Welcome to Tildes! We are not a subreddit. It's (generally) nicer here. Here is the Code of Conduct, which covers the basics well. But I suggest taking some time to detox from Reddit, and be a fly...
Welcome to Tildes! We are not a subreddit. It's (generally) nicer here.
But I suggest taking some time to detox from Reddit, and be a fly on the wall a bit. Things go slower here, and adjusting to the culture is an important part of it.
Edit: Just noticed you joined up in January. Good job :)
(glad to have had an invite for years) My main concern has been the corpo-magic psuedoscience around the laws and regulations surrounding "don't be a dick", Not because I am legally or...
(glad to have had an invite for years)
My main concern has been the corpo-magic psuedoscience around the laws and regulations surrounding "don't be a dick",
Not because I am legally or economically interested, but because "don't be dick" does't cover it in terms of saying something nice or saying something illegal so the first step is which country does "covers it" apply to.
As an American citizen, I could whinge on about all these particularities, but it is feeling a bit ahead of itself. I'm missing the point, aren't I?
The main philosophy behind it is when you end up having explicitly stated rules that are hard bound and clarified, you always inevitably get the kind of people who juuuuuust try to skirt the...
The main philosophy behind it is when you end up having explicitly stated rules that are hard bound and clarified, you always inevitably get the kind of people who juuuuuust try to skirt the rules. They end up being a dick to everyone, but in a way that is "technically" not against the rules, and throw a fit when they get banned. This type of behavior, while not against the explicit rules, makes the experience of the site worse for everyone.
I always end up putting that backwards :) Funny thing, I literally just commented on the Minecraft thread twice doing it the right, then swapped it here.
I always end up putting that backwards :)
Funny thing, I literally just commented on the Minecraft thread twice doing it the right, then swapped it here.
Extremely easy to do. :) One thing I like about RES over on reddit giving an immediate preview without having to click over to it (which might be done by the Tildes browser extension, I don't...
Extremely easy to do. :)
One thing I like about RES over on reddit giving an immediate preview without having to click over to it (which might be done by the Tildes browser extension, I don't remember)
I always have to click the “preview” tab to check I’ve done links right… Or I just say “screw it” and don’t bother and just leave the ugly link just out and visible
I always have to click the “preview” tab to check I’ve done links right…
Or I just say “screw it” and don’t bother and just leave the ugly link just out and visible
I think nice compromise is probably a bibliography style list. E.g.: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur[1] adipiscing elit. Cras tempor[2] odio lobortis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,...
I think nice compromise is probably a bibliography style list. E.g.:
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur[1] adipiscing elit.
Cras tempor[2] odio lobortis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras dignissim erat turpis,
eget auctor[3] dui tincidunt."
[1] https://<website1>.com/news/f1c3b1a/
[2] https://<website2>.at/home/rickroll.m4v
[3] https://<website3>.xyz/buy-tildecoins.htm
I don't do it that often, but it's a good compromise between the two styles.
That's not to say that you can't just maliciously do [https://tildes.net](https://not-phishing.aoci29j39xj219fjc.to/login.html) and fake it. It's still up to the reader to verify I'm actually redirecting them where I tell them I'm redirecting them.
I wonder how screen readers work with that approach As far as I understand, text hyperlinks with concise, but clear descriptions are the best, at least according to these accessibility guidelines,...
I wonder how screen readers work with that approach
As far as I understand, text hyperlinks with concise, but clear descriptions are the best, at least according to these accessibility guidelines, though visually I think I like the bibliography style you showed more.
EDIT: oh, I noticed that this is veering a bit off-topic, heh
Many times markdown will support a variant of the bibliography style called "link references". This lets you write the text in a convenient way, while making the internal links easy to read and...
Many times markdown will support a variant of the bibliography
style called "[link references]". This lets you write the text in a
convenient way, while making the [internal links easy to read
and follow][1]. Of course, you [can choose non-number labels
as well][nonum]
[link references]: https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#link-reference-definitions
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Linking#:~:text=Appropriate%20links%20provide%20instant%20pathways
[nonum]: https://mtsknn.fi/blog/how-to-remember-markdowns-link-syntax/#reference-links
Kind of? In my experience, the kinds of people who get permanently barred from communities with vague guidelines tantamount to "don't be a dick" aren't those who say the wrong thing one time. The...
I'm missing the point, aren't I?
Kind of?
In my experience, the kinds of people who get permanently barred from communities with vague guidelines tantamount to "don't be a dick" aren't those who say the wrong thing one time.
The people who tend to get the boot are those who escalate, refuse to give an inch, and insist upon themselves when gently confronted about something they said.
There are not a list of all possible bad things that you could do, and enumerating them would be pointless. You being American means nothing here, nor reddit, nor any other private forum. If you...
There are not a list of all possible bad things that you could do, and enumerating them would be pointless.
You being American means nothing here, nor reddit, nor any other private forum.
If you are a problem, you get removed. If you are not a problem, you do not get removed. There are conservatives, progressives, indifferents, and people to whom none of those descriptions would mean anything from all over the world here.
I recommend reading through the “philosophy” of Tildes, posted here: https://docs.tildes.net/philosophy There’s are some general usage instructions that might be helpful for finding your way...
There’s are some general usage instructions that might be helpful for finding your way around (though they are geared towards the website and not the app UI).
In terms of legally protected vs illegal speech, tildes is run by a Canadian corporation (but I believe it’s just the user Deimos running things).
Tildes is operated by Spectria, a Canadian not-for-profit corporation (corporation number 1034108-8).
With my other comment addressing the technical country, I’ll add a further comment here: Generally I think Tildes users tend to be socially liberal (or left-leaning in USA parlance). So blatant...
With my other comment addressing the technical country, I’ll add a further comment here:
Generally I think Tildes users tend to be socially liberal (or left-leaning in USA parlance). So blatant transphobia or racist comments are frowned upon, and would likely result in a ban or at least a warning. I don’t think everyone on the site of the same political leaning, and quite a few (leaning to either side politically) don’t interact with any of the posts tagged as political.
On nuanced topics, “don’t be a dick” tends to cover it; if you aren’t outwardly being aggressive or contrarian, you’re likely to get along just fine.
Posts do get locked from time-to-time, and people can get banned or timed-out for arguing deep into comment threads.
I think your questions have been addressed, so as a very minor note: the term you’re probably looking for is internet forum, not subreddit. Forums are a bit older, and more of a generic term. It’s...
I think your questions have been addressed, so as a very minor note: the term you’re probably looking for is internet forum, not subreddit. Forums are a bit older, and more of a generic term. It’s kinda like a blog vs. a substack.
I think someone else here mentioned groups: they’re categories for posts (eg. there’s one for anime), and are kinda like subreddits, except that all posts show up on the front page by default. And you can filter out categories you don’t want to read about.
Hope that helps understand what people are talking about a little more! I’ve always found new jargon to be a smidge intimidating.
The tl;dr for the rules for the site is: Don't be a dick. Thoughtful replies are usually preferred, although in some threads a few quick sily replies are often tolerated (otherwise I'd be thrown...
The tl;dr for the rules for the site is: Don't be a dick.
Thoughtful replies are usually preferred, although in some threads a few quick sily replies are often tolerated (otherwise I'd be thrown out for sure! hehe)
If something makes you angry, consider not replying and just letting it go. If something seems bad, like you'd report someone on reddit, then report that as malicious.
Read threads that interest you and see how the conversation usually goes, and if that is compatible with your style, jump in when you have something to say.
I love to jump in many threads, but when I don't really have much to contribute, I tend to just enjoy others discussiing the topic. But I feel free to jump in when I do want to express something.
Correction for things that don't fit the culture are usually gently corrected by the community.
The rule I try hardest to remember: Most here are generally talking in good faith, so if something offends you, first try to see if there's another way to interpret it. Sometimes people get a little spicy - not contributing to the spice is generally viewed as being a better person and appreciated. Note that I always am striving to be that person, and succeeding a lot of the time, but not all of the time. heh
If you mean the ~tildes group Three cheers, which I love, does not have all the features of the website, so sometimes you have to pop out and check it from there.
I have no idea what a group is unless it means the equivalent of a subreddit, but if it means fighting Three Cheers then that is all I have been doing to respond to Vord. Which, obviously, is not...
I have no idea what a group is unless it means the equivalent of a subreddit,
but if it means fighting Three Cheers then that is all I have been doing to respond to Vord.
Which, obviously, is not getting me anywhere satisfactory in what may have been a discussion.
Groups listed on desktop: https://ieh.im/s/firefox_50xkMaY2KN.png In Three Cheers, they appear under titles, showing which group (yes, basically like a subreddit) a post is in - with a tilde...
In Three Cheers, they appear under titles, showing which group (yes, basically like a subreddit) a post is in - with a tilde (hence the name of the site). Note that there are no group mods; groups are created by Deimos as needed. We're a much smaller and slower site. :)
Even if you only have a mobile device, you might check out https://tildes.net/ as it works pretty well in the browser. Perhaps not the way you'd use it most of the time, but worth a look.
I don't know that I follow you at this point. So I'm going to suggest you go to the website, it's just tildes.net And use that for a bit. The mobile version works great.
I don't know that I follow you at this point. So I'm going to suggest you go to the website, it's just tildes.net
And use that for a bit. The mobile version works great.
You tap the link and hit copy. But no TBH I'm not feeling like I follow you. Lots of American citizens around here, most of us aren't whingeing in British English about the don't be a dick rule....
You tap the link and hit copy. But no TBH I'm not feeling like I follow you. Lots of American citizens around here, most of us aren't whingeing in British English about the don't be a dick rule.
But anyway mine wasn't blue because I figured you could type Tildes into the browser of your choice.
"Don't be an asshole" is a good summary. You can read about the other stuff here, but if you inadvertently go against some rule or shared expectation, the person responding to you will probably...
"Don't be an asshole" is a good summary.
You can read about the other stuff here, but if you inadvertently go against some rule or shared expectation, the person responding to you will probably not be an asshole about it. Which is nice.
"don't be an asshole" is easy for me. I lurk unless I'm joining a new site (hint) or talking about some hobby. So I want to know about beyond me. What if they don't share my definition of "don't...
"don't be an asshole" is easy for me. I lurk unless I'm joining a new site (hint) or talking about some hobby.
So I want to know about beyond me.
What if they don't share my definition of "don't be a dick"? Well, screw those guys...
But who is determining what "don't be a dick" is and how do I know if it aligns with my definition?
I have had no introduction to Tildes that should suggest dick leaning.
Dude, I think you're overthinking things. Just lurk a bit more, get the vibe of the place, see if it's for you. It's very obvious when someone has been banned or "censored" if you will. It'll say...
Dude, I think you're overthinking things. Just lurk a bit more, get the vibe of the place, see if it's for you. It's very obvious when someone has been banned or "censored" if you will. It'll say "Comment deleted by site admin".
I've seen that maybe a dozen times in my years of being here, and it's always been for a good reason. 14 year old boys end up on the site from time to time, deliberately stirring up shit. They need to be banned, for good reason.
I'd guess there are about a dozen active people on the site who have "mod powers", but those amount to housekeeping stuff like editing tags, titles, or moving a post from one group to another. We're generally chill, not trying to get in the way, just trying to organize the site better.
In comparison, reddit mods have this lord of the flies hierarchy where in every subreddit all mods must obey top mod who dictates all the rules for their sub. Here, only one person is able to delete posts or ban people, and he's got a day job.
This is why we implicitly ask that you not be a dick. It's a real inconvenience to the guy who built this site, who we all respect.
As someone who uses visits Tildes irregularly and doesn't have the best memory, this sort of thing only makes it obvious that someone/something has been banned but not who/what/why. I understand...
It's very obvious when someone has been banned or "censored" if you will. It'll say "Comment deleted by site admin".
As someone who uses visits Tildes irregularly and doesn't have the best memory, this sort of thing only makes it obvious that someone/something has been banned but not who/what/why. I understand that publicizing that information can invite more drama, but it also makes it harder to get a feel for the rules. If I see a comment with questionable behavior, I don't know if it just hasn't been removed yet, and if I see a removed comment, I either never saw it or don't remember it well enough.
For example, there's this case that popped up when I tried Googling the comment removal message. The comment was removed by the site admin, the reply was deleted by the author, and the next two replies are completely innocuous with no hint of upstream drama. My best guess is that the OP copied the entire article, and it was removed on copyright grounds. But since there's no indicator, it doesn't help people learn who don't already know about that rule.
This is a false assumption, as when this has happened you'll see a simple correction from mods and usually the person who initially posted it deletes the comment themselves and apologizes. It's...
The comment was removed by the site admin, the reply was deleted by the author, and the next two replies are completely innocuous with no hint of upstream drama. My best guess is that the OP copied the entire article, and it was removed on copyright grounds. But since there's no indicator, it doesn't help people learn who don't already know about that rule
This is a false assumption, as when this has happened you'll see a simple correction from mods and usually the person who initially posted it deletes the comment themselves and apologizes. It's certainly more than rare enough that this is sufficient to educate new people who are unfamiliar with this rule.
Comments deleted by the site admin are almost exclusively more flagrant than this, and the only comments remaining are free from upstream drama because Deimos deliberately nukes whole threads to avoid perpetuating drama over removals.
Thanks for the clarification. I think that helps illustrate my difficulties with the situation, as I drew the wrong conclusion from the limited information. I just wish it was easier to get a feel...
Thanks for the clarification. I think that helps illustrate my difficulties with the situation, as I drew the wrong conclusion from the limited information.
I just wish it was easier to get a feel for how some of the cases get decided. For example, over on Reddit, the reaction to the United Healthcare killing led to a lot of seemingly innocuous political hyperbole getting swept into the category of advocating violence. And it's only because of all the tangential chatter about moderation that it was obvious something was going on. But that sort of thing's a bit more off-topic on Tildes, and we don't have the equivalent of people wandering over to other subreddits to discuss/complain about moderation, so it just feels harder to absorb some on the details.
If you post the whole article, someone will speak up about it gently. I think "don't be a dick" is sufficent. There's clear cases of being a dick and clear cases of not being a dick. Egregious...
If you post the whole article, someone will speak up about it gently.
I think "don't be a dick" is sufficent. There's clear cases of being a dick and clear cases of not being a dick. Egregious cases might lead to immediate bans, but less clear cases would lead to discussions and warnings at most.
As far as other unwritten rules - like not posting the whole article: The community keeps that in check, and pretty gently from what I've seen.
And beyond that: Reading what's posted by others before jumping in feet-first is a good idea. You get to see how the community interacts and how it doesn't.
I think it works out pretty well, because I think it looks to me like it's worked out pretty well.
At the end of the day, Deimos the founder and architect of the site is the only moderator. If a comment thread gets heated, sometimes he will remove a comment and all replies. Deimos issues...
At the end of the day, Deimos the founder and architect of the site is the only moderator.
If a comment thread gets heated, sometimes he will remove a comment and all replies.
Deimos issues warnings, temporary bans and permanent bans. He also sometimes locks topics.
One of the tags available to users is malice which is essentially a request for the moderator to look at the comment and decide whether intervention is appropriate.
Tildes doesn't accept insults the way reddit does. Try to be polite. But profanity is fucking fine.
Everything to follow is my opinion but I obviously think it's an accurate portrayal of the site and the owner of the site otherwise I wouldn't post it. One thing that I find sets expectations...
Everything to follow is my opinion but I obviously think it's an accurate portrayal of the site and the owner of the site otherwise I wouldn't post it.
One thing that I find sets expectations appropriately is recognizing that one person controls this site, they're pretty hands off but they're responsive to user reports, so it's not lawless, but they aren't going around looking for reasons to ban people. Understand that there are people here that you are talking to behind the screen, respect the people behind the screen and you likely won't ever have a reason to be reported to be subjected to any kind of moderation. But at the end of the day, this site is owned and controlled by one person, one person who dedicated their own time to code and design the site and invite people to use it, one person who has paid to keep supporting it, and that one person is the one who sets the terms.
If you approach the site thinking its owned or run by the community, or that it is a democracy or such, that's the wrong expectation to have in my view. Again, the owner is fairly hands off, so they're not exactly sitting around ruling with an iron fist dictatorship style of control, they do seem to try to keep the community in mind when making decisions so they aren't intentionally trying to ignore what the community wants, but you should see the site as a take-it-or-leave-it type of situation. It's not trying to be a site for everyone, it has its own identity and philosophy for how it operates and the idea is that people come to it because they believe in that identity and philosophy and want to participate in that.
Browse the site. It's all open. Look at how we all interact. :) Also, browsing the site is how you can see what not being a dick looks like, as it's pretty rare that anyone is.
Browse the site. It's all open. Look at how we all interact. :)
Also, browsing the site is how you can see what not being a dick looks like, as it's pretty rare that anyone is.
Welcome to Tildes! We are not a subreddit. It's (generally) nicer here.
Here is the Code of Conduct, which covers the basics well.
But I suggest taking some time to detox from Reddit, and be a fly on the wall a bit. Things go slower here, and adjusting to the culture is an important part of it.
Edit: Just noticed you joined up in January. Good job :)
(glad to have had an invite for years)
My main concern has been the corpo-magic psuedoscience around the laws and regulations surrounding "don't be a dick",
Not because I am legally or economically interested, but because "don't be dick" does't cover it in terms of saying something nice or saying something illegal so the first step is which country does "covers it" apply to.
As an American citizen, I could whinge on about all these particularities, but it is feeling a bit ahead of itself. I'm missing the point, aren't I?
The main philosophy behind it is when you end up having explicitly stated rules that are hard bound and clarified, you always inevitably get the kind of people who juuuuuust try to skirt the rules. They end up being a dick to everyone, but in a way that is "technically" not against the rules, and throw a fit when they get banned. This type of behavior, while not against the explicit rules, makes the experience of the site worse for everyone.
This blog post does a good job of outlining the phenomenon and why sometimes a more vague "don't be a dick" type of moderation policy can work best in some cases.
Amusingly (to me) you've also basically summarized the current state of American public discourse.
[ text ] ( link ) not [ link ] ( text ) :)
I always end up putting that backwards :)
Funny thing, I literally just commented on the Minecraft thread twice doing it the right, then swapped it here.
Extremely easy to do. :)
One thing I like about RES over on reddit giving an immediate preview without having to click over to it (which might be done by the Tildes browser extension, I don't remember)
I always have to click the “preview” tab to check I’ve done links right…
Or I just say “screw it” and don’t bother and just leave the ugly link just out and visible
Not to pile on but you've got an extraneous bit there before the protocol (https) which breaks the link
Oof not my best work haha. It's fixed now I think, thanks for catching!
Oh, and one more thing… </Columbo> ;-)
I’ve begun posting the whole text link. It’s terrible to read, but it offers some security as you can see where you’re going before you click.
I think nice compromise is probably a bibliography style list. E.g.:
I don't do it that often, but it's a good compromise between the two styles.
That's not to say that you can't just maliciously do
[https://tildes.net](https://not-phishing.aoci29j39xj219fjc.to/login.html)and fake it. It's still up to the reader to verify I'm actually redirecting them where I tell them I'm redirecting them.I wonder how screen readers work with that approach
As far as I understand, text hyperlinks with concise, but clear descriptions are the best, at least according to these accessibility guidelines, though visually I think I like the bibliography style you showed more.
EDIT: oh, I noticed that this is veering a bit off-topic, heh
Many times markdown will support a variant of the bibliography style called "link references". This lets you write the text in a convenient way, while making the internal links easy to read and follow. Of course, you can choose non-number labels as well
Kind of?
In my experience, the kinds of people who get permanently barred from communities with vague guidelines tantamount to "don't be a dick" aren't those who say the wrong thing one time.
The people who tend to get the boot are those who escalate, refuse to give an inch, and insist upon themselves when gently confronted about something they said.
There are not a list of all possible bad things that you could do, and enumerating them would be pointless.
You being American means nothing here, nor reddit, nor any other private forum.
If you are a problem, you get removed. If you are not a problem, you do not get removed. There are conservatives, progressives, indifferents, and people to whom none of those descriptions would mean anything from all over the world here.
I recommend reading through the “philosophy” of Tildes, posted here: https://docs.tildes.net/philosophy
There’s are some general usage instructions that might be helpful for finding your way around (though they are geared towards the website and not the app UI).
In terms of legally protected vs illegal speech, tildes is run by a Canadian corporation (but I believe it’s just the user Deimos running things).
(Sourced from the “Donate” page FAQ)
With my other comment addressing the technical country, I’ll add a further comment here:
Generally I think Tildes users tend to be socially liberal (or left-leaning in USA parlance). So blatant transphobia or racist comments are frowned upon, and would likely result in a ban or at least a warning. I don’t think everyone on the site of the same political leaning, and quite a few (leaning to either side politically) don’t interact with any of the posts tagged as political.
On nuanced topics, “don’t be a dick” tends to cover it; if you aren’t outwardly being aggressive or contrarian, you’re likely to get along just fine.
Posts do get locked from time-to-time, and people can get banned or timed-out for arguing deep into comment threads.
First things first, you aren't on Reddit. :-)
An extreme example of r/lostredditors
Now I wonder what would happen if you linked this post there. Probably nothing.
I think your questions have been addressed, so as a very minor note: the term you’re probably looking for is internet forum, not subreddit. Forums are a bit older, and more of a generic term. It’s kinda like a blog vs. a substack.
I think someone else here mentioned groups: they’re categories for posts (eg. there’s one for anime), and are kinda like subreddits, except that all posts show up on the front page by default. And you can filter out categories you don’t want to read about.
Hope that helps understand what people are talking about a little more! I’ve always found new jargon to be a smidge intimidating.
The tl;dr for the rules for the site is: Don't be a dick.
Thoughtful replies are usually preferred, although in some threads a few quick sily replies are often tolerated (otherwise I'd be thrown out for sure! hehe)
If something makes you angry, consider not replying and just letting it go. If something seems bad, like you'd report someone on reddit, then report that as malicious.
Read threads that interest you and see how the conversation usually goes, and if that is compatible with your style, jump in when you have something to say.
I love to jump in many threads, but when I don't really have much to contribute, I tend to just enjoy others discussiing the topic. But I feel free to jump in when I do want to express something.
Correction for things that don't fit the culture are usually gently corrected by the community.
The rule I try hardest to remember: Most here are generally talking in good faith, so if something offends you, first try to see if there's another way to interpret it. Sometimes people get a little spicy - not contributing to the spice is generally viewed as being a better person and appreciated. Note that I always am striving to be that person, and succeeding a lot of the time, but not all of the time. heh
If you mean the ~tildes group
Three cheers, which I love, does not have all the features of the website, so sometimes you have to pop out and check it from there.
I have no idea what a group is unless it means the equivalent of a subreddit,
but if it means fighting Three Cheers then that is all I have been doing to respond to Vord.
Which, obviously, is not getting me anywhere satisfactory in what may have been a discussion.
Groups listed on desktop: https://ieh.im/s/firefox_50xkMaY2KN.png
In Three Cheers, they appear under titles, showing which group (yes, basically like a subreddit) a post is in - with a tilde (hence the name of the site). Note that there are no group mods; groups are created by Deimos as needed. We're a much smaller and slower site. :)
Even if you only have a mobile device, you might check out https://tildes.net/ as it works pretty well in the browser. Perhaps not the way you'd use it most of the time, but worth a look.
I only use the browser version, honestly.
I don't know that I follow you at this point. So I'm going to suggest you go to the website, it's just tildes.net
And use that for a bit. The mobile version works great.
My apologies, I submitted a reply to Vord that should hopefully clear some things up.
Unfortunately, I have not figured out copying links in my app.
You tap the link and hit copy. But no TBH I'm not feeling like I follow you. Lots of American citizens around here, most of us aren't whingeing in British English about the don't be a dick rule.
But anyway mine wasn't blue because I figured you could type Tildes into the browser of your choice.
Did you mean to double post?
Maybe! :)
Yes.
No.
"Don't be an asshole" is a good summary.
You can read about the other stuff here, but if you inadvertently go against some rule or shared expectation, the person responding to you will probably not be an asshole about it. Which is nice.
"don't be an asshole" is easy for me. I lurk unless I'm joining a new site (hint) or talking about some hobby.
So I want to know about beyond me.
What if they don't share my definition of "don't be a dick"? Well, screw those guys...
But who is determining what "don't be a dick" is and how do I know if it aligns with my definition?
I have had no introduction to Tildes that should suggest dick leaning.
Dude, I think you're overthinking things. Just lurk a bit more, get the vibe of the place, see if it's for you. It's very obvious when someone has been banned or "censored" if you will. It'll say "Comment deleted by site admin".
I've seen that maybe a dozen times in my years of being here, and it's always been for a good reason. 14 year old boys end up on the site from time to time, deliberately stirring up shit. They need to be banned, for good reason.
I'd guess there are about a dozen active people on the site who have "mod powers", but those amount to housekeeping stuff like editing tags, titles, or moving a post from one group to another. We're generally chill, not trying to get in the way, just trying to organize the site better.
In comparison, reddit mods have this lord of the flies hierarchy where in every subreddit all mods must obey top mod who dictates all the rules for their sub. Here, only one person is able to delete posts or ban people, and he's got a day job.
This is why we implicitly ask that you not be a dick. It's a real inconvenience to the guy who built this site, who we all respect.
As someone who uses visits Tildes irregularly and doesn't have the best memory, this sort of thing only makes it obvious that someone/something has been banned but not who/what/why. I understand that publicizing that information can invite more drama, but it also makes it harder to get a feel for the rules. If I see a comment with questionable behavior, I don't know if it just hasn't been removed yet, and if I see a removed comment, I either never saw it or don't remember it well enough.
For example, there's this case that popped up when I tried Googling the comment removal message. The comment was removed by the site admin, the reply was deleted by the author, and the next two replies are completely innocuous with no hint of upstream drama. My best guess is that the OP copied the entire article, and it was removed on copyright grounds. But since there's no indicator, it doesn't help people learn who don't already know about that rule.
This is a false assumption, as when this has happened you'll see a simple correction from mods and usually the person who initially posted it deletes the comment themselves and apologizes. It's certainly more than rare enough that this is sufficient to educate new people who are unfamiliar with this rule.
Comments deleted by the site admin are almost exclusively more flagrant than this, and the only comments remaining are free from upstream drama because Deimos deliberately nukes whole threads to avoid perpetuating drama over removals.
Thanks for the clarification. I think that helps illustrate my difficulties with the situation, as I drew the wrong conclusion from the limited information.
I just wish it was easier to get a feel for how some of the cases get decided. For example, over on Reddit, the reaction to the United Healthcare killing led to a lot of seemingly innocuous political hyperbole getting swept into the category of advocating violence. And it's only because of all the tangential chatter about moderation that it was obvious something was going on. But that sort of thing's a bit more off-topic on Tildes, and we don't have the equivalent of people wandering over to other subreddits to discuss/complain about moderation, so it just feels harder to absorb some on the details.
If you post the whole article, someone will speak up about it gently.
I think "don't be a dick" is sufficent. There's clear cases of being a dick and clear cases of not being a dick. Egregious cases might lead to immediate bans, but less clear cases would lead to discussions and warnings at most.
As far as other unwritten rules - like not posting the whole article: The community keeps that in check, and pretty gently from what I've seen.
And beyond that: Reading what's posted by others before jumping in feet-first is a good idea. You get to see how the community interacts and how it doesn't.
I think it works out pretty well, because I think it looks to me like it's worked out pretty well.
Do we, though?
(yes, yes we do :) )
At the end of the day, Deimos the founder and architect of the site is the only moderator.
If a comment thread gets heated, sometimes he will remove a comment and all replies.
Deimos issues warnings, temporary bans and permanent bans. He also sometimes locks topics.
One of the tags available to users is malice which is essentially a request for the moderator to look at the comment and decide whether intervention is appropriate.
Tildes doesn't accept insults the way reddit does. Try to be polite. But profanity is fucking fine.
Opinions may vary.
I didn't mean to imply perfection.
Should I go back and add 'most' as a qualifier?
Nah I was just being grumpy.
Wishing the best for you and family 💗
Everything to follow is my opinion but I obviously think it's an accurate portrayal of the site and the owner of the site otherwise I wouldn't post it.
One thing that I find sets expectations appropriately is recognizing that one person controls this site, they're pretty hands off but they're responsive to user reports, so it's not lawless, but they aren't going around looking for reasons to ban people. Understand that there are people here that you are talking to behind the screen, respect the people behind the screen and you likely won't ever have a reason to be reported to be subjected to any kind of moderation. But at the end of the day, this site is owned and controlled by one person, one person who dedicated their own time to code and design the site and invite people to use it, one person who has paid to keep supporting it, and that one person is the one who sets the terms.
If you approach the site thinking its owned or run by the community, or that it is a democracy or such, that's the wrong expectation to have in my view. Again, the owner is fairly hands off, so they're not exactly sitting around ruling with an iron fist dictatorship style of control, they do seem to try to keep the community in mind when making decisions so they aren't intentionally trying to ignore what the community wants, but you should see the site as a take-it-or-leave-it type of situation. It's not trying to be a site for everyone, it has its own identity and philosophy for how it operates and the idea is that people come to it because they believe in that identity and philosophy and want to participate in that.
I think I am looking for assurance that this won't be reddit....
I can assure you, this won't be Reddit. For many, many reasons.
Scroll through any active post and that should become abundantly clear.
Browse the site. It's all open. Look at how we all interact. :)
Also, browsing the site is how you can see what not being a dick looks like, as it's pretty rare that anyone is.
I don't have a logical answer to that, I can only say that it seems to work in practice.