> Hard rules are great for catching insults or slurs. Bingo. Hard rules encourage brinksmanship. There's always a class of "picador" users who will poke and pr

> Hard rules are great for catching insults or slurs. Bingo. Hard rules encourage brinksmanship. There's always a class of "picador" users who will poke and prod and provoke just up to the line where the rules are, then flag the response. A moderator too wrapped up in rule by technicality (or too lazy to look at context) will then come down as harshly as they can on the author of the flagged comment, and give the picador a total pass. Problem is, the picador does this again and again and again, never making a positive contribution, while their targets are often chosen precisely for their prominence. Guess which one is encouraged to continue their behavior, and which one is encouraged to go away. Has the "moderator" helped to improve discourse on the site, or helped to ruin it?