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So everything else that the internet offers is worthless because you can't have a particular subjective experience in the past? People can't benefit from comput

by bragr 4y ago

So everything else that the internet offers is worthless because you can't have a particular subjective experience in the past? People can't benefit from computers because you don't approve? Everytime this particular subject comes up, commenters are quick to chime with their experiences or actual messages, and I don't think the quality of the posts was as good on average as you think. Usenet had weirdos, trolls, crazy people, political nutjobs, racists, and plenty of inane posts too. I think you're nostalgic for something that never existed.

edgyquant 4y ago
But forums did have better moderation and actively prevented flame wars. Social media quite literally encourages flame wars on a societal/global scale.
- ghaff 4y ago
  >But forums did have better moderation and actively prevented flame wars. I don't recall a lot of moderation and I do recall flame wars. I think most of the moderation was social norms, especially in an environment where many were posting under their own names from university/company/government accounts.
- amadeuspagel 4y ago
  Why the past tense? Forums - like this one - still exist. And it's easier then ever to make a moderated forum (a subreddit, a discord server, a facebook group).
  - ASalazarMX 4y ago
    In the case of Reddit, niche subreddits can be handled by a couple of moderators, but once they become popular and you have thousands of people breaking the rules, you need a full time team of capable moderators. In forums like the old Slashdot or here, users can moderate with varying degrees of skill with their votes, but users of popular subreddits will happily upvote a serial reposter in the thousands before the mods can take action, they have no idea what the rules are, and even will get mad if the mods "oppress" them. On a side note, I believe Internet usage should be an obligatory subject in school, but not for etiquette, but for common sense and resiliency against manipulation. Add socialization, mental health, and parenting too if you're changing the study plans.
thereddaikon 4y ago
No. I didn't say that and I don't think I implied that either. Benefitting from technology and having direct access to the means are not one and the same. I get to benefit from the interstate highway system but that doesn't mean I can just go and add lanes or off and on ramps wherever I want. Raising the bar to access doesn't mean people don't get the economic benefit of a connected world. It means speaking your mind in an online forum is hardware than downloading the twitter app and tapping a few buttons.
kwatsonafter 4y ago
I'll bite; yes precisely. You sound like a brownshirt trying to justify smashing a wealthy Jewish' person's antique statue. The public ruins our nice things and we have a right to complain; we also have the right to keep our nice things from degradation through democratization. It's worth noting that almost every single classical commentator from Socrates up until the Enlightenment considered, "Damos-cracy" (Democracy) an undesirable form of government; Mob rule. Remember it's not, "waspy old Conservatives" that keep new housing from being built in San Francisco-- No, it's rich Palo Alto liberals empowered by free market neoliberal power structures that keep guys that wear sock-with-sandals in multi-million dollar homes. Think about it awhile.

by bragr 4y ago

edgyquant 4y ago

But forums did have better moderation and actively prevented flame wars. Social media quite literally encourages flame wars on a societal/global scale.

ghaff 4y ago
>But forums did have better moderation and actively prevented flame wars. I don't recall a lot of moderation and I do recall flame wars. I think most of the moderation was social norms, especially in an environment where many were posting under their own names from university/company/government accounts.
amadeuspagel 4y ago
Why the past tense? Forums - like this one - still exist. And it's easier then ever to make a moderated forum (a subreddit, a discord server, a facebook group).
- ASalazarMX 4y ago
  In the case of Reddit, niche subreddits can be handled by a couple of moderators, but once they become popular and you have thousands of people breaking the rules, you need a full time team of capable moderators. In forums like the old Slashdot or here, users can moderate with varying degrees of skill with their votes, but users of popular subreddits will happily upvote a serial reposter in the thousands before the mods can take action, they have no idea what the rules are, and even will get mad if the mods "oppress" them. On a side note, I believe Internet usage should be an obligatory subject in school, but not for etiquette, but for common sense and resiliency against manipulation. Add socialization, mental health, and parenting too if you're changing the study plans.

thereddaikon 4y ago

No. I didn't say that and I don't think I implied that either. Benefitting from technology and having direct access to the means are not one and the same. I get to benefit from the interstate highway system but that doesn't mean I can just go and add lanes or off and on ramps wherever I want. Raising the bar to access doesn't mean people don't get the economic benefit of a connected world. It means speaking your mind in an online forum is hardware than downloading the twitter app and tapping a few buttons.

kwatsonafter 4y ago

I'll bite; yes precisely. You sound like a brownshirt trying to justify smashing a wealthy Jewish' person's antique statue. The public ruins our nice things and we have a right to complain; we also have the right to keep our nice things from degradation through democratization. It's worth noting that almost every single classical commentator from Socrates up until the Enlightenment considered, "Damos-cracy" (Democracy) an undesirable form of government; Mob rule. Remember it's not, "waspy old Conservatives" that keep new housing from being built in San Francisco-- No, it's rich Palo Alto liberals empowered by free market neoliberal power structures that keep guys that wear sock-with-sandals in multi-million dollar homes. Think about it awhile.