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The point of moderation is not to make everyone happy. It’s to maximize profit, which is a second order effect of the size and engagement of the user base. If a
by jakelazaroff 5y ago
The point of moderation is not to make everyone happy. It’s to maximize profit, which is a second order effect of the size and engagement of the user base. If assholes are being toxic on your platform, that might be good for a while — until people start leaving and the media starts reporting on it.
If someone is being an asshole to other patrons in a bar, they get thrown out. No one worries about whether they’re happy with the decision. No one says “actually their comments are only subjectively asshole-ish.” We make these judgments constantly, in basically every arena in life. Why do we start wringing our hands when it comes to online platforms?
- SpicyLemonZest 5y agoI don't know if this is true for everyone, but I had no issue a decade ago. I only started wringing my hands once I started seeing people abuse online moderation policies for political gain. I've seen increasing evidence of that over the years, and the big crossover point for me was in October, when Twitter moderators banned a newspaper article about a presidential candidate's son under the premise that obtaining his private documents was hacking.