There's a very simple fix for this that has been proven to work: charge for admission and moderate incredibly heavily. Charging some small sum, say $10, weeds o

There's a very simple fix for this that has been proven to work: charge for admission and moderate incredibly heavily. Charging some small sum, say $10, weeds out lots of younger people (no credit card). Moderating heavily deters people from joining and causing a fuss because they will quickly lose their investment. Content (and members) need to be pruned constantly. Comments with too low a karma rating should disappear; they're just noise. Submissions that are turning this place into "Economic News" should be removed before they get to the front page and get random up-votes to create even more noise (if I have to flag something on the front page, that's wrong). I have moderated many forums and though I've never modded a for-pay community, I know strict moderation works. Some people will complain, but the people who come for good content and good camaraderie will thank you for taking out the trash on a daily basis.