I'm honestly baffled that people are surprised by the mods' reactions to this. This has always been how they handle things. The only difference is that the target has become a critical mass of regular Hexbear users.
When we first started, we were under threat of wreckers and other reactionary elements. Our mod tools and policies were forged in that environment. But with defederation and increasing isolation, these elements grew to be less and less. Our policies have remained the same. The tools of external subjugation have been turned inward. The techniques we used to hunt down literal nazis are now being turned against the regular userbase.
This has always been how the mod/admin team operated. Hexbear is viewed simultaneously as serious political project that necessitates a party line but also a pet website so they can arbitrarily push changes from above. The only difference is that most users agreed with the decisions at the time, or at least didn't care enough to raise a fuss.
I've been here since the very beginning, all four and a half years plus a few on the subreddit. This is literally the organizational structure the users built and supported. I don't see it changing anytime soon.
I'm honestly baffled that people are surprised by the mods' reactions to this. This has always been how they handle things. The only difference is that the target has become a critical mass of regular Hexbear users.
I mean, you shouldn't be that baffled. More people have been onboarded in those four and a half years. I personally wasn't a part of the original exodus from Reddit or the early years. I came at an awkward time when most of the major site-wide changes like changing the name or getting rid of downvotes already happened but before federation. The behavior of the staff is new to me.
I'm honestly baffled that people are surprised by the mods' reactions to this. This has always been how they handle things. The only difference is that the target has become a critical mass of regular Hexbear users.
When we first started, we were under threat of wreckers and other reactionary elements. Our mod tools and policies were forged in that environment. But with defederation and increasing isolation, these elements grew to be less and less. Our policies have remained the same. The tools of external subjugation have been turned inward. The techniques we used to hunt down literal nazis are now being turned against the regular userbase.
This has always been how the mod/admin team operated. Hexbear is viewed simultaneously as serious political project that necessitates a party line but also a pet website so they can arbitrarily push changes from above. The only difference is that most users agreed with the decisions at the time, or at least didn't care enough to raise a fuss.
I've been here since the very beginning, all four and a half years plus a few on the subreddit. This is literally the organizational structure the users built and supported. I don't see it changing anytime soon.
I mean, you shouldn't be that baffled. More people have been onboarded in those four and a half years. I personally wasn't a part of the original exodus from Reddit or the early years. I came at an awkward time when most of the major site-wide changes like changing the name or getting rid of downvotes already happened but before federation. The behavior of the staff is new to me.