Seems it is a fact of life on Forums, that drama eventually happens. How it is dealt with, determines how viable a forum will be. GFY has made a fortune, using the George Bush style of addressing issues. It attacks, and attacks, and screams, stomps its feet, until the noise drowns out everything else. It makes people defend every other issue, but the one under discussion. It distracts, it dilutes the quality of discussion, and so becomes nothing but a bitch fest.

Too many ‘other‘ forums are following that path. The rely on ‘fear‘ to keep people in line, by  having moderators attack the posters they disagree with. They use this ‘fear‘ by banning people without warning, either publicly or privately, so as to keep people in line. It is an old tactic, Hitler used it, George Bush uses it, and a lot lesser folk use it.

Problem with this tactic is that it prevents the flow of ideas, of opinions that differ from others. It stifles ingenuity, because people become afraid to post, for fear of attack, for fear of being assaulted or being banned. This is rule by fear, and it isn’t about courage of conviction either. We are busy people, so why waste hours being upset, fighting a losing cause, with a power hungry moderator? Makes no economic sense, so rather than fight, one shuts up. This is the loss to the whole community, because who knows what ideas could have been advanced, if one wasn’t afraid of wasting time? of being under attack, because they aren’t in the ‘in group‘?

Read More in our Forum Here 

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by No Bull
Filed under: General