3 ms·

reddit and 4chan were famously very strongly "free speech" before gamergate kicked off our current political climate People don't realize that you want the fil

reddit and 4chan were famously very strongly "free speech" before gamergate kicked off our current political climate People don't realize that you want the filth out in the open, where it can be tracked. Deplatforming doesn't kill anything, it just sends it underground, furthering the cause for the various shadow systems that spring up from it.

ceejayoz 4y ago
If you’re counting niche places like 4chan, you can still get to places like that today. Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Forcing the shitty folks underground breaks the edgy-meme-to-radicalization pipeline quite effectively. I’ve greatly enjoyed not having to hear about Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopolis every day. https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/06/deplatforming-works-this-new-data-on-trump-tweets-shows/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/06/deplatforming-works-this-n... > But kicking Milo Yiannopoulos off Twitter didn’t make him stronger. It pushed him almost completely off the mainstream agenda. And part of the “fun” of being a Milo fan was precisely that prominence! You weren’t just listening to a random online crank; you were listening to an online crank who was very good at getting under prominent people’s skin. Lose that reach and some of the thrill is gone.
- concordDance 4y ago
  Note that reddit admin level moderation got more extreme over time. Banning many communities and threatening others to change. You may agree or disagree whether this is a good thing, but it definitely happened.
- pdntspa 4y ago
  > Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Yes it was, as once upon a time Reddit itself didn't take down a whole lot. If the mods of a given community didn't do what you think they are supposed to do then there were no real, enforced rules.
- braingenious 4y ago
  > Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. That is a distinction without a difference. Have you ever heard of violentacrez?
- trafficante 4y ago
  > Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Sure, but the moderation team members have dramatically shifted from (and I’m being glib here) “kinda cringey atheist libertarians” to “authoritarian left/liberals steeped in idpol”. The “Reddit moderator” cohort whiplashed from one extreme on the political compass to its polar opposite extreme in only a few years. Not claiming anything conspiratorial since I can certainly imagine how it could happen organically, but it’s interesting nonetheless how much of an effect different moderation standards can have on large online communities.
  - concordDance 4y ago
    Also note that it wasn't a conspiracy as reddit powermods like Merari (moderator of 300 subreddits) openly talk about it how they took control of reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/ContraPoints/comments/arm0u1/meta_can_we_discuss_this_claims/ https://old.reddit.com/r/ContraPoints/comments/arm0u1/meta_c...
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  > Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Hah. They permitted /r/n****** for years. Just about the only thing reddit would outright ban you for was illegal content, and maybe automated spamming.
concordDance 4y ago
It decreases the total amount of it while substantially concentrating and intensifying it (after all, only the prople quite inhappy with moderation will go to the new platform and from then on they wont be exposed to contrary views). You metaphorically decrease the number of people who might describe gay people with slurs while increasing the number who would shoot up a gay nightclub.

ceejayoz 4y ago

If you’re counting niche places like 4chan, you can still get to places like that today. Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Forcing the shitty folks underground breaks the edgy-meme-to-radicalization pipeline quite effectively. I’ve greatly enjoyed not having to hear about Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopolis every day. https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/06/deplatforming-works-this-new-data-on-trump-tweets-shows/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/06/deplatforming-works-this-n... > But kicking Milo Yiannopoulos off Twitter didn’t make him stronger. It pushed him almost completely off the mainstream agenda. And part of the “fun” of being a Milo fan was precisely that prominence! You weren’t just listening to a random online crank; you were listening to an online crank who was very good at getting under prominent people’s skin. Lose that reach and some of the thrill is gone.

concordDance 4y ago
Note that reddit admin level moderation got more extreme over time. Banning many communities and threatening others to change. You may agree or disagree whether this is a good thing, but it definitely happened.
pdntspa 4y ago
> Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Yes it was, as once upon a time Reddit itself didn't take down a whole lot. If the mods of a given community didn't do what you think they are supposed to do then there were no real, enforced rules.
braingenious 4y ago
> Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. That is a distinction without a difference. Have you ever heard of violentacrez?
trafficante 4y ago
> Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Sure, but the moderation team members have dramatically shifted from (and I’m being glib here) “kinda cringey atheist libertarians” to “authoritarian left/liberals steeped in idpol”. The “Reddit moderator” cohort whiplashed from one extreme on the political compass to its polar opposite extreme in only a few years. Not claiming anything conspiratorial since I can certainly imagine how it could happen organically, but it’s interesting nonetheless how much of an effect different moderation standards can have on large online communities.
- concordDance 4y ago
  Also note that it wasn't a conspiracy as reddit powermods like Merari (moderator of 300 subreddits) openly talk about it how they took control of reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/ContraPoints/comments/arm0u1/meta_can_we_discuss_this_claims/ https://old.reddit.com/r/ContraPoints/comments/arm0u1/meta_c...
LarryMullins 4y ago
> Reddit has been moderated the entire time, at a per-community level. It was never a free-for-all. Hah. They permitted /r/n****** for years. Just about the only thing reddit would outright ban you for was illegal content, and maybe automated spamming.

concordDance 4y ago

It decreases the total amount of it while substantially concentrating and intensifying it (after all, only the prople quite inhappy with moderation will go to the new platform and from then on they wont be exposed to contrary views). You metaphorically decrease the number of people who might describe gay people with slurs while increasing the number who would shoot up a gay nightclub.