As I was trying to articulate over here, I think a certain element of flagging is orthagonal, if not inapposite, to one of the cultural tenets of Happy Mutants.
It really says it all right there, we recognize we’re all deviates in some senses and some spheres, and we all try to be positive about it. Live and let live. Let your freak flag fly. Et cetera.
To that end, I think this place will always lean toward being tolerant of newcomers expressing opposite or different viewpoints. I hope so, I know I’m guilty of forming one opinion about someone online, then feeling like an ass later when they surprise me with their other talents, skills, and good-nature.
I’m not a fan. I’ve been a member of some communities with various implementations of Karma systems (by user, or by post), and I always worry they encourage a bit of groupthink. Also, I think we also do this to some extent already - I know in any given flamewar I check to see who’s giving likes to whom. That tells me aplenty about the sentiment of the regulars on any given topic.
