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)

  • CARCOSA [they/them]A
    ·
    3 days ago

    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

    • HarryLime [any]
      ·
      4 days ago

      I don't want to post on fucking lemmygrad!

        • Sickos [they/them, it/its]
          ·
          4 days ago

          I hate, hate hate hate hate hate, the idea of becoming a moderator because AMAC/ACAB and the anarchist side of my ancom-ness would absolutely chafe (and a big pile of reddit-mod-own-fart-huffing-induced-squick), but if this is a moderation issue and you need folks to sift through the low effort bullshit--I'm gonna be reading all of the posts and comments anyway.

          I'd assume there are others in the same situation.

    • Ram_The_Manparts [he/him]
      ·
      4 days ago

      If you're genuinely open to considering creating replacement comms, then why not just unlock the dredge tank and tweak the rules so it's also open for the kind of content that was previously suited for the dunk tank? If the mods there don't want to continue I'm sure you'll find new ones, I'd even consider it myself tbh.

      This just seems overly complicated, assuming it's even sincere to begin with.

    • Esoteir [he/him]
      ·
      4 days ago

      yeah idk I'm not a fan of the dunk/dredge tank myself and have spent their existence alternating between blocking and unblocking them from my feed

      but telling users to use a lemmygrad comm as an alternative is not a solution for any scenario considering they are pretty hardline sectarian against a big chunk of this site, and tbh it concerns me that this is even being suggested as a substitute