Speech and Inclusiveness
As I've been going through my own and others posts and contacts, things keep turning up. Such as this blindingly excellent tweetstorm by Yonatan Zunger. It encapsulates much of what I've been struggling to articulate about speech, inclusiveness, and what toxic platforms look like, and why they are in fact toxic. This also reflects much of my own policy in moderating both on G+MM and elsewhere.
So what does healthy policy look like? You look for things which systematically cause people to feel uncomfortable engaging. Things that make people not post in the first place, because they know what will happen if they do. You shut down big bad things quickly and visibly, before they can pull the entire conversation to be around them. You reduce interaction opportunities for things which are known to be toxic.
You try to avoid "toxic meetings," period.
And the key to all of this is to define an editorial voice for the platform, separate from that of its users. That voice is your de facto set of rules for "No, this is not OK here; you don't like it, go somewhere else." Here's the big operational secret: 90% of what makes online policy hard is trying to do it while claiming neutrality.
Via Threadreader: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/914605545490857984.html
Twitter original: https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914605545490857984
G+ discussion: https://plus.google.com/+YonatanZunger/posts/LEj68e4zFwB
Yonatan knows whereof he speaks: he was the chief architect of Google+.
But if you're a member here, or a mod, and you want a peek inside my head, read this.
And think about the implications for your new or considered / candidate platforms. Or the one you're building, if you're doing that.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/914605545490857984.html
As I've been going through my own and others posts and contacts, things keep turning up. Such as this blindingly excellent tweetstorm by Yonatan Zunger. It encapsulates much of what I've been struggling to articulate about speech, inclusiveness, and what toxic platforms look like, and why they are in fact toxic. This also reflects much of my own policy in moderating both on G+MM and elsewhere.
So what does healthy policy look like? You look for things which systematically cause people to feel uncomfortable engaging. Things that make people not post in the first place, because they know what will happen if they do. You shut down big bad things quickly and visibly, before they can pull the entire conversation to be around them. You reduce interaction opportunities for things which are known to be toxic.
You try to avoid "toxic meetings," period.
And the key to all of this is to define an editorial voice for the platform, separate from that of its users. That voice is your de facto set of rules for "No, this is not OK here; you don't like it, go somewhere else." Here's the big operational secret: 90% of what makes online policy hard is trying to do it while claiming neutrality.
Via Threadreader: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/914605545490857984.html
Twitter original: https://twitter.com/yonatanzunger/status/914605545490857984
G+ discussion: https://plus.google.com/+YonatanZunger/posts/LEj68e4zFwB
Yonatan knows whereof he speaks: he was the chief architect of Google+.
But if you're a member here, or a mod, and you want a peek inside my head, read this.
And think about the implications for your new or considered / candidate platforms. Or the one you're building, if you're doing that.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/914605545490857984.html
My right to free speech so often tips over into, go away if you don't like it. Tight moderation (with a policy which suits ME) makes all the difference. Yonatan left a humungous gap here on G+. Both for his content, and his polite insistence on doing the right thing. All the way back to the 'nym wars when I landed here.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you - I see I missed the original
Great read and opened my eyes about the processes and their dysfunction
ReplyDeleteIs why I still read and ramble a bit Wonkette. Has a policy in place (loosely 'don't be a dick' which is the short form). And Diana Studer free speech has meaning outside the rants of certain USians =^^=
ReplyDeletesirhc Tribe I am outside the US. Way down south in Cape Town.
ReplyDeleteJacques Dupuis
ReplyDeleteDiving into several old YZ threads via the link above only serves as a painful reminder of what we're losing when this all evaporates. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which-- Do the recommended export tools allow to export another user's public threads?
ReplyDeleteJohn Douglas Porter Not AFAIAA. That's part of what I was looking into.
ReplyDelete