Somatic's recent activity
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Comment on Should lurkers make an effort to post more content? in ~talk
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Comment on Should lurkers make an effort to post more content? in ~talk
Somatic (edited )Link ParentI really disagree with this. You can design a site keeping in mind how things will be abused. In fact, that's what makes a site useful in the first place. That's sort of what you're alluding to...If you assume the worst of everyone at all times and so avoid implementing any potentially abusable features for fear they will be abused then you wind up hamstringing your site. And punishing everyone, by removing/restricting those features, for the abuse of a few you also create all sorts of other downstream problems as well.
I really disagree with this. You can design a site keeping in mind how things will be abused. In fact, that's what makes a site useful in the first place. That's sort of what you're alluding to here:
Some of ~ stated goals are to trust users and punish abusers... not all potential abusers and hamstring the site out of fear... punish the actual abusers.
Here you're saying there has to be some kind of mechanism of enforcement because there will be abusers, because we know there will be. From a design perspective you have to examine how things will be abused. You're saying that I am saying we should punish everyone and I'm not. I'm saying features should be designed with the fact they will be abused in mind, and how to withstand it. That way people can have nice things.
It is possible to assume the worst, within reason, of everyone and design something around that. I think where we disagree is that you assume that:
If you assume the worst of everyone at all times and so avoid implementing any potentially abusable features for fear they will be abused then you wind up hamstringing your site.
I don't think hamstringing your site follows from assuming people will abuse it's features and incorporating that into your design. I think that's how you harden it against abuse.
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Comment on Should lurkers make an effort to post more content? in ~talk
Somatic Link ParentYou can tell people how you think they should ideally use something, but my experience is that you need to look at how things will be abused and assume that's how it will be used. It's one of the...You can tell people how you think they should ideally use something, but my experience is that you need to look at how things will be abused and assume that's how it will be used. It's one of the ideas that first showed up in the tildes subreddit, the evolution of trust game. You need to take a look at the game theory behind the system you designed; people will take advantage of something if they can. It's what people kinda do best, exploit advantages and disadvantages. Looking at those things should inform one's design decisions.
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Comment on Should lurkers make an effort to post more content? in ~talk
Somatic Link ParentYou encounter the bullshit asymmetry principle pretty fast with fluff, or a variation of it. The amount of effort required to sort through the fluff is much greater than required to generate it,...You encounter the bullshit asymmetry principle pretty fast with fluff, or a variation of it. The amount of effort required to sort through the fluff is much greater than required to generate it, so sorting it can get difficult fast.
It's fine to contribute and ask questions. I do have a problem with forcing other people to do so for participation points. It will keep conversations more interesting to allow people not to say anything if they don't feel like it.
I also think that assuming that the upvote, or vote feature will only be used for contributing is a naive proposition. The only way it will be treated that way is if there is something mechanistic ensuring that. Disposition is not enough. It's sort of like how the founding fathers of the U.S. were of the opinion factions were a bad idea. They didn't provide a mechanism to prevents factions, so factions pretty much immediately sprang up. I think if you're going to design something interacting with the general public you need to figure out how to make it function the way you want when its features are being abused. You can introduce stopgaps, but I think one might see better results if they design something keeping in mind that it will be abused
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Comment on Reddit is adding native video ads starting next week in ~tech
Somatic Link ParentI've already encountered parts that seem to be broken. Maybe it's just growing pains, but any v.reddit links won't load if I click on the links on the old site, or at least they wouldn't...I've already encountered parts that seem to be broken. Maybe it's just growing pains, but any v.reddit links won't load if I click on the links on the old site, or at least they wouldn't yesterday. I have to click on the comments and hope the video loads there. Maybe they'll update it, but it's the type of thing that generally just gets left broken on a legacy site.
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Comment on Daily Tildes discussion - on civility, political content, and over-extrapolating in ~tildes.official
Somatic Link ParentTrue, but political discussion has a tendency to encourage conversing in bad faith. Heck, the way politics is conducted in the U.S. is a case study in wilful misunderstanding and...True, but political discussion has a tendency to encourage conversing in bad faith. Heck, the way politics is conducted in the U.S. is a case study in wilful misunderstanding and misrepresentation. I by no means think politics should be banned here. If this site has to ban political discussion it's failed in what it set out to do. It's just a question of how to deal with a topic that, without strict and enforced guidelines, lends itself to bad behaviour.
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Comment on So far this site has been mostly politics-averse, but I am curious if I am alone as an MAGA/Trump voter/supporter in a sea of reddit mods in ~talk
Somatic Link ParentTo me, it does seem that community has a persecution complex. I think that it's necessary for people in that community to be able to justify their actions to themselves. Well, at least the one's...To me, it does seem that community has a persecution complex. I think that it's necessary for people in that community to be able to justify their actions to themselves. Well, at least the one's that are actual ordinary people, and not political operatives for some group or another.
I have to say, I think what the_donald does is not teasing. What they do at their best is harassment, and at their worst they peddle and deal in hate. If reddit had consistently enforced their rules and guidelines they would have been banned long ago. There were weeks of simply spam from them during 2016. It consistently covered r/all. Reddit changed their site and algorithm to deal with r/all being spammed. If any other community had put out spam to the point it required an overhaul of the site and the development of new features, they would have been banned. They got preferential treatment because they were, ostensibly, a political discussion sub.
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Comment on So far this site has been mostly politics-averse, but I am curious if I am alone as an MAGA/Trump voter/supporter in a sea of reddit mods in ~talk
Somatic Link ParentSince the user base is limited right now, there are limited problems. The question is whether the tools the users are going to be given will allow them to deal with infinite problems. If the...Since the user base is limited right now, there are limited problems. The question is whether the tools the users are going to be given will allow them to deal with infinite problems. If the moderator system can scale with the user base, as stated in the mechanics section, I think it's got a chance. Heavy and consistent moderation of community guidelines are what maintain a community in my experience.
Yeah, fair enough. I think we're at the same place here.