Hello users of Hexbear, we wanted to inform you that we are going to be locking the_dunk_tank and dredge_tank communities. We have created two new communities /c/gossip and /c/counterpropaganda to serve a similar but clearly distinct purpose than the dunk/dredge tanks.
Not only is the dunk tank a term that has racist origins, but also many posts there were almost no effort and often times requiring later edits to show how they weren't reactionary, not useful with regard to developing rhetoric and furthering dialectical analysis of that which we dunk upon.
To that end, we wish posts of reactionaries to be placed in !counterpropaganda@hexbear.net along with an accompanying explanation (as simple or complex as desired) with the intent of countering the reactionary propaganda in the post body, as of now comments are not subject to the same rhetorical rigor rule.
For the posts that are not "low-hanging fruit' of notable people we ask that you use !gossip@hexbear.net .
These changes are mainly part of a continued effort to remove the racist and misogynistic elements from our community and grow.
Any moderators of the dunk tank or dredge tank that want to be a mod in the new communities let me know.
Any users with questions or comments please use this post, this change was made at the behest of the entire Hexbear mod and admin team. We will be looking for more moderators in an organized volunteer drive shortly, if you wish to submit an application you may send it to me via hexbear or matrix direct messages.
Use this post as a place for discussion to these changes. We will keep things as they are for 2 weeks and then reflect on the feedback, including this post: https://hexbear.net/post/3858346
As a personal addendum I am sorry if the closing of the tanks these changes removes a beloved space on the site and if you want to suggest a community to replace them you may do so at !commrequest@hexbear.net or submit a mod application to take a more active role in shaping the site.
Sitewide or community changes come from proposals put forth from the mod team, discussed, and voted on by the mod team.
Any users wanting to suggest a community to replace the tanks, may do so at !commrequest@hexbear.net current discussion is here https://hexbear.net/post/3858346 or submit a mod application to take a more active role in shaping the site.
You may also consider using !shitreactionariessay@lemmygrad.ml as a substitute for dunk/dredge tank posts as well
The mod statement can be found here: https://hexbear.net/comment/5613033
Application
What is your Hexbear username? Do you have any preferred pronouns? What are your thoughts on capitalism? What are your thoughts on imperialism? What are your thoughts on trans rights? What are your thoughts on racial justice? What do think about current and previous protests around the world? What are your thoughts on Veganism and Animal Liberation? Do you have any experience with other leftist online communities? What did those experiences teach you? What is your approach to moderation, and how do you work with teams? How do you deal with online drama and people who try to start things for the sake of it? What current comms would you be interested in moderating? Do you have any ideas for community engagement? What is your general time availability? (Time zone, amounts, common browsing times, etc)
they are locked so that current posts may be commented on or viewed, they haven't gone awayThe moderators of those communities as well as the site as a whole discussed the direction of the communities and wanted to take advantage of locking the_dunk_tank due to the name which cannot be altered without federation issues. This change was proposed by a mod of thedunktank, discussed by all mods for an extended period of time. The statement was drafted to explain the agreed upon changes. Between the new communities, badposting, chapotraphouse, main, and memes there are plenty of outlets that aren't serious.
We feel that agitprop, effort, gossip, and counterpropaganda occupy distinct spaces that are valuable to the quality of discussion on the site.
I am sorry if I came off as flippant or condescending
And we feel as though we're being treated like children.
"This isn't good for you, so we're taking it away"
Come on Carcosa, you understand how this response comes off, right? This is such a PR-firm type response that doesn't adress what is actually being said. You'd be better off not responding instead of writing this. I'm sorry to hit you with this negativity, but this is just a condescending way to answer someone.
PR Firm response updated with even more PR Firm response. Cool. Ah well. I said my piece—no point in arguing a foregone conclusion.
The intent was to clarify they aren't being deleted. The proposal to make the change was submitted by a moderator of the impacted communities, and there was a discussion period for all mods to give their thoughts. We drafted a statement together, and this is the result of that. I'm sorry if I came off condescending, I'll change the reply to better express myself.
I appreciated the edit and the apology.
I do not appreciate the reasoning you've provided in your edit for doing these changes, but that's another talk.
Why is this up to the moderators with no input from the users?
Great question.
Why is this up to moderators that don't like their comms?
Who cares? When something bonkers happens tomorrow, I'm not gonna write a redsails.org essay to be able to post it in the new community.