General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Skinner: We've got a whole new system lined up and ready to go... [View all]Stinky The Clown
(67,677 posts)One of them in particular comes to mind. It is as apolitical as it can get. I mean WAY away from politics. It is also such a special interest that controversy is rare. That said, the site is VERY heavily moderated. The lines with respect to civility between participants is drawn at zero. Even use of the words "hell" or "damn" will get your post deleted. While that is probably too draconian for a liberal political web site, it is also very effective. No one has a right to post to that site. Those of us who choose to do so, do so with a clear understanding of the rules. We choose to post there and we choose to follow the rules.
While it may not be as busy a site as this one, it is never, ever unpleasant. Never. I'm not sure how large it really is. Maybe as big as DU, maybe bigger, maybe not. It has many forums and groups and for the most part members stay in one of them or maybe just a few. I participate in 5 of them. I can often spend more time there than I can at DU. But maybe more to the point, it just more pleasant an experience. And I chalk that up to heavy moderation.
As to the style of moderation, some here could easily term it Gestapo or Stasi like. Break a rule and your post gets deleted. Break it too much and you're gone. There is no appeal. It is, as I said, run by rules that are really enforced.
Some of that kind of thinking may well be in order here at DU.
I used to be one of DU's bigger assholes, never backing down from a dust-up. I decided to change when DU3 was introduced. Funny thing happened. The site became easier to read since I just plain avoid opening threads started by certain posters and by just leaving threads that entertained these same posters. It was a challenge at first, but now its easy. From my perspective, all those toxic (to me) posters did was piss me off. They added absolutely nothing to my life or my political knowledge.
I have never had an ignore list except for the one that exists in my head.
Anyway, I would welcome some internet authoritarianism here at DU.
Just my 2 cents.