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Let me see now: You start your comment with an ad hominem attack on the author and then move to making an unsubstantiated claim that contradicts the experience

Let me see now: You start your comment with an ad hominem attack on the author and then move to making an unsubstantiated claim that contradicts the experience of Every. Single. Online. Community. I don't think you're contributing to this discussion, and in fact, your comment is an example of what drags discourse into the gutter: Emotional, personal attacks coupled with information-free claims contradicting the established body of knowledge in a field. If I had the power, I'd mod your comment and all like it into oblivion without hesitation, along with being very clear to you and anyone asking why I would make that choice.

MrZongle2 13y ago
If I had the power, I'd mod your comment and all like it into oblivion without hesitation, along with being very clear to you and anyone asking why I would make that choice. I hope that's sarcasm, otherwise you're simply reinforcing my point.
- raganwald 13y ago
  No, it isn't sarcasm. Online communities need moderation to thrive. If you allow people to insult each other at will, eventually you drive all the thoughtful folks away: We have better things to do than constantly point out Discussion 101 things like fallacies and abusive behaviour. Unmoderated forums end up full of people who have a great deal of time on their hands and a large emotional attachment to arguing online. If that's your bag, you should hang out in such places. If it isn't you should try to avoid comments that come out swinging with insults. I favour moderated forums, and I favour moderating away comments that are blatant examples of abuse. Your tastes may vary. p.s. Normally I just downvote and move on, but since this discussion is actually about moderation, I thought that explaining myself was appropriate. But normally, I don;t engage in much of this kind of discussion, because it "feeds the trolls:" People with an emotional axe to grind thrive on arguing angrily about why they should be allowed to argue, angrily.

MrZongle2 13y ago

If I had the power, I'd mod your comment and all like it into oblivion without hesitation, along with being very clear to you and anyone asking why I would make that choice. I hope that's sarcasm, otherwise you're simply reinforcing my point.

raganwald 13y ago
No, it isn't sarcasm. Online communities need moderation to thrive. If you allow people to insult each other at will, eventually you drive all the thoughtful folks away: We have better things to do than constantly point out Discussion 101 things like fallacies and abusive behaviour. Unmoderated forums end up full of people who have a great deal of time on their hands and a large emotional attachment to arguing online. If that's your bag, you should hang out in such places. If it isn't you should try to avoid comments that come out swinging with insults. I favour moderated forums, and I favour moderating away comments that are blatant examples of abuse. Your tastes may vary. p.s. Normally I just downvote and move on, but since this discussion is actually about moderation, I thought that explaining myself was appropriate. But normally, I don;t engage in much of this kind of discussion, because it "feeds the trolls:" People with an emotional axe to grind thrive on arguing angrily about why they should be allowed to argue, angrily.