As long as there are no consequences to being a dick to people over the internet, "toxic internet" is here to stay.
Sticks and stones. More concerning is the large scale propaganda and marketing.
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Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
51–60 of 757 posts
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a comment though.
HN doesn't allow such negativity though. Reddit flourishes on it.
>HN doesn't allow such negativity though.
You do read this site, right?
My opinion is that getting rid of voting is step one to making both sites infinitely better.
Extremely draconian human moderation is step two.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, trolls have not existed in the form they exist since the emergence of the internet. Self-censorship is a wonderful thing. And the way it works is: you say dumb things (especially as a kid), you get slapped by your parents/friends/people around you. By age 18 or 21, you know instinctively that what you can and cannot say around other folks. At least the vast majority of folks do. On the internet however, there's n…
Ok so some random person is saying something you find offensive or hurtful. You can block them so you don't have to see what they post. It's a decentralized solution to a decentralized problem.
Not everyone finds the blocking option in time.
Not everyone has the self control to avoid the comments in the first place.
Not everything you've seen can be erased and forgotten (there's a reason NSFL exists).
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#54The only way to detoxify the internet, is to get rid of the "social" aspect. Starting with gasp comments. My online experience has been that much better, since adding comment blockers to my browser.
Reddit has a large user base and a myriad of subreddits where different solutions have been tried. So far, the best I've seen is strong moderation: clear rules and swift enforcement.
AskScience is a shining example of a high quality subreddit, although the comment section usually looks like a graveyard with 90% of the comments removed.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#55So we've tried: - Real identities (Facebook comments) - Voting and self moderation (Reddit, HN, etc.) - Strong moderation (Reddit, HN) They all result in toxic comments, trolling, an echo chamber,or worse, a complete lack of participation. There's no real solution to this problem. However, if you create consequences or a cost to commenting you'd eliminate toxic comments and trolling at the cost of less participation…
The real solution is making blatant lies and misinformation illegal.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#56It's not that the "trolls are winning", it's that people are allowing the trolls to bother them. Trolls have always existed; it's our heightened sensitivity and inability to just shrug them off or laugh in the face of their obscenity that's letting them "win".
Yeah this is bullshit. Trolls have always existed, but shrugging them off was never a solution.
In message boards I used to frequent trolls were suspended without question and banned for repeat offenses. Now when trolls get banned there is an out cry from the troll and those in line with them about censorship and violation of their free speech.
The problem is trolls are given too much room to play and speak.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#57So we've tried: - Real identities (Facebook comments) - Voting and self moderation (Reddit, HN, etc.) - Strong moderation (Reddit, HN) They all result in toxic comments, trolling, an echo chamber,or worse, a complete lack of participation. There's no real solution to this problem. However, if you create consequences or a cost to commenting you'd eliminate toxic comments and trolling at the cost of less participation…
The real solution is making blatant lies and misinformation illegal.
Without perfect information and transparency there's no way make lies illegal.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#58So we've tried: - Real identities (Facebook comments) - Voting and self moderation (Reddit, HN, etc.) - Strong moderation (Reddit, HN) They all result in toxic comments, trolling, an echo chamber,or worse, a complete lack of participation. There's no real solution to this problem. However, if you create consequences or a cost to commenting you'd eliminate toxic comments and trolling at the cost of less participation…
Reddit does not have strong moderation.
Some subreddits do have strong moderation; some subreddits think they have strong moderation but they have fucking idiot mods who call down trolls; and there are some subreddits that have permissive moderation and those subreddits leak.
> However if you create consequences or a cost to commenting you'd eliminate toxic comments and trolling.
You genuinely don't. There are forums where you have to pay real money to be able to read and post, and where acting like a jerk will get you banned. They haven't eliminated the jerks. About the only advantage is paid mods which ensures some consistency.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#59As long as there are no consequences to being a dick to people over the internet, "toxic internet" is here to stay.
Ignoring bots/ads/spam commentators, I think the emergent toxicity in online discussion is a result of a fast-paced feedback loop and (ultimately) low empathy.
All people commenting online; liberal, conservative, depressed, mentally ill, whatever-- they all have ebbs and flows to their behavior. Online discussion exposes the sum negative aspects in the behaviors of all actors. Instant feedback loops (esp. 1-to-many interactions) speed up the rate of negativity.
Re: Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet
#60So we've tried: - Real identities (Facebook comments) - Voting and self moderation (Reddit, HN, etc.) - Strong moderation (Reddit, HN) They all result in toxic comments, trolling, an echo chamber,or worse, a complete lack of participation. There's no real solution to this problem. However, if you create consequences or a cost to commenting you'd eliminate toxic comments and trolling at the cost of less participation…
I think your suggestion would lead to an echo chamber. Take a look at metafilter and how samey they've gotten. One thing to remember is that even small barriers implicity give mods much more power.