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I'm hesitant to post anything, anywhere, just because I don't want to offend anyone by expressing an earnest opinion. I think the trend's moving more quickly t

I'm hesitant to post anything, anywhere, just because I don't want to offend anyone by expressing an earnest opinion. I think the trend's moving more quickly towards self-censorship than anyone realizes. How can we even quantify that? Those who censor just disappear? What stands out for me is the obvious monoculture we're developing. I miss custom PHPBB boards for every little interest and opinion.

ryan_lane 7y ago
This is like the argument from male managers who say they can't have 1-1s with their female workers. It's tired, and shows a lot about your character. When you say this, you're sending up a red flag with a flare.
- scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
  I just don't have 1-1s with anyone I manage. Don't want problems for having 1-1s with women, don't want discrimination accusations for having 1-1s with men. No one can accuse me of anything if everything happens in an open office with plenty of witnesses.
  - ryan_lane 7y ago
    You shouldn't be a manager.
  - CRConrad 7y ago
    How do you do performance reviews (or whatever they're called at your workplace) with those you manage, then?
    - scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
      Good point, those are private, but I go in with the paper version of their review in that case and they sign a document at the end which states we discussed everything in the document during the meeting.
  - argv_empty 7y ago
    Don't want problems for having 1-1s with women What sort of problems? I don't hear about many cases of women accusing other women of using their status as manager for sexual harassment.
    - scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
      I'm a lesbian...
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    > No one can accuse me of anything if everything happens in an open office with plenty of witnesses. If you won't have one-on-ones over issues that are personal and sensitive, and force them to be dealt with “in an open office with plenty of witnesses”, then, yeah, there will probably be things you can be accused of on that basis alone.
ivan_gammel 7y ago
Self-censorship is a norm which always existed as a social behavior, even online. In a small geeky world of early days of Internet, when community of connected people was small and more homogeneous, it was easier to touch certain topics without receiving strong reactions, but it didn’t mean self-censorship did not exist. It just concerned different things and the worst that could happen was a ban on the forum or IRC channel. It’s still the case for unimportant people: no one cares what random Joe says online. Everyone expects that opinion leader conforms to the norms of society - hence all those crazy scientists are being ostracized for spreading nonsense outside their field of research.
proy24 7y ago
I think what is perceived by a community as right or wrong changes as the composition of the community changes...I mean Trump doesn't self-censor because he reflects the values of his broader base and his base eats up whatever he says....RMS' hugs and kisses, free love, anything goes attitude might have been ok during the hippie era of the 70s and 80s during the formative years of his career but does not reflect the values and sensibilities of today's broader development community....which means he needed to adapt or step down. -- The Dark knight quote - "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain" seems apt in this scenario.
- ganzuul 7y ago
  Ironic how in the subject of moderation in self-censorship someone with an upopular opinion gets suppressed. I really wish you'd have to write a reason when downvoting.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
d6e 7y ago
Phpbb forums didn't go away because of self censorship, they were simply replaced with bigger sites like Reddit. If you're trying to create a community around a niche topic, a subreddit is substantially easier to create than deploying and maintaining a forum.
- fingerlocks 7y ago
  I was not aware that phpbb forums disappeared; I regularly read three of them that are all quite active. Yes, there are subreddit counterparts, but the reddit versions are mostly filled with crappy karma-seeking memes and wildly off-topic discussions. The phpbb forums tend to be a lot more ruthless in self-moderation and probably a fair amount of gatekeeping too. But the content is significantly better than reddit, which I believe is a source of pride for many of the participants. I also get the impression that there is a growing sense of “coolness” using a crappy outdated UX. I predict the return and rise of the niche community sites will happen before its total disappearance.
- bigbugbag 7y ago
  phpbb forums went away ? I'm still visit those on a regular basis. some did close but the reason is facebook sucked people in its time consuming spiral of irrelevant noise.
- kfrzcode 7y ago
  But then you're at the whims of a board of shareholders who will decide what is acceptable content.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

ryan_lane 7y ago

This is like the argument from male managers who say they can't have 1-1s with their female workers. It's tired, and shows a lot about your character. When you say this, you're sending up a red flag with a flare.

scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
I just don't have 1-1s with anyone I manage. Don't want problems for having 1-1s with women, don't want discrimination accusations for having 1-1s with men. No one can accuse me of anything if everything happens in an open office with plenty of witnesses.
- ryan_lane 7y ago
  You shouldn't be a manager.
- CRConrad 7y ago
  How do you do performance reviews (or whatever they're called at your workplace) with those you manage, then?
  - scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
    Good point, those are private, but I go in with the paper version of their review in that case and they sign a document at the end which states we discussed everything in the document during the meeting.
- argv_empty 7y ago
  Don't want problems for having 1-1s with women What sort of problems? I don't hear about many cases of women accusing other women of using their status as manager for sexual harassment.
  - scoobyyabbadoo 7y ago
    I'm a lesbian...
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > No one can accuse me of anything if everything happens in an open office with plenty of witnesses. If you won't have one-on-ones over issues that are personal and sensitive, and force them to be dealt with “in an open office with plenty of witnesses”, then, yeah, there will probably be things you can be accused of on that basis alone.

ivan_gammel 7y ago

Self-censorship is a norm which always existed as a social behavior, even online. In a small geeky world of early days of Internet, when community of connected people was small and more homogeneous, it was easier to touch certain topics without receiving strong reactions, but it didn’t mean self-censorship did not exist. It just concerned different things and the worst that could happen was a ban on the forum or IRC channel. It’s still the case for unimportant people: no one cares what random Joe says online. Everyone expects that opinion leader conforms to the norms of society - hence all those crazy scientists are being ostracized for spreading nonsense outside their field of research.

proy24 7y ago

I think what is perceived by a community as right or wrong changes as the composition of the community changes...I mean Trump doesn't self-censor because he reflects the values of his broader base and his base eats up whatever he says....RMS' hugs and kisses, free love, anything goes attitude might have been ok during the hippie era of the 70s and 80s during the formative years of his career but does not reflect the values and sensibilities of today's broader development community....which means he needed to adapt or step down. -- The Dark knight quote - "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain" seems apt in this scenario.

ganzuul 7y ago
Ironic how in the subject of moderation in self-censorship someone with an upopular opinion gets suppressed. I really wish you'd have to write a reason when downvoting.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

d6e 7y ago

Phpbb forums didn't go away because of self censorship, they were simply replaced with bigger sites like Reddit. If you're trying to create a community around a niche topic, a subreddit is substantially easier to create than deploying and maintaining a forum.

fingerlocks 7y ago
I was not aware that phpbb forums disappeared; I regularly read three of them that are all quite active. Yes, there are subreddit counterparts, but the reddit versions are mostly filled with crappy karma-seeking memes and wildly off-topic discussions. The phpbb forums tend to be a lot more ruthless in self-moderation and probably a fair amount of gatekeeping too. But the content is significantly better than reddit, which I believe is a source of pride for many of the participants. I also get the impression that there is a growing sense of “coolness” using a crappy outdated UX. I predict the return and rise of the niche community sites will happen before its total disappearance.
bigbugbag 7y ago
phpbb forums went away ? I'm still visit those on a regular basis. some did close but the reason is facebook sucked people in its time consuming spiral of irrelevant noise.
kfrzcode 7y ago
But then you're at the whims of a board of shareholders who will decide what is acceptable content.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]