Posted by SLS on November 25, 2010, at 23:33:39
In reply to Re: This place is dying. » SLS, posted by ed_uk2010 on November 25, 2010, at 16:40:22
> > I believe that some people can feel completely stifled in their efforts to communicate. I have not encountered any other websites for which linguistics are scrutinized so closely that sentence structure takes priority over the intended conveyance of the message.
> Well said, Scott.
>
> Here is an example of a thread which I found uncomfortable to read. What do you think?
>
> http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20100403/msgs/967761.html
Yes, this thread made me uncomfortable to read also.I am trying to meter my statements so as not to be purposefully inflammatory or venomous in expressing the adversarial position I take when questioning the desirability of continuing the moderation behaviors currently exercised by the administrator of Psycho-Babble.
Although some people might find it difficult to believe, I have not experienced a recent epiphanic revelation regarding the sociological consequences of the moderation methods employed by the operator of this website. I recognized immedately the deleterious effects that were likely to ensue when the forum moderator first unveiled his system to govern speech. This was years ago. It is unfortunate that the results of my deductions then have now been actualized. I was hoping all along that the doctor knew better than me. I assumed he did. I have always deferred to him in matters of judgment regarding his proprietary definition of civility and the manner in which he enforced his regulations restricting speech by using posting blocks as a sanction. I am fortunate in that I had the verbal aptitude to quickly recognize the grammatical constructions and choices of diction that were consistent with the manner of speech prescribed by the doctor so that I would remain eligible to post here if I so choosed.
I have remained here at Psycho-Babble for all of these years because I judged the benefits to be had by me to outweigh the costs involved in producing compositions that conformed to the moderator's requirements for allowable speech. I have chosen to suffer the personal loss in witnessing the procession of invaluable people whom I respected, admired, and cared deeply for as they elected to discontinue their participation at Psycho-Babble rather than to operate in the current posting environment.
I believe that it is important to the health of the Psycho-Babble community that the forum be moderated. Unfortunately, it was predictable that the methodology chosen by the moderator to apply behavioral modification so mechanistically would lead to the death of a website.
A decade ago, Psycho-Babble helped to pioneer the use of the Internet as a medium for promoting education and support while offering an environment that allowed for the development of a nurturing community. Moderation was virtually absent. I credit the doctor for this. Although his interactions were few, he always gave the community a sense that he was a comrade rather than an overseer.
Somewhere, the experiment of establishing a highly-structured governance of speech using a model of civility developed by the moderator has failed miserably. For administration to acknowledge this does not constitute capitulation. It is a path towards enlightenment.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.
poster:SLS
thread:971091
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20101014/msgs/971329.html