Self-policing communities.
Or, Why Moderators can't get out of the job.
I have been some-what of a regular (which might be that way, or might change) on the Userfriendly.org board.
For about a year now, its benevolent-dictator has decided that the community, please, should police itself, since the moderators cannot be bothered to actually do their job (i.e. enforcing the board rules in debates), thankyouverymuch.
The idea looks good, but doesn't work. Why? Let me give you a generic example:
Poster A posts something.
Poster B disagrees, and tears into the arguments with some rethorical sugar added.
Person A polices the thread.
See the problem here?
The result is, that the self-policing has become a joke, more of a badge of honor, a collectible, than anything else.
It has become impossible to discuss a (heated) topic, or a person's behavior, without getting self-"policed" by the poster who's behavior has been discussed. It has become a way to make discussions in that regard impossible.
Rules cannot be enfroced by the general population, if there are no direct punishments. That's why the society at large has police men and judges: to enforce societies rules. And a community on a web-based board is nothing else.
The days of usenet past are long gone.
Update: Public as 8/8/07
I have been some-what of a regular (which might be that way, or might change) on the Userfriendly.org board.
For about a year now, its benevolent-dictator has decided that the community, please, should police itself, since the moderators cannot be bothered to actually do their job (i.e. enforcing the board rules in debates), thankyouverymuch.
The idea looks good, but doesn't work. Why? Let me give you a generic example:
Poster A posts something.
Poster B disagrees, and tears into the arguments with some rethorical sugar added.
Person A polices the thread.
See the problem here?
The result is, that the self-policing has become a joke, more of a badge of honor, a collectible, than anything else.
It has become impossible to discuss a (heated) topic, or a person's behavior, without getting self-"policed" by the poster who's behavior has been discussed. It has become a way to make discussions in that regard impossible.
Rules cannot be enfroced by the general population, if there are no direct punishments. That's why the society at large has police men and judges: to enforce societies rules. And a community on a web-based board is nothing else.
The days of usenet past are long gone.
Update: Public as 8/8/07