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Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

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Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#2
Normally I'd say there is more to the story, but this seems consistent with my experiences on Quora. I've never been banned from there, but the stupid comments and answers are so prevalent there, that I can only assume that the platform has gone far out of their way to cater to that crowd as a safe space provider.

Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#3
He didn't get banned for saying the earth was not flat, he was banned for calling people morons and idiots.

I'm as much opposed to flat earthers as any person here, but calling people with questionable beliefs idiots and morons only serves to make you feel better about yourself.

You can explain the ridiculousness of flat earth conspiracy without resorting to insults and you won't get banned as easily.

Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#5
Quora is pretty much trash anyway. A lot of setup by stooges for business consultants to answer things.

You _will_ find useful info there and it is much easier to see it as the first response compared to a few years ago but I don't engage with any content beyond what I can see without logging in. Generally the quality of answers is pretty low unless it is in a popular subject or a "big name" answers.

None of the moderation systems are perfect. There are entire mod cabals in every community and that is sometimes worse than automated moderation.

Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#6
post #5

Quora is pretty much trash anyway. A lot of setup by stooges for business consultants to answer things. You _will_ find useful info there and it is much easier to see it as the first response compared to a few years ago but I don't engage with any content beyond what I can see without logging in. Generally the quality of answers is pretty low unless it is in a popular subject or a "big name" answers. None of the mode…

Aviation questions often have great answers.

I used to answer a lot of veterinary questions. But these days when I click onto a link to Quora, that’s the end of the line, because you have to log in to see anything else. StackExchange is just a better site now.

Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#8
>combined with the fact that there’s money to be made on the topic — especially on YouTube, where flat earth channels tend to have a lot of subscribers. As YouTube (like Quora) monetizes content, the more viewers, the more money flat earthers make.

Is it really that much of a widespread belief ? I really have trouble understanding the current phenomenon with some anti science conspiracies.

Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#9
post #3

He didn't get banned for saying the earth was not flat, he was banned for calling people morons and idiots. I'm as much opposed to flat earthers as any person here, but calling people with questionable beliefs idiots and morons only serves to make you feel better about yourself. You can explain the ridiculousness of flat earth conspiracy without resorting to insults and you won't get banned as easily.

> He didn't get banned for saying the earth was flat, he was banned for calling people morons and idiots.

No he didn't?

> Long story short, I called a few people idiots and a few others morons. I got a warning about that, acknowledged it, and stopped referring to the people who believe the earth is flat as idiots and morons.

> After my warning, I was an excellent Quora user. I was courteous, even to people who completely disregard science, and I watched my language. Don’t get me wrong — I still interacted with flat earthers and I still told them they were wrong. I just sought not to violate the Quora Policies and Guidelines as I did it.

> But it seems as if my answers angered the flat earthers, no matter how courteous I was.

Sounds like the banning came long after he ceased insulting people.

Re: Quora Bans Me for Saying the Earth Isn’t Flat

#10
post #3

He didn't get banned for saying the earth was not flat, he was banned for calling people morons and idiots. I'm as much opposed to flat earthers as any person here, but calling people with questionable beliefs idiots and morons only serves to make you feel better about yourself. You can explain the ridiculousness of flat earth conspiracy without resorting to insults and you won't get banned as easily.

In particular, he admits he was originally insulting, but then was "polite".

Turns out his definition of politeness (from his own blog post he linked to) is saying "... Team Flat Earth will be shown to be the moronic fools they indeed are".

I personally agree Team Flat Earth are moronic fools, but I haven't promised to be polite to them.

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