4 ms·

What exactly is 'social good', in your mind?

core-questions 6y ago
Social good is presently defined as "whatever the mob says it is at the moment". If that mob wants to hate on something, it must be virtuous to hate it. Just go look at the front page and see what I mean.
- dang 6y ago
  Please stop taking HN threads further into flamewar. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
dmix 6y ago
Making purely symbolic corporate gestures in response to popular social issues and banning everything that doesn’t fit the mold.
esperent 6y ago
It's not that complicated. Start by working to deal with the platform being used to spread racism and hate speach and go from there.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  Board members aren't really in a position to work on specific problems - their role is to set high-level priorities, and Reddit's already indicated fighting hate speech is a priority. If you want someone who's empowered to make specific concrete changes, that's not a board member.
  - badwolf 6y ago
    There's some glaringly obvious action they could take in a moment if they actually wanted to do something about fighting hate speech. They don't.
    - raxxorrax 6y ago
      No, and there are some very good reasons to not do that.
  - bigiain 6y ago
    A board is empowered to fire management who "indicate fighting hate speech is a priority", but who's actions show that's barely ever more than PR blowback driven lip service...
- dropit_sphere 6y ago
  I happen to be a member of a subreddit you'd probably describe as "racism and hate speech." Obviously I find some redeeming value there. IMO the direction you're describing seems...reactive? I mean, sure, if you don't like racism and hate speech, work to get rid of them, but there's a lot more to social good than that. Frankly I think Reddit should actively try and fragment itself a bit---give mods more power, let communities become more distinct. Maybe allow mods to add js, or let subreddits host SPA's, etc. Don't encourage subreddit enmity, but tolerate it. Reddit has a lot of users, but they don't really do much except talk and provide ad impressions. This feels like a waste, considering they're on a compute platform.
  - offa 6y ago
    What subreddit would that be, if you don't mind me asking?
    - dropit_sphere 6y ago
      I'd rather not say. I happen to like it existing.
      - esperent 6y ago
        In other words, it's a place so filled with hate and racism that you're ashamed to admit being a part of.
        zaroth 6y ago
        I think there’s space in this argument to admit that many subreddit which are not really so much a vile den of wretched filth that they objectively should be shut down, and yet in the current climate they certainly run a high risk that they would be. “Cancel culture” has become absolutely mainstream, having now reached all the way into the NYT OpEd pages. One only has to look at the myriad firings and resignations of the last 7 days to understand that there is a real threat to diverse mindsets and the open marketplace of ideas which we once strived to support.
- gpm 6y ago
  It is that complicated. How do you deal with balancing free speech and a healthy market place of ideas with stopping the spread of racism and hate speech. How do you contribute to countering these ideas you don't like instead of causing them to just move to another platform and increase division of opinions as people stop talking to other. How do you avoid moderation actions against some communities negatively impact other communities as the people from the 'banned' community flee to the unbanned one. How do you ensure consistent high quality moderation without going bankrupt. The list goes on and on. High quality moderation is not a solved problem, we don't really even know what it looks like at scale.

Social good is presently defined as "whatever the mob says it is at the moment". If that mob wants to hate on something, it must be virtuous to hate it. Just go look at the front page and see what I mean.

dang 6y ago
Please stop taking HN threads further into flamewar. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

dmix 6y ago

Making purely symbolic corporate gestures in response to popular social issues and banning everything that doesn’t fit the mold.

esperent 6y ago

It's not that complicated. Start by working to deal with the platform being used to spread racism and hate speach and go from there.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
Board members aren't really in a position to work on specific problems - their role is to set high-level priorities, and Reddit's already indicated fighting hate speech is a priority. If you want someone who's empowered to make specific concrete changes, that's not a board member.
- badwolf 6y ago
  There's some glaringly obvious action they could take in a moment if they actually wanted to do something about fighting hate speech. They don't.
  - raxxorrax 6y ago
    No, and there are some very good reasons to not do that.
- bigiain 6y ago
  A board is empowered to fire management who "indicate fighting hate speech is a priority", but who's actions show that's barely ever more than PR blowback driven lip service...
dropit_sphere 6y ago
I happen to be a member of a subreddit you'd probably describe as "racism and hate speech." Obviously I find some redeeming value there. IMO the direction you're describing seems...reactive? I mean, sure, if you don't like racism and hate speech, work to get rid of them, but there's a lot more to social good than that. Frankly I think Reddit should actively try and fragment itself a bit---give mods more power, let communities become more distinct. Maybe allow mods to add js, or let subreddits host SPA's, etc. Don't encourage subreddit enmity, but tolerate it. Reddit has a lot of users, but they don't really do much except talk and provide ad impressions. This feels like a waste, considering they're on a compute platform.
- offa 6y ago
  What subreddit would that be, if you don't mind me asking?
  - dropit_sphere 6y ago
    I'd rather not say. I happen to like it existing.
    - esperent 6y ago
      In other words, it's a place so filled with hate and racism that you're ashamed to admit being a part of.
      - zaroth 6y ago
        I think there’s space in this argument to admit that many subreddit which are not really so much a vile den of wretched filth that they objectively should be shut down, and yet in the current climate they certainly run a high risk that they would be. “Cancel culture” has become absolutely mainstream, having now reached all the way into the NYT OpEd pages. One only has to look at the myriad firings and resignations of the last 7 days to understand that there is a real threat to diverse mindsets and the open marketplace of ideas which we once strived to support.
gpm 6y ago
It is that complicated. How do you deal with balancing free speech and a healthy market place of ideas with stopping the spread of racism and hate speech. How do you contribute to countering these ideas you don't like instead of causing them to just move to another platform and increase division of opinions as people stop talking to other. How do you avoid moderation actions against some communities negatively impact other communities as the people from the 'banned' community flee to the unbanned one. How do you ensure consistent high quality moderation without going bankrupt. The list goes on and on. High quality moderation is not a solved problem, we don't really even know what it looks like at scale.