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Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

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Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#101

Post by johrn »

baddox wrote: post #92
johrn wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wouldn't be, but neither is that hate speech limited to the subreddits that are dedicated for it. I am 100% certain that I could go to the comments of any top post on pics, videos, funny, games and probably a dozen other default subs and find some hate speech with a positive score. Remove the subreddits that these people call home, and they automatically feel less welcomed on the site.

> I am 100% certain that I could go to the comments of any top post on pics, videos, funny, games and probably a dozen other default subs and find some hate speech with a positive score. You're saying you could go look for hate speech and find it. That doesn't seem all that troubling to me. Don't go look for it, and you will find it much less frequently.

Maybe it's not as troubling if it needs to be searched for. But it doesn't need to be searched for. It's everywhere on the defaults, that's the troubling part. You don't have to go to a specifically racist subreddit to see racism. You don't have to go to a specifically woman-hating subreddit to see misogyny.

I'm saying that it is everywhere. Not "I could find some hatred in some submissions", but "I could find hatred in any submission".

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#102

Post by Animats »

maxerickson wrote: post #89
Animats wrote: post #16

Anyone remember Tribe.net? They were once San Francisco's coolest social network. Then they had a purge of sex-related topics. Read "No sex please, we're 2.0" by Violet Blue.[1] Tribe went into a screaming dive and is down to one or two employees. [1] http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/No-sex-please-we-re-2-0...

So how do you separate out how much they fucked up and how much they got eaten alive by Facebook?

See [1].

[1] http://www.quora.com/Why-did-tribe.net-%28Mark-Pincus%29-not...

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#103

Post by mreiland »

SwellJoe wrote: post #69
baddox wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only rational argument people can make against the "purging" (of blatantly racist etc. subreddits) is the "slippery slope" argument, which is usually known as a fallacious logical device. Not at all true. I don't like any removal of content by reddit employees (as opposed to subreddit moderators) beyond what is required by law. Whether it leads to more and more removal in the future is irrelevant. I would like…

So, why are you here at HN, which has much stricter guidelines and much more active moderators than reddit will ever have site-wide? Reddit is still vastly more "free" than HN, and yet...the caliber of conversation here is generally higher (not always, and the HN demographic has its blind spots), and I believe it is precisely because it has no tolerance for fools. In short, I don't care about racist's "right" to rant…

I don't agree that the caliber of conversation is higher here. It's more directed since HN has a single topic, but I've never had someone completely change the way I think about a topic the way I have at reddit.

The amazing part about reddit is the sheer spectrum of people you meet. For you that's obviously not interest, but for me, I'd much rather have that experience than what HN gives me.

But I also don't choose, I simply experience both, which is the answer to your original question.

It's also the answer to Hubski's complaints about reddit. I like being able to have a deep conversation with someone about software dev, laugh at a cat pic, and learn something new about a subject I know little about, all in the span of a few hours.

HN will never give that sort of experience.

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#104

Post by mreiland »

fixermark wrote: post #97
baddox wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, why are you here at HN HN is roughly the equivalent of a single subreddit on reddit. I don't have a problem with individual subreddits with strict moderation, because those policies don't affect the policies of other subreddits. HN doesn't (as far as I know) intend to be a host for a plethora of communities each dedicated to a specific topic or hobby. > Reddit is still vastly more "free" than HN, and yet...the…

Are those subreddits threatened by a ban on /r/fatpeoplehate? If not, there's very little to be concerned about.

Perhaps a bit extreme, but the underlying point is applicable here.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#105

Post by amyjess »

dang wrote: post #37

The rule of thumb for ongoing stories on HN is to have a new thread each time there's significant new information, and (hopefully) have it point to the most substantive source. Neither this story nor the article comes close to passing that test, so I'm burying this post as a dupe.

Fair enough--the article wasn't a great one, and I only chose this link because I felt awkward submitting an actual reddit comment.

The main thing I thought was salient new information was Yishan revealing that the board wanted to ban the hate groups but Pao was the only one holding them back, which absolutely contradicts the earlier myth that Pao wanted to get rid of all the hate groups.

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#106

Post by baddox »

fixermark wrote: post #97
baddox wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, why are you here at HN HN is roughly the equivalent of a single subreddit on reddit. I don't have a problem with individual subreddits with strict moderation, because those policies don't affect the policies of other subreddits. HN doesn't (as far as I know) intend to be a host for a plethora of communities each dedicated to a specific topic or hobby. > Reddit is still vastly more "free" than HN, and yet...the…

Are those subreddits threatened by a ban on /r/fatpeoplehate? If not, there's very little to be concerned about.

They are not threatened by a ban on /r/fatpeoplehate, but they are absolutely threatened by a vaguely policy for banning things that are deemed offensive or inappropriate.

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#107

Post by baddox »

fixermark wrote: post #98
baddox wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, there is plenty of middle ground. It's a continuum. I just personally prefer the free end of the continuum.

I think you still get the free end of the continuum if /r/coontown is gone.

The discussion is not over whether to ban only /r/coontown.

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#108

Post by johrn »

clavalle wrote: post #96
johrn wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they will lose the tasty morsel they could currently be enjoying. That tasty morsel of hardcore racism, rabid misogyny and all sorts of other fun hate groups, and the people that defend them because anyone should be allowed to say anything they want? I don't understand why so many people think that getting rid of these groups is going to suddenly implode all the thousands of smaller, more focused communities that y…

I don't mind if they get rid of the hate groups but you have to be careful -- hate is a very plastic term. If people feel like their self formed communities might come under some sort of 'distaste' police, they might just pack up and go somewhere else. Most people aren't afraid that they'll go after subreddits that are blatantly racist, they are afraid that is just the opening salvo. They are afraid that the whole pl…

I guess that might be something to worry about if it starts to happen. But I think it's a pretty poor argument to say "well if they ban racism, what's next?"

Re: Former Reddit CEO says the site's about to be purged

#110

Post by baddox »

johrn wrote: post #101
baddox wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am 100% certain that I could go to the comments of any top post on pics, videos, funny, games and probably a dozen other default subs and find some hate speech with a positive score. You're saying you could go look for hate speech and find it. That doesn't seem all that troubling to me. Don't go look for it, and you will find it much less frequently.

Maybe it's not as troubling if it needs to be searched for. But it doesn't need to be searched for. It's everywhere on the defaults, that's the troubling part. You don't have to go to a specifically racist subreddit to see racism. You don't have to go to a specifically woman-hating subreddit to see misogyny. I'm saying that it is everywhere . Not "I could find some hatred in some submissions", but "I could find hatre…

This discussion is not about reddit announcing to more strictly moderate the default subbreddits. I think they would be wise to do that, and I would have very little problem with it (especially personally, since I don't subscribe to hardly any of the defaults).
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