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That's because forums generally have topics and rules. If we're in a forum about sports cars and you're constantly starting adversarial threads about city plann
by Karrot_Kream 5y ago
That's because forums generally have topics and rules. If we're in a forum about sports cars and you're constantly starting adversarial threads about city planning and parking, then mods would probably censor you to keep the forum on topic. Places like Facebook advertise themselves as the "town square of the web". Traditionally nobody was censored in the town square. There's a difference between purpose built communities and the general network of communication.
The term moderation itself often came from debate and discussion venues where moderators would police speeches.
- heyitsguay 5y ago> Traditionally nobody was censored in the town square. This isn't true, it's just that the spatial constraints IRL mean there's never been a need to scale moderation of town squares beyond intuitive methods. Go to your physical town square and start screaming slurs and threats of violence at passers-by, and see how long it takes before the community "censors" you.
- Karrot_Kream 5y ago> screaming slurs and threats of violence at passers-by, and see how long it takes before the community "censors" you. In developing and developed countries I've had (ostensibly) mentally ill people shouting epithets at passerbys and they're just ignored. So I think this is more about cultural norms. Moreover, the case you mention is simple. If a spammer joins a forum and starts spamming, there's usually broad support to kick them out. Once the argument becomes ideological, that's when sentiment is a lot more mixed