Over moderation

[Doctor Amos]

Lately, I'v been thinking 'bout who's in charge. And are they looking down and laughing hard? And are they aliens, or humanoids, or robots? I think I'm just paranoid.

[Soundwave]

Alien humanoid robots, clearly.

That can transform into various objects, being more than meets the eye.

[Justin]

There is a difference between calling an idiot an idiot and throwing racial slurs for the hell of it. There is a difference between controlling juvenile behavior and letting people express their views and thought how they wish.

As far as the internet and RL becoming the same, thats only if you let it. Any random stranger on the internet can call me whatever the hell they want, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Why waste the energy getting offended by something that doesn't matter?

And anyone who is put off of a company because of what random people not associated with the company isn't worth the companies time to worry about. How people act on the Wyrd forums in no way influences my feelings about Wyrd's products. It shouldn't influence yours either.

I went ahead and highlighted the problem word for you.

[jmp_mydog]

In general I don't think there's enough "moderation" of forums. It doesn't take much for disgruntled people to vent their "nerd rage" on the rest of the world.

As soon as threads begin repeating themselves over and over or things degrade to name calling the harm has already been done. Locking threads to prevent that does every user a favor. Much like reality tv these threads quickly devolve into chaos and suck other users into the fray.

Here's a +1 for overmoderating and preventing the internet terrorists from winning. If you can't play nice stay in your basement.

[Buhallin]

If someone is unable to differentiate between what matters and what is just 1s and 0s electronically transmitted from one place to another, so what? That is their problem, not anyone else's.

I've never really understood the "It's on the internet so it doesn't matter" argument. You are communicating, interacting, and dealing with another human being on the other end of the screen. It's easy to forget sometimes, but it's true. Why insults and hateful statements should mean less when delivered via semi-anonymity than they would in person, I don't quite get.

It's all well and good to say "Just don't be insulted by it" but it's not realistic. Most people cannot simply turn off their buttons. Nor does the origin of those buttons really matter. Everyone has things that will make them uncomfortable - your line may be farther down the field than most, but it certainly exists. Disregarding another person's sore spots simply because their line is in a different place than yours is pretty disrespectful. There may certainly be some validity in pushing that line, for an important topic or meaningful discussion, but that depends greatly on the situation.

And that's where moderation comes in. Can it be taken too far? Certainly. But an anything-goes-its-your-fault-if-you-get-offended environment is not good for a community. The trick is finding a balance, and it's something that most communities do relatively well.

[Hatchethead]

In general I don't think there's enough "moderation" of forums. It doesn't take much for disgruntled people to vent their "nerd rage" on the rest of the world.

I tend to agree. When taking part in an online discussion, I endeavor to conduct myself the same as I would in a room full of people, speaking face to face. Far too many view words on the web as ones and zeros and figure there should be no consequences, no repercussions. Safety from meaningful reprisal brings out the absolute worst in people. Voicing opinions is one thing, hiding behind a digital wall of anonymity and unleashing a raging stream of consciousness that would get you hospitalized in polite company ...? That's something else entirely.