4 ms·

Lobste.rs Will Become an Echo Chamber

11 points by jandeboevrie 4y ago

metadat 4y ago
I concur, lobsters is already mostly an echo chamber for hyper-sensitive paranoid-types. My account is in good standing but you can't speak freely without severe punishment. I still like @pushcx, but it's different. I appreciate the author taking the time to write this. lobsters is definitely a bit heavy-handed on the moderation and rules front, but also has generally much higher quality discourse compared to what you can expect from HN. In reality I wish there were more highly active tech-nerd-programming-news-forum sites without eternal-september levels of noobs than just HN and lobsters. I've even entertained the idea of starting my own site and played around with the lobsters source code, but at the end of the day being an Internet site moderator is a tough job. Knowing myself I couldn't do it alone for an extended period of time. I'm no Dang. There really is no perfect solution today. Humans are simultaneously the best and the absolute worst.
- AlchemistCamp 4y ago
  > In reality I wish there were more tech-forum sites than just HN and lobsters. How about Reddit and IH?
  - rg111 4y ago
    What's IH?
    - DrRobinson 4y ago
      Probably https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.indiehackers.com/
      - AlchemistCamp 4y ago
        Exactly. IH meant Indie Hackers.
      - rg111 4y ago
        Makes sense now. Thanks.
  - metadat 4y ago
    Reddit is decidedly a scrotum cesspool (tech-centric subs), and the culture tends towards toxic. It's the everyman forum. There are exceptions, but they are few and far in between. I totally still add "reddit" to google searches to cut down on spam, but that's about it. Again, there are exceptions (homelab), but in general the discourse is lower quality than HN. What is IH?
pikelet 4y ago
I'm not sure why the author thinks that his posts were on topic because 'it's in the article'. It's clearly not what the article is about. I won't comment on the moderation (banning), but clearly that comment thread was going off the rails.
- metadat 4y ago
  Getting banned without warning is harsh. Mods here uses it as a last resort. I say this as someone who has formerly triggered warnings around here: appealing to rationality, shared goals, and positive intent can work wonders in some cases.
yaveti 4y ago
I agree with the moderator that those comments were transphobic. The author seem to say one can "cure"/treat being trans by changing habits. This reminds me of those gay conversion camps, which at least where I live, is considered very homophobic.
mkr-hn 4y ago
Calling your [@ the author, not submitter] belief reality and setting it in opposition to others' experiences sure does seem like ideology. Worse, you've based it entirely on your singular experience. Yes, sometimes people find that it wasn't dysphoria after all. Desistance and detransition are a thing, though it's usually due to social pressure or practical considerations rather than deciding the feeling wasn't real. The vast majority of trans people, up in the high 90s, do not find they can just reason, therapy, and power their way past it despite much effort, often to the point of self-destruction.

11 points by jandeboevrie 4y ago

I concur, lobsters is already mostly an echo chamber for hyper-sensitive paranoid-types. My account is in good standing but you can't speak freely without severe punishment. I still like @pushcx, but it's different. I appreciate the author taking the time to write this. lobsters is definitely a bit heavy-handed on the moderation and rules front, but also has generally much higher quality discourse compared to what you can expect from HN. In reality I wish there were more highly active tech-nerd-programming-news-forum sites without eternal-september levels of noobs than just HN and lobsters. I've even entertained the idea of starting my own site and played around with the lobsters source code, but at the end of the day being an Internet site moderator is a tough job. Knowing myself I couldn't do it alone for an extended period of time. I'm no Dang. There really is no perfect solution today. Humans are simultaneously the best and the absolute worst.

AlchemistCamp 4y ago
> In reality I wish there were more tech-forum sites than just HN and lobsters. How about Reddit and IH?
- rg111 4y ago
  What's IH?
  - DrRobinson 4y ago
    Probably https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.indiehackers.com/
    - AlchemistCamp 4y ago
      Exactly. IH meant Indie Hackers.
    - rg111 4y ago
      Makes sense now. Thanks.
- metadat 4y ago
  Reddit is decidedly a scrotum cesspool (tech-centric subs), and the culture tends towards toxic. It's the everyman forum. There are exceptions, but they are few and far in between. I totally still add "reddit" to google searches to cut down on spam, but that's about it. Again, there are exceptions (homelab), but in general the discourse is lower quality than HN. What is IH?

pikelet 4y ago

I'm not sure why the author thinks that his posts were on topic because 'it's in the article'. It's clearly not what the article is about. I won't comment on the moderation (banning), but clearly that comment thread was going off the rails.

metadat 4y ago
Getting banned without warning is harsh. Mods here uses it as a last resort. I say this as someone who has formerly triggered warnings around here: appealing to rationality, shared goals, and positive intent can work wonders in some cases.

yaveti 4y ago

I agree with the moderator that those comments were transphobic. The author seem to say one can "cure"/treat being trans by changing habits. This reminds me of those gay conversion camps, which at least where I live, is considered very homophobic.

mkr-hn 4y ago

Calling your [@ the author, not submitter] belief reality and setting it in opposition to others' experiences sure does seem like ideology. Worse, you've based it entirely on your singular experience. Yes, sometimes people find that it wasn't dysphoria after all. Desistance and detransition are a thing, though it's usually due to social pressure or practical considerations rather than deciding the feeling wasn't real. The vast majority of trans people, up in the high 90s, do not find they can just reason, therapy, and power their way past it despite much effort, often to the point of self-destruction.