First a call-out of fatphobia (https://hexbear.net/post/4189552) that ended up proving its point, then the stuff about "he/hims" (https://hexbear.net/post/4187781) ". Apparently a mod got banned!?
I am not very active and I never look at the megathreads, the number of comments in them scare me away from them. Is that where it's happening? I feel confused about what this community is like now.
I, uh, don't really know what my point is. Maybe someone can explain what the state of the site is? Especially on the he/hims thing. Maybe that's the main point of this post.
I feel sad for people that got hurt by this.
Hexbear has a lot of issues that have been present for a long time. These are issues that came along with the exodus from r/CTH and never went away.
There's this perception that because someone has been on the site for a long time, they can't possibly have any bad takes or harmful opinions lying below the surface. Surely they would have aired them out over the past 4 years, right? If someone hasn't been banned, they must have good takes! But if issues like fatphobia or misogyny or western chauvinism or white supremacy aren't being actively handled, these things can just... Hide below the surface. People can hold opinions that suck, and the subject just hasn't come up before or they were previously not seen as concerns worthy of moderation.
As we're trying to work on some of these issues, tons of people with unexamined brainworms are coming out of the woodwork and exposing their reactionary mindsets. Some of those people are on old accounts, some of them are even mods. Obviously, we want to give everyone the opportunity to learn and grow, but a lot of people just seem to want to die on the hill. People really just keep trying to post through it, and end up saying or doing something so egregious that it results in a ban.
If you don't want to get banned, all you have to do is just not harass people in DMs, not write a weird racist screed that's virtually indistinguishable from a chud uncle's holiday dinner rant, not spend two hours blowing up at all the other mods and admins over an argument, etc. People aren't getting ousted for taking a certain side in petty arguments. They're getting into petty arguments, doubling down, refusing mediation, getting really mad at everyone else, and then refusing reconciliation and even literally going as far as to ask for a ban.
Regarding the drama constantly making it to the front page, there's a certain clique of users on the site who keep dredging up all of this stuff and making every modlog action they don't like into a struggle session. If you go back to these other struggle session threads, you might start noticing that some of the same people just keep showing up over and over, arguing in every thread, making unfounded accusations, and posting about how they think the mods are destroying the site. Do whatever you want with this information.
For sure. You however seem to be under the intention that just because you're well-intentioned or a member of some persecuted group, you cannot have brainworms of your own. The people you complain about have repeatedly and patiently tried to explain their issues, they've gotten banned for asking for clarification, they've gotten banned for asking how things in the modlog can be proof of an issue, when the modlog is proof of moderation functioning. This comment explains the issues so much better than I ever could.
Reacting to people getting banned for no reason is not making every modlog action a struggle session. Banning people for no reason creates the struggle session. Avoiding the arguments put forth in good faith, dismissing users concerns, banning people for disagreeing, never clarifying, upholding rules inconsistently, allowing some users to be incredibly inflammatory and then punishing those that react, this is what creates drama and struggle.
The removal of the linked comment is a perfect illustration of what the actual issue on the site is.
What's the take on posts like this? Do you consider it re-dredging the issue up or think it promotes healthy introspection?