So after a run in with a moderator yesterday Iāve had some thoughts I felt I wanted to share.
I wonāt name them here, you are welcome to look at my comment history and make up your own mind.
In this instance a user posted some misinformation. I donāt think they intended to, they merely perpetuated a myth, they clearly simply knew no better.
I tried to respond diplomatically, they doubled down, other users piled on, the downvotes are plenty and then I responded with an article citing evidence supporting my assertions.
I also stated that the burden of proof lies with the claimant and asked for some context on why they seemed dead set on the lie they were aping back, asking if they subscribe to other myth based beliefs, religions, etc. That post was unceremoniously deleted with no notice to me and no reasons givenā¦ until the user pointed out in another post that they are the sole mod of the community and warned me that they were ānot afraid to banā me should I ācross the lineā in a very *āIām the sheriff of this here townā *tone. Which gave me a chuckle.
Thatās my side of the story, itās all there if you want to draw your own conclusions. It really doesnāt matter who is right or wrong in a āsomeone is wrong on the internetā spat but I did spot a chink in the fediverse through this incident.
The real point here is that this kind of behaviour is one of things that made Reddit fucking awful and Iād hate to see it flourish here in the fediverse.
I donāt have the solutions just some suggestions that Iād be keen to hear others opinions on:
- No moderation without representation. IOW: mods should be democratically elected.
- Mod elections should be annual and no mod should enjoy that status for life.
- There should be a mechanism for inducing a āno confidenceā mode election at any time otherwise the communities are likely to splinter into āreal_ā communities just as they did on Reddit which no community in the fediverse can currently afford.
What say you my brothers and sisters and everything in between? Is there a way to safeguard against cronyism, corruption and other frailties of the human ego?
you sound like someone who enjoys having arguments, when you have arguments with people sometimes they donāt want to talk to you anymore. Itās the cost of your personality.
Attacking someoneās position as mythical, religious, is combativeā¦ and wont be welcome in every community. Even if your right, being combative isnāt going to help convince people your right.
if you want to have constructive debate with people, try to respect their positions, and the experiences that got them into the positions they are in now, even if you disagree with the position. If nothing else, being polite to people will make third parties who read the discussion later more receptive to your ideas.
As far as your meta-moderation ideas go, lemmy is federated, you can always create a new community and moderate it to your liking if you find the current communities inadequate. The ultimate referendum in any society is being able to replace and abandon old corrupt systems.
Yeah, OP was going off on a wild tangent about LSD in a sub about shit talking Teslasā¦
And the mod explicitly said āthis has nothing to do with this subā and OP kept insulting the mod and asked to be banned.
The mod finally deleted a single comment from OP, and OP is really really upset about it.
I honestly donāt know why the mod didnāt just ban OP, he was literally asking for it
That is my takeaway too. Think Iāll just block OP preemptively because this kind of self important drama is ludicrous.
Just did as well, I donāt think Iām going to miss anything important
Moderation is sometimes about finding the smallest touch that keeps the conversation going forward. People have bad days, etc.
And a day or two ban to cool off fixes that, and communicates that the behavior is unacceptable.
Clearly OP didnāt learn any lessons if a day later theyāre making this post.
These are not the facts. The facts are still there for all to see. Why lie?
My post of the topic of LSD was a response to the OP not a wild tangent. They brought it up.
This comment seems to be the first reply. I donāt get a ājust for argument sakeā or a combative vibe from it, nor does it mention mythology or religion. A later comment does call the source for anecdotal (and provably false) information āidiots,ā which is unnecessary and likely grounds for mod action or warning.
I donāt really read anything wrong with the mod saying to keep it clean, though the thinly-veiled threat of, āIām a mod here and Iām not afraid to ban you,ā is poorly worded at best.
I completely agree with you about politeness. At the end of the day, I think that, judging methods alone, OP was out of line with his comments about the mods friends, but correct to point out bunk facts.
If I was OP, Iād probably edit my comments to remove the name-calling, but as a Lemmy user, I want these discussions to take place to provide fact-checking for hearsay and debunked science. Politely, whenever possible.
I didnāt read anything except OPs post here, where they self characterize their interaction using mythology and religion.
Thanks for digging into it!
Iāll try to be more polite in future. Moving goalposts, cherry picking and doubling down on proven falsehoods is frustrating though so Iāll admit that I lose my patience at times.
I enjoy the truth. Which you are correct - can be uncomfortable at times.