Transparency - changes to the BBS

[miasm]

@enso

mods are now deleting posts here on this thread that are critical of how this worked out.

What happened?

[Mister44]

@Medievalist

I personally felt that at least a couple of the restricted threads served as backwaters where toxic people and attitudes curdled and metastasized outside of the mainstream, and appreciated it only for keeping that backbiting poison semi-isolated.

I generally just used the Lounge for exclusive content. I guess I can see your point on some of the trolley threads, but I didn’t frequent them. In general, though, I agree Groupthink is bad. Though too often people with conflicting views, even if they have a valid point, present them in toxic ways, which makes them both easier to dismiss and easier to bitch about. (Note, be careful one doesn’t start doing themselves, lest they become the topic of someone else’s “trolley” thread.)

ETA - I am still not sure why the move - were too many regulars being a pain in the mods sides? Because, again, I think a lot of this could have been handled with communication. Personally I am open to curbing certain behaviors if asked. To a degree. Only if it isn’t hypocritical.

[RatMan]

Seldom have I been reminded so forcefully that if I’m not paying or being paid, I am the product.

[jlw]

@nemomen

While I agree that getting in a fight with the mods about other people being banned is generally not a good approach, @OtherMichael was legitimately worried about what he thought was the behavior that triggered the ban since it was a kind of behavior he engaged in. Could he have addressed the concerns better? Sure. Was a decade ban for trying to get that sorted out justifiable? Absolutely not. It’s horrifying that an abuse of authority that egregious could happen here and not be corrected, esp. when an active, engaged user who’s been a BB fan forever, and was a valuable member of the community was exiled for a decade for something so minor. I’m still in contact, and this was one of his favorite places to hang out on the net - that abusive moderation wasn’t just a harmless mistake, it was indifferent cruelty that’s made this place seem more alien and damaged to me.

He was removed “forever” and it is for good reason. This isn’t the first time OtherMichael decided to start fires in multiple threads over something he invented. I wrote this in another thread but people just don’t seem like to hear it. I won’t repeat it again. He knew exactly where he was headed, this might have been the result he wanted.

Both the arbitrary system of likes and arbitrary system of levels helped created OtherMichael’s imagined sense of entitlement to cause a ruckus whenever he wanted.

This is our house and he is not welcome in it.

[anon89609066]

LOL, friend. Been “here” since the 'zine…

[enso]

I pointed out the hypocrisy of what the site authors actually want the community for (and it isn’t for us to have a community). Post vanished five minutes after posting.

We’re wallets to pay their bills.

[orenwolf]

@enso

Apparently mods are now deleting posts here on this thread that are critical of how this worked out. I’m done.

No. I’m deleting posts with no substance but to be rude to me or the others who are here trying to have an actual conversation about all of this. you want to talk, talk. Don’t insult us or this process with ad-hominems.

[nungesser]

@Medievalist

If you can’t say it in public, maybe you should go shout it down a well.

I’ve seen people in the restricted threads confess deeply personal things and receive dozens and dozens of messages of support and aid. Unless you keep your friends down a well, I don’t think that screaming into a pillow is as helpful as having a much-less-public place to feel a bit less exposed, for some people here. I’m sorry that some people see that as a “caste”. It’s unfortunate.

[miasm]

@jlw

He knew exactly where he was headed

You discussed this (result) with him?

---

ETA:

I see you’ve said you will not discuss it further. Going forward can we expect clear communication from you, to know exactly where we are headed, in any given interaction so that we can avoid what appears to outsiders (the rest of the community) to be personally insulting you?

There’s still a real fear of seemingly unbalanced mod action. Everyone who follows closely is still surprised by your reaction to someone that we all derived the benefits of immense community coherence from.

[Slartibartfast]

@jlw

This is our house and he is not welcome in it.

Gotta say, this doesn’t make me feel very welcome either.

[enso]

Thanks for admitting you’re deleting posts that point out hypocrisy. Not suppressing dissent at all, eh? Just give you my money and move along.

Waiting for my own ten year ban.

[nungesser]

@enso

Just give you my money and move along.

You’re paying to post here? Wow, I guess that free lifetime membership on the BB Store paid off for me!

[tinoesroho]

@Slartibartfast

Gotta say, this doesn’t make me feel very welcome either.

Me, three. Well, I’m going to go drag out an old desktop and see if I can coax it to life. Then I’m going to build a Discourse node.

[nemomen]

I get that there is no justice. I was banned for a week with no warning for making a harmless pedantic joke that was in no way any kind of violation of any ToS. But it was a week. I left, then wandered back.

A ban for being confused about a ban and worried that the stated reason might apply to you as well might be understandable if it was a week or a few days. This was a person with a long history with the site, many connections to the community,heavy engagement to the point of making BB twitter bots, playing with the bbs in amusing ways, making games, and participating in ways that were an overall positive for BoingBoing. They are told they must leave and effectively never come back for a thread I was following and not thinking was any serious problem. That’s a different kind of injustice. It’s worse than just capricious - it’s toxic callousness. I like @OtherMichael, know that the ban was hard on him, and know that the decision wasn’t just bad for him, but was bad for BoingBoing itself - they exiled a long term engaged and positive fan. That’s worse than mere injustice.

[tinoesroho]

Well, the hardcores have bought merch, including bb shirts. Some have contributed thousands of dollars towards operation of this site. I realize you’re being tongue-in-cheek, but yeah. Just had to remind everybody that indeed posters are not mere freeloaders.

[enso]

@nungesser

You’re paying to post here? Wow, I guess that free lifetime membership on the BB Store paid off for me!

With every ad shown to me and every other reader of the site. That’s our utility here. It isn’t any value placed on community by the site owners.

I’ve even bought stuff from your store. I think I’ll skip that now.

[zfirphdn]

@Nonentity

Thanks, person who joined in November of '16,

I haven’t posted any of my own thoughts here yet. I’m just posting now to make the observation that you may possibly have missed this comment from @anon89609066 earlier in the thread:

@anon89609066

This is precisely why I let my regular status expire, deleted my old account and posted here less.

@anon89609066

I might spend more time here again.

[nemomen]

It is your house, but you’re making a huge mistake permanently kicking out a superfan for something so minor. Your narrative of him “inventing” the issue he was concerned with is really not a generous or thoughtful understanding of what was going on. Also, since I know him, and we still chat, I can say with certainty that he didn’t know where that was headed, and certainly wasn’t a result he wanted at all. I can’t make you rethink your mistake, but you made a really bad call, and should step back and consider it some more.

[jlw]

@enso

Waiting for my own ten year ban.

In case you were wondering that is what “Requesting a ban” looks like.

[Medievalist]

@enso

We’re wallets to pay their bills.

I’m OK with that, personally. Why should the Boingers (and Jason, who appears to be the bankroller, from what I can see) have to provide me with entertainment and communication channels for free? They aren’t hiding the income stream of the site.

I love the way I can post links to Amazon things for others here and the BBS will auto-tag them with the bOINGbOING code. I feel like I’m doing a mitzvah, paying my way painlessly by helping others.

@nungesser

I’ve seen people in the restricted threads confess deeply personal things and receive dozens and dozens of messages of support and aid.

This is truly a wonderful thing, yes, I agree - but should it have been restricted to a group that was selected on such arbitrary standards? Anonymity is provided by one’s choice of words and usernym, not by regular status. I consider several of the regulars (a tiny minority, true) to be pretty awful people from what little I know of them.

I leak personal info strategically; people who know me in meatspace recognize me instantly online, people who know me online can recognize me in meatspace. Others are completely open (hello Jeremy!) and haven’t suffered for it; still others are purposely tabula rasa, and at any point (now that there is no regular status) there’s no penalty for starting a new account just to confess your crimes or share your deepest despairs.