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)
My cheap 2 cents here, the content (not name, that should change) of the dunk/dredge tank makes me feel a bit more sane. The whole internet is full of disgusting fascist nonsense, it’s nice to see people rejecting it and often with really good educated takes. It honestly helps me to debunk the bad fascist shit to my lib friends. I know there are better ways of going about it but it’s good outweighs the bad.
which is why I don't feel like seeing it here lol. What value does it have? It's easy to make fun of or complain about right-wingers. It feels good. It's completely useless and is a time waste.
Block the comm. It is not useless and provides considerable comfort to many of your comrades who do not have opportunities to discuss the horrors of this world in any other space. Please exercise compassion and consider that while it does not have value to you it has very real and important value to others.
We're seeing content in the dunk tank that is basically ragebait. I don't want to use a website where a bunch of other users are spending their time looking at thought-free ragebait that's half "the got-damn LIBRULS AHHHHHHHHHHHHAFHDSAKFJ". Feels like some of the content here is converging with right-winger type braindead-ness. I think that's all that the admins are trying to clamp down on. The admins may not want to maintain a website that just ends up being used as a bunch of "2-minutes hate" sessions. It affects the overall site culture.
I don't think they're trying to restrict people from venting about stuff.