Moderation and Slurs

[BenJepheneT]

No need to flaunt your ban history, ok.

It's one black man's ass, but considering the amount of ass he had, he might as well be ten black men.

 

[SailusGebel]

Ah, I see. When I got my nose punched in so hard it broke as a guy called me a "fucking dyke", my shortcoming was that I didn't ignore the slur. It was all the fault of my fragile mental health. Words are just sounds, they do not go hand in hand with real world prejudices that pose actual threat to people and do not act as signals to vulnerable minorities as to who is potentially unsafe to be around. We just gotta uuuuh, get a thicker skin, right?

Look, I'mma try and say this politely, because I genuinely remember being you when I was seventeen and was like "words are just sounds, we apply meaning to them" but like. Asking people who are impacted by slurs and toxic language to just "ignore the words" is just a signal of a lack of real world experience as to what those words actually indicate. They are not the Goblin King. Just yelling "you have no power over me" does not lift the prejudice curse. Turning the other cheek just presents another cheek to be hit. And moreover, "do not feed the trolls" has categorically, historically, provably not worked.

Allowing people to act in harmful and toxic ways, including the use of slurs, does not disempower them. It empowers them. It's testing the waters. Today they call someone a g**k or a n***er. Tomorrow they're going on race realism screeds and campaigning for the return of segregation. I don't want to needlessly drag politics into this because it's so messy, but this is such a bad take I want to impress upon you the danger of this thinking: just ignoring the words is how someone like Trump got into power.

Spaces that allow the use of slurs are spaces that will, inevitably, allow much much worse. You cannot make people not toxic by just banning words, but you can indicate to your users that you have a line you will not allow them to cross, and you can indicate to vulnerable minorities amongst your users that you want them to be welcome here.

First of all, you are using examples. Should I say that you are actually mixing a criminal(a physical offender) with a basement neckbeard troll? He only lifts his hand for two reasons, to throw another junk food into his mouth and to type the slurs. While the criminal may cave your nose silently for your money, I think this is settled? I can continue to throw examples of my own, and we would just continue to trade them off, let's not use this tactic?
Secondly, I'm not from the USA, and I'm sorry, I won't believe you if you start describing why Trump is bad. Because it's much more complex. Is he a good PRESIDENT, or is he not? What do you prefer, a person who tell you sweet words but do evil deeds? Or a person who tells you evils things but practically is the sweetest person you've ever seen?
I don't know a thing about Trump, I didn't look into statistics, I didn't look into his personality or character, I didn't look If the USA won or lost from him being a president. Is he a devil or perhaps an angel? I must spend a lot of time researching, the economical situation during ALL of his reign, the racism problem, the military problems, and so on, The list just goes on. OH, and also, you don't live in freaking Belarus, or Russian Federation, or China. As far as I'm informed, the president in the USA doesn't hold the ULTIMATE power. He isn't the king and emperor.
And lastly, I'm going to repeat the question. What will happen when the said person is met by a jerk who DIDN'T stop from those rules? The guy who is mentally ill himself and wants to harm others at ALL costs. The person who left his guard down completely from feeling safe and cozy, how will he react? He is mentally fragile as we said before. Won't the damage be much more?

 

[minacia]

What I do ask though, is that the moderation should be kept on a case-by-case basis. This community isn't so big that a catch-all rule has to be put in place. Any competent monkey behind a screen can adequately deduct the intentions behind reported speech and make suitable judgement. Given the relatively comfy userbase we have, I doubt we'd ever need an overhaul of the forum ruleset. Heck, we already keep ourselves in check well enough. I seriously doubt we need any major change to the moderation of the site. But, as I said, if it makes the other bridge goblins feel safer, then I'd be willing to see that change be made.

I sort of agree with this.

Frankly, SHF's set of rules is nearly identical NUF (I mean, it was copied over)... the only difference being that there are no moderators in SHF whereas there are moderators on NUF...

 

[BenJepheneT]

I've been trying to go on this forum more often recently after a few months of barely looking at it, but recently I've discovered one of the reasons I don't frequent here as much as other places--there's a lot of really toxic content on the forums.

You can use the search bar to quickly, in just seconds, find instances of people saying the N-word (both spellings), and just by searching key terms you can find instances of very vocal and racist arguments in multiple threads just in the past couple months. While you can't search it, users are also using the F-slur on a regular basis. I report them when I see them, but for the most part nothing is removed, and the members of the forum who post this stuff most frequently do not appear to receive any sort of warnings or infractions.

I know this place is supposed to be more hands-off than other web fiction sites, but it gets to a point where I am starting to feel a bit unwelcome in this community when this type of content persists with no changes for the whole year I've been on here. I imagine that many other members have felt the same and stayed away silently.

This nigga slur-hunting like crocodile Dundee. Man be riling in the search bar like:

 

[Angry_Clown]

It's one

 

[Discount_Blade]

Asking people who are impacted by slurs and toxic language to just "ignore the words" is just a signal of a lack of real world experience as to what those words actually indicate.

And expecting everyone to simply hush up and be silent about their opinions, good or bad, because someone's feelings are hurt, is also a signal of a lack of real world experience. That piss-poor logic works both ways.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Ah, I see. When I got my nose punched in so hard it broke as a guy called me a "fucking dyke", my shortcoming was that I didn't ignore the slur. It was all the fault of my fragile mental health. Words are just sounds, they do not go hand in hand with real world prejudices that pose actual threat to people and do not act as signals to vulnerable minorities as to who is potentially unsafe to be around. We just gotta uuuuh, get a thicker skin, right?

Look, I'mma try and say this politely, because I genuinely remember being you when I was seventeen and was like "words are just sounds, we apply meaning to them" but like. Asking people who are impacted by slurs and toxic language to just "ignore the words" is just a signal of a lack of real world experience as to what those words actually indicate. They are not the Goblin King. Just yelling "you have no power over me" does not lift the prejudice curse. Turning the other cheek just presents another cheek to be hit. And moreover, "do not feed the trolls" has categorically, historically, provably not worked.

Allowing people to act in harmful and toxic ways, including the use of slurs, does not disempower them. It empowers them. It's testing the waters. Today they call someone a g**k or a n***er. Tomorrow they're going on race realism screeds and campaigning for the return of segregation. I don't want to needlessly drag politics into this because it's so messy, but this is such a bad take I want to impress upon you the danger of this thinking: just ignoring the words is how someone like Trump got into power.

Spaces that allow the use of slurs are spaces that will, inevitably, allow much much worse. You cannot make people not toxic by just banning words, but you can indicate to your users that you have a line you will not allow them to cross, and you can indicate to vulnerable minorities amongst your users that you want them to be welcome here.

well no matter what is said to you by a person, you control how you respond. That said, words have proven to emotionally effect people in very profound ways. No one can deny that unless they're being cheeky or are just plain idiots.

actions are different. Once someone acts against you, it goes beyond "just a word". Now you're under threat, possibly. What kinda fucking asshole would you have to be to tell someone you shouldn't fight back when someone takes action against them? That shit's unreasonable.

No, they don't.

Words have literally changed the course of nations, but whatever. Words are basically the most important creation of mankind and set the basis for literally everything we have today, but whatever.

Are you Stevie Wonder, perhaps? But since you need a walkthrough, here you go:


Quick search disproves his claim of words "nigger" and "faggot" being used all over the place in supposedly "heated" discussions. Him stating otherwise is factually incorrect unless proof to the contrary is given.

I quick searched myself and found you, good sire, to be a liar. Lol most of the results come from me, even. Which i understand. I use the word nigga a lot in all kinds of conversations here, heated and otherwise. And @BenJepheneT has used the word faggot multiple times.
Maybe we arent antagonizing people when we use these words, at least intentionally, but for some people simply using the words would make them uncomfortable.

I am not saying I should have to change my way of speaking for their sake. Im saying I wont hate on a person for disliking the word. Plain and simple.

Self-evident, should not need further explanation.

The single reason for this thread's existence is drama and nothing else. Furthermore, this invalidates the whole claim for not providing proof because drama is undesirable. You create a controversial thread and expect that there won't be any drama? Then you're either an idiot or, more likely, simply a liar.

making a thread saying you're uncomfortable with seeing those words thrown around so often and carelessly is not at all wrong. Being uncomfortable with a word isn't wrong.

Thats a very simply and reasonable take on the matter. But you're acting like it IS a problem. And I don't know why you insist on it. Op hasn't drawn attention to any threads where people are using words like nigger or faggot...but I KNOW FOR A RIGHT FUCKING FACT that such threads exist. Cuz I use them myself. I've see them used by other people. I don't NEED him to provide evidence of people saying these words. Maybe these "heated" discussions he talks about isn't toxic and negative. Perhaps he meant threads that simply got a lot of passionate replies and whatnot. If so then yes, he's right, and you're wrong. Because I've been part of such threads myself.

Bold words for someone who just did it a couple of posts ago. Is this your repressed desire to get spanked rearing its ugly head?

ayy i wont say chains and whips don't excite me, provided you're a busty milf with a penchant for the sadistic. But I also didn't say anything like that myself.

I was all "yo you're kinda acting like a cunt here dude." I just call shit how I see it. Could I have put it In a nicer way, that i think you're wrong? Sure. But that ain't me, son. I'm blunt and foul-mouthed and the people love me for it. They go, " yes...yes...talk dirty to us! Oh god, yes...your tongue is so filthy!" So i ain't changing that. Sorry if you felt i was just being a dick tho. I ain't seriously calling you a cunt.

Anyway that tangent aside, I never went all "well you're wrong so fuck you. Piece of shit just wants to come here and start trouble, why don't you go kill yourself? Worthless cuck headed little bitch."

I've been pretty reasonable throughout this whole discussion, i'd say. Would you not agree, fellow Scribblers? Hm?

 

[SailusGebel]

I've written a blog post on this subject before, but half the reason for having rules on behavior/language sits from a marketing perspective.

Imagine yourself as a restaurant or website owner, your goal is to make money, and there is a public restroom.

Do you think it's better for attracting customers if your store's bathroom looks like this:

Or this?

I mean, I understand that painting graffiti is fun and it's a form of expression, but when guests click on https://forum.scribblehub.com/ -- it's like a customer walking into a bathroom. Either they like what they see, or they don't. If a guest doesn't like what they see, they immediately walk out and decide they don't want to sit down at your restaurant, and you don't get their money.

It's for reasons like this that 4chan has a different reputation than Goodreads.

I personally think that SH should lean in the more mainstream direction (like Goodreads), so it's reasonable to expect that the level of moderation should be similar to those that you would find on the mainstream internet for other book discussion sites.

By the way, great example. Why does everyone degrade to using examples? Yeah, I think people would choose cleaner bathrooms.
Alright, I'm going to ask you three questions. And I sincerely hope and wish for you to answer them, as I answered yours.
WHO, will look, ban, and moderate the forum? I somehow think that we can't find an absolutely impartial person.
Second question. What will you do, if the number of people offended by different words keeps and increasing? To the point where 'normal'(from your viewpoint) words start getting banned?
And the last question. Why do all of you think there would never be a troll faking a person with weak mental health, that tries to shitpost, ban words, ask to ban people, whine, and make the life on this forum miserable. Just for shit and giggles. Do you think there are no such people? Or that they will avoid this site, or you will immediately understand that they are an imposter?

 

[Discount_Blade]

well no matter what is said to you by a person, you control how you respond. That said, words have proven to emotionally effect people in very profound ways. No one can deny that unless they're being cheeky or are just plain idiots.

actions are different. Once someone acts against you, it goes beyond "just a word". Now you're under threat, possibly. What kinda fucking asshole would you have to be to tell someone you shouldn't fight back when someone takes action against them? That shit's unreasonable.


Words have literally changed the course of nations, but whatever. Words are basically the most important creation of mankind and set the basis for literally everything we have today, but whatever.

I quick searched myself and found you, good sire, to be a liar. Lol most of the results come from me, even. Which i understand. I use the word nigga a lot in all kinds of conversations here, heated and otherwise. And @BenJepheneT has used the word faggot multiple times.
Maybe we arent antagonizing people when we use these words, at least intentionally, but for some people simply using the words would make them uncomfortable.

I am not saying I should have to change my way of speaking for their sake. Im saying I wont hate on a person for disliking the word. Plain and simple.

making a thread saying you're uncomfortable with seeing those words thrown around so often and carelessly is not at all wrong. Being uncomfortable with a word isn't wrong.

Thats a very simply and reasonable take on the matter. But you're acting like it IS a problem. And I don't know why you insist on it. Op hasn't drawn attention to any threads where people are using words like nigger or faggot...but I KNOW FOR A RIGHT FUCKING FACT that such threads exist. Cuz I use them myself. I've see them used by other people. I don't NEED him to provide evidence of people saying these words. Maybe these "heated" discussions he talks about isn't toxic and negative. Perhaps he meant threads that simply got a lot of passionate replies and whatnot. If so then yes, he's right, and you're wrong. Because I've been part of such threads myself.

ayy i wont say chains and whips don't excite me, provided you're a busty milf with a penchant for the sadistic. But I also didn't say anything like that myself.

I was all "yo you're kinda acting like a cunt here dude." I just call shit how I see it. Could I have put it In a nicer way, that i think you're wrong? Sure. But that ain't me, son. I'm blunt and foul-mouthed and the people love me for it. They go, " yes...yes...talk dirty to us! Oh god, yes...your tongue is so filthy!" So i ain't changing that. Sorry if you felt i was just being a dick tho. I ain't seriously calling you a cunt.

Anyway that tangent aside, I never went all "well you're wrong so fuck you. Piece of shit just wants to come here and start trouble, why don't you go kill yourself? Worthless cuck headed little bitch."

I've been pretty reasonable throughout this whole discussion, i'd say. Would you not agree, fellow Scribblers? Hm?

Bleh. You're just playing both sides. And you're doing it quite well. Respect. Some GOT political aura's emanating off of you XD

 

[Discount_Blade]

By the way, great example. Why does everyone degrade to using examples? Yeah, I think people would choose cleaner bathrooms.
Alright, I'm going to ask you three questions. And I sincerely hope and wish for you to answer them, as I answered yours.
WHO, will look, ban, and moderate the forum? I somehow think that we can't find an absolutely impartial person.
Second question. What will you do, if the number of people offended by different words keeps and increasing? To the point where 'normal'(from your viewpoint) words start getting banned?
And the last question. Why do all of you think there would never be a troll faking a person with weak mental health, that tries to shitpost, ban words, ask to ban people, whine, and make the life on this forum miserable. Just for shit and giggles. Do you think there are no such people? Or that they will avoid this site, or you will immediately understand that they are an imposter?

I only have one response to one of your questions. No, there is no such thing as an impartial person. Everyone has some form of inherent or subconscious bias. Anyone who claims otherwise is a filthy liar. Also, Tony isn't impartial. He/She has taken a questionable stance on some things that I found heavily biased and no, I was not involved in the incidents, was only reading them later. But them being the leader of the site gives them that right. So oh well. Hierarchy and whatnot.

 

[Angry_Clown]

I quick searched myself and found you, good sire, to be a liar.

Yeah, no. You did no such thing, you pathetic fact-twisting cunt. Most of those same words now come from this very thread. This thread being the majority of those mentions instantly invalidates the claim that they're used all over the forums. The "discussions" they're used in aren't "heated" by any metric either.

is not at all wrong. Being uncomfortable with a word isn't wrong.

Thats a very simply and reasonable take on the matter.

Except if it's a shitty lie perpetuated by virtue-signaling.

So, not only you further his lie by the way of your ignorance, but you also turned into a liar yourself. Congratulations.

 

[SailusGebel]

Sure, I also think that's fair. And as I said in a previous post about personal curation -- there is an onus that lies on the person asking you. You're not a mind reader. Someone politely asking you to change your tone or phrasing or whatever, the polite thing to do in response is accede, but it does require being asked in the first place.

Cool! Other people also get to decide that, and a lot of them have weighed in on "I was"!

WHAT CAN I SAY BUT YIKES.

Okay. Again. Let me say again.
Words do not exist in a vaccuum. Words come accompanied by meanings. Those meanings can be literal definitions, or they can be cultural weight and connotation. The weight of meaning that accompanies slurs is largely violence and oppression. The meaning of those words will not fade away as long as the underlying prejudice remains. Which it does! "Cuckold" largely lost a lot of it's weight of offensive as chauvinistic ideas about men's intrinsic worth being tired to their virility and ownership of women faded. The word didn't lose meaning because people just unanimously agreed to stop being offended by the noise it made.

The cultural context of slurs -- the bigotry, the violence against minority, the active legislature campaigning to have minorities killed -- has not faded, therefore, the cultural weight of the words cannot fade. It's okay for you to not be offended by them personally. I am not demanding you rearrange your brain to find words offensive. I am actively happy you have on less thing in your life that brings you grief. But not being okay with being treated like shit is not an indicator of mental fragility it's an indicator that you respect yourself and expect more for yourself oh my god.

I emphatically am begging you to stop saying "just ignore words and they'll go away". That's not how this works. At all. You can ignore words. You have the absolute right to ignore words. But your reality is not everyone else's and their own experience with slurs may be different to yours such as, again, my experience with slurs literally going hand in hand with violence against me. AAAAAAAAh.

But they will stop using the slur and, again, it indicates to the other users of the website, such as the OP, who has actively stated they left the website because even reporting posts with slurs got no response, that the moderators are on their side and have a bottom line of the abuse they will allow. Sometimes banning shit isn't for the people who do that shit! Often times, in fact, banning shit is about accommodating other people and being a gesture of a larger principle they follow.

Why are you... why are you bringing up me using examples as it's a bad thing? As opposed to your presumption? I'm giving you my real lived experiences to explain to you why "just ignore the words" does not work for everyone and can be bad advice. But like, just assuming how people live obviously carries more weight than me describing to you actual events that happened to me to try to convey to you why your approach is bad, for me! Personally!!

Neither?

They would get a warning, suspension, then ban. That's how moderation usually works, m'dude.

Didn't bring this up earlier because I felt it was an tangent but okay: blaming toxic behaviour on mental illness contributes to harmful stigma about mental illness that frames mentally ill people as dangerous when statistically they're more likely to be victims of verbal and physical abuse, but to answer your question: someone else's mental illness is not my responsibility or burden to bear, it is their own. What will happen to them? Not my problem. Literally not my monkey, not my mental circus.

Report the post.

You say this hypothetical nonexistent person you created for the purposes of your point is mentally fragile. Provide evidence that respecting yourself enough to be mad people call you slurs is a sign of mental fragility then I'll answer.

(That's rhetorical, by the way. I won't be engaging with you further. I'm taking your advice and ignoring you words going forward, so I guess technically this is your win. :) )

I'm not writing all of this to 'win'. I want to understand other people's opinions, and how they see the world. Though I don't know English as well, as I wish I would, and thus phrase my thoughts weirdly. And personally, I'm sad that you won't talk to me. Because I'm generally curious about this topic and wanted to hear more of your opinion. Because the language barrier slows down the understanding of if 'this person' was right or wrong.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

This nigga slur-hunting like crocodile Dundee. Man be riling in the search bar like:

thats the thing. See, i think my whole conversation with @Angry_Clown is a bit wrong for one fact: Im taking my stance based on the thought that there IS toxic content here. People being racist, trans or homo phobic, just downright bigoted and mean...etc...

Where as Clown seems to be under the impression that OP is just complaining about the use of words. Which is also fair. I've already said that if the complain is JUST about the use of certain words I don't support that kind of whining even if I agree being uncomfortable with the words is reasonable.

HOWEVER...i at least haven't seen evidence of the kind of toxic behaviour I mentioned in my little search. BUT...i have found evidence of people using words like nigger, faggot and probable other words I haven't searched up. And I know I myself use the word nigga on a regular basis.

So is OP just saying he doesn't like that he found people using those kinds of words? If so, then yes I think that's a bit much. But he also hasn't WHINED about it. He's been pretty, like, nice about it. His claim that he doesn't want to provide links to the discussions he's seen due to him not wanting to start trouble is, if looked at from the perspective that he's not being a whiner but just a commenting on something he finds distasteful, is perfectly reasonable. So I don't think he's just tryna cause trouble.

If he HAD whined about it...then it makes him look like a sensitive cunt. All I've seen is him being polite about this whole thing tho. Just all, "hey does it bother anyone else that there's so much cussing and toxicity in the forums?" Not being all, "I don't like you saying things like that REEEE give me attention REEEE this is such a toxic community for saying things that offend m REEEEEEEEEEEEE"

There's a clear difference. SInce i agree there's probably a few assholes hidden in the forums here, I kinda agree with him and see where he's coming from

Of course I could be totally wrong. Lol. But I dunno. I just haven't seen him being a whiny little bitch so far.

 

[minacia]

WHO, will look, ban, and moderate the forum? I somehow think that we can't find an absolutely impartial person.

Hm? I mean, frankly it's anyone who Tony likes. I like the mods that he picked for NUF, and I have absolute faith that he'd make good staff choices for SHF if need be.

I think part of the thing to recognize is that absolute impartiality isn't needed. This isn't a democracy; this site is owned by Tony, and likewise, it should be exactly how Tony wants it to be.

If it were me making a choice, I would pick moderators who generally seem nice and welcoming to everyone. Nahrenne comes to mind, although there are lots of friendly people.

Second question. What will you do, if the number of people offended by different words keeps and increasing? To the point where 'normal'(from your viewpoint) words start getting banned?

A website is dictatorship owned by a single person. Also long as Tony is okay with it, then it's fine.

And the last question. Why do all of you think there would never be a troll faking a person with weak mental health, that tries to shitpost, ban words, ask to ban people, whine, and make the life on this forum miserable. Just for shit and giggles. Do you think there are no such people? Or that they will avoid this site, or you will immediately understand that they are an imposter?

It's sort of easy to tell who's shitposting by getting to know them long enough. The thing about forums like these (SHF, NUF) is that the community does generally get to know each other, and people start to know each other's habits and personality. As it is on most sites, trolls generally have identifiable behavior if you bother digging into their posting history.

Moderation staff in most places generally don't act on things unless there are multiple recurrent reports or multiple complaints. It's rarely the case that a person gets banned or an issue is addressed because just one person complained about it. If any action is taken, it's often because there have been many complaints on the same issue.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Bleh. You're just playing both sides. And you're doing it quite well. Respect. Some GOT political aura's emanating off of you XD

...NIGGA

why are you outting a bro like this? Now the thoughts in their heads and all my work here is meaningless.

 

[Angry_Clown]

Op hasn't drawn attention to any threads where people are using words like nigger or faggot...but I KNOW FOR A RIGHT FUCKING FACT that such threads exist.

Five posts in total contain the word "faggot" over the course of two years on these forums. Excluding this thread. This is a far cry from it being used "ALL OVER" the forums.

Where as Clown seems to be under the impression

Yeah, no. I'm under the impression this thread is created for the sake of drama and virtue-signaling. Which it is. I don't give a flying fuck about the words being used or people complaining about their usage. But the moment they start lying about not wanting drama when the discussion they created is clearly aimed at drama is what I have a problem with.

 

[EternalSunset0]

...NIGGA

why are you outting a bro like this? Now the thoughts in their heads and all my work here is meaningless.

To be fair, I've been following the thread for a while and your replies are some of my favorites. You recognize the issues with both sides and aren't acting like an asshole about it.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Yeah, no. I'm under the impression this thread is created for the sake of drama and virtue-signaling. Which it is. I don't give a flying fuck about the words being used or people complaining about their usage. But the moment they start lying about not wanting drama when the discussion they created is clearly aimed at drama is what I have a problem with.

i mean if we're being totally fair the thread only went in the drama direction when YOU started posting here. That started a whole discussion between you and me.

You scream "drama" but the only ones making it dramatic is you, me, and somewhat Blady boi. Before you and me started these people were just discussing politely among themselves. Where, exactly, is the drama? Apart from what you and me created? Our lil lover's spat?

As for the words, those are negligible. The main point is toxicity. And I've seen a bit of that here and there in SHF, and I don't even browse the forums here that much. "All over" is an exaggeration, both about derogatory words and toxicity, sure. But its not like we can say its not here. Well you're right that exaggerating like that is wrong, however. I just question whether that's on purpose or not.

But I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so...

To be fair, I've been following the thread for a while and your replies are some of my favorites. You recognize the issues with both sides and aren't acting like an asshole about it.

Yeah I also did make that reply to him as a joke lol. Was too good to pass up.

I just like being reasonable, you know? I can disagree with people and argue, and speak like a sailor while I do it--which can make it look like I AM being a toxic asshole--but that don't mean I cant see valid points when they're brought up. Even if I still disagree with such points, that's usually due to personal values rather than anything else. I think that's fair, too.

 

[SailusGebel]

Hm? I mean, frankly it's anyone who Tony likes. I like the mods that he picked for NUF, and I have absolute faith that he'd make good staff choices for SHF if need be.

I think part of the thing to recognize is that absolute impartiality isn't needed. This isn't a democracy; this site is owned by Tony, and likewise, it should be exactly how Tony wants it to be.

If it were me making a choice, I would pick moderators who generally seem nice and welcoming to everyone. Nahrenne comes to mind, although there are lots of friendly people.


A website is dictatorship owned by a single person. Also long as Tony is okay with it, then it's fine.


It's sort of easy to tell who's shitposting by getting to know them long enough. The thing about forums like these (SHF, NUF) is that the community does generally get to know each other, and people start to know each other's habits and personality. As it is on most sites, trolls generally have identifiable behavior if you bother digging into their posting history.

Moderation staff in most places generally don't act on things unless there are multiple recurrent reports or multiple complaints. It's rarely the case that a person gets banned or an issue is addressed because just one person complained about it. If any action is taken, it's often because there have been many complaints on the same issue.

If you would excuse me, I would start answering this from the end.
Moderation staff does make a lot of wrong decisions. When the site grows big enough. Check webnovel, or twitch. Perhaps even Twitter or Facebook. Sure when you have a hundred or so active members it's easy to moderate, well, what about a thousand? Two thousand? You need more moderators. The nice persons are spreading thinner and thinner. Then you invite the person referred by a nice person, then the one that was referred by a nice person. And the problem is, the niceness is subjective.
About trolls being easily discovered. I'm not so sure about this, if you are confident in your own skills, well then you are right. If you didn't already notice, my English is far from perfect, so I have trouble understanding or writing about more difficult topics.
And now about dictatorship, and absolute impartiality not being needed. Well, what can I say about it? When at Rome, do as the Romans do. You are correct here.
It's just that I personally would leave this forum. I've came here precisely because there is enough freedom to talk about such topics as slurs. I don't know if I offended anyone, or said something bad. But what if a topic about politics or religion comes out next? Even the talk we had about genders. It's all controversial topics, and usually, they are banned. So that no one would get accidentally offended. Well, I'm sure didn't come here to offend anyone, I've come to talk and listen to other people's opinions. However, it's hard to do this when the topics I'm interested in would most likely be banned.
So, by allowing some people to enter, you as well making some others go away. But maybe I'm a jerk, and I deserve this, without me and some other people the forum here would flourish.

 

[Discount_Blade]

If you would excuse me, I would start answering this from the end.
Moderation staff does make a lot of wrong decisions. When the site grows big enough. Check webnovel, or twitch. Perhaps even Twitter or Facebook. Sure when you have a hundred or so active members it's easy to moderate, well, what about a thousand? Two thousand? You need more moderators. The nice persons are spreading thinner and thinner. Then you invite the person referred by a nice person, then the one that was referred by a nice person. And the problem is, the niceness is subjective.
About trolls being easily discovered. I'm not so sure about this, if you are confident in your own skills, well then you are right. If you didn't already notice, my English is far from perfect, so I have trouble understanding or writing about more difficult topics.
And now about dictatorship, and absolute impartiality not being needed. Well, what can I say about it? When at Rome, do as the Romans do. You are correct here.
It's just that I personally would leave this forum. I've came here precisely because there is enough freedom to talk about such topics as slurs. I don't know if I offended anyone, or said something bad. But what if a topic about politics or religion comes out next? Even the talk we had about genders. It's all controversial topics, and usually, they are banned. So that no one would get accidentally offended. Well, I'm sure didn't come here to offend anyone, I've come to talk and listen to other people's opinions. However, it's hard to do this when the topics I'm interested in would most likely be banned.
So, by allowing some people to enter, you as well making some others go away. But maybe I'm a jerk, and I deserve this, without me and some other people the forum here would flourish.

The only topic I can imagine getting more disastrous here than politics is religion. Me being Pagan means I'm typically outgunned. But I enjoy the challenge nonetheless.