonstrated.

mmsimanga 8y ago
Just watch an old movie from about the 90s and you will be surprised how politically incorrect some of those movies were. They are just a reflection of what was acceptable in those days.
- Pfhreak 8y ago
  And in 20 years we'll watch media from this decade and be shocked at what we put in our media. Society advances, culture changes. Viewing the past through the lens of the present is always going to be a different exercise than viewing the present through the lens of the present.
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    Society advances, culture changes. I agree with the second part of that. Not necessarily the first. Viewing the past through the lens of the present is always going to be a different exercise than viewing the present through the lens of the present. Unfortunately, we live in a culture of intolerance. A few months ago there was a race car driver who lost his sponsorship because of something his father said before the driver was even born.
    - komali2 8y ago
      >we live in a culture of intolerance This is quite the theory - do you have more backing other than the single instance you've just quoted? And what is "intolerance" and why is this "bad"?
      - reaperducer 8y ago
        You're asking for a lot in a very small space. HN isn't the proper forum to discuss this, and I can't take that much time away from work to educate you. If you can't see it for yourself, then there's nothing I can do for you.
        komali2 8y ago
        That makes a lot of sense to me, so I'm curious why you lobbed the theory over the wall at a public forum with no intention of defending it. Would you believe me if I told you "we live in the greatest age of free speech in human history - our societies are more tolerant than ever before?" No? Well, I've given as much argument as you, so I suppose we are at an impasse.
      - zeveb 8y ago
        > > we live in a culture of intolerance > This is quite the theory - do you have more backing other than the single instance you've just quoted? Not the OP, but I recently saw this comment: > I never used the word tolerant but on that note, I don't think morally wrong views should be tolerated. The author was one komali2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230409 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230409
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Yep. Society has changed a lot in recent history. Things that were considered OK in the 80's and 90's will end your career today. Example: The 1985 Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" is shortened when played on radio in Canada, and on non-rock stations on Sirius Satellite Radio because it has a verse that is now considered unacceptable. Example: In the 1990's sit-com Frasier, it was mentioned at least once that people were being referred to psychological counseling for homosexuality.
- komali2 8y ago
  Agreed - it's quite remarkable. In conversations with non-white friends of mine, it's fairly eye-opening how recently they feel they've gotten a fair shake in films. Like, remember Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany's? It's insane what they got away with.