h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There has been lots of sound and fury about moderation and moderation decisions over the last few days, and more specifically moderation policy for the future. Much of it has been constructive, some of it playful, and some of it just outright trolling and/or attention seeking.

I'm a bit puzzled by some of the fuss, because in over a decade on h2g2 I've had a post moderated a grand total of.... once. And that was for posting a link to a business that seemed to be operating on similar principles to the 'restaurant at the end of the universe'. I can't remember exactly what it was - immortality insurance or something - but I posted it because I thought it was funny and interesting, and it was moderated for being an 'advert'. Which it wasn't.

It's possible that it's happened more often than that, but I don't recall any other occasions.

So amidst all of the policy discussions, trolling, spurious nonsense about 'censorship', and helpful constructive comment, I can't help but wonder whether there's a little more scope for researchers to consider - I don't know - learning the rules and following them? Playing nicely?

"I don't know - learning the rules and following them? Playing nicely? "

Oh aye for sure.

But, where those rules are not really understood, are ambigiuous, are open to partisan interpretation I can't help thinking it is fair to discuss.

We all think hootoo is something subtly different, filtered through our own perceptions and preconceptions. And how we all come to collectively understand what noohootoo is will shape the site and how we conduct ourselves here.

FB

Oh, absolutely. Nothing wrong in discussing them, I just think that the degree to which they're ambiguous is rather overstated. Having said that, though, I've seen a number of words recently which I didn't think were allowed. Not that I'm bothered.... just a bit surprised. If in doubt, people should err on the side of toning it down.

I've never felt unable to say what I wanted to say. That's not to say that there haven't been decisions that I disagree with - both to moderate and not to moderate. Another researcher once accused me (in all seriousness) of being in league with the devil, which the mods declined to remove. If that's not spitting, I'm not sure what is.

I think there's a right way and a wrong way to respond to being 'moderated'. The right way is to have a think about how you can say what you want to say with what are fairly flexible rules, or, whether you really need to say what you want to say. And fair enough, if you want to complain about the decision, that's fine too, as long as the argument is rooted in what the house rules are/ought to be, rather than abstract rubbish about 'censorship' and 'freedom of speech'.

I agree about the 'censorship/freedom of speech' argument. But I have to say as someone who's been modded a number of times that I think the situation is more complex than you present Otto.

The boundaries on what's ok and what's not have shifted alot in the 8+ years I've been here. For the last few years the boundaries have been shifting inconsistently and we only discover that a word we used last week is no longer acceptable when we get modded or blocked by the filter. In the month or so before we moved myself and a few other people got modded for posting a blank post, on the basis that it was offtopic. You have to laugh now, but at the time there had been so many things like that that it was hard not to be scathing.

The situation now is weird. Not only are the mod tools broken, so the mods are stressed, but the whole system that was set up for moderation is still being tried out. We are experimenting as a site, and it seems normal to me to test the boundaries on that.

Personally I've been enjoying being able to use language that I use in RL and not have to wonder if I'm going to lose a whole post because of it.

As my children often heard from me when growing up, alway prefaced by,
'As Aunt Addie would say':
"All Things in Moderation" ... ... is the way I heard it . .. ... ......................... . . .. ...

And Aunt Addie would then say :
There is an exception to every rule, including this one!".. . .. ... ..................... . . . . . .. ...