Posted by SLS on July 24, 2013, at 7:22:35
In reply to Re: anxiety about Babble and me » SLS, posted by jane d on July 24, 2013, at 2:45:49
> I'm sorry about the long delay in replying.
That's okay. It gave me time to think.
> > > There's a problem with judging things by people's emotional response to them since we all respond to different things.> > Does censorship have a place?
> My preference is to have as little as possible.Is that a yes? :-)
> > > > It also pains me to ponder the possibility that posting activity has dropped off significantly as Lou Pilder has been allowed to post exaggerations, over-generalizations, and accusations to a greater degree and frequency.
> > > I think here Lou is being made the classical scapegoat.> > The scapegoat explanation has become the default argument against investigating cause-and-effect and social responsibility regarding the posting behaviors of Lou Pilder. I was under the impression that scapegoating involves intent; to knowingly blame or punish someone for the acts of others. What is it about my treatment of Lou Pilder that would lead you to characterize it as scapegoating rather than being an inquiry into cause-and-effect and the enforcement of website rules of conduct?
> I admit I am very uncomfortable with a discussion labeling any one poster as the cause of Babble's problems. It doesn't really meet my own internal standards of civility. But it is in keeping with my anti censorship beliefs.I think that if every inquiry into cause-and-effect were to be regarded as an attempt at scapegoating, nothing would ever get done in society. There would be no such thing as a pursuit of equity and safety. There would be no assignment of responsibility.
> And somewhere in there I think that the strength of your feelings for what Babble has been in the past, the strength of your objections to Lou's posts, have somehow become blurred into a certainty that Lou is a major cause of what you don't like about babble. And it's that causality I think is doubtful.I guess I wasn't careful enough to avoid presenting myself as being certain of causality. I have my suspicions and theories, but my using the words "inquiry" and "possibility" in previous posts certainly does not equate to certitude.
It would be convenient if the posting behavior of others had no effect on the size of the community. In such a case, nothing need be done by the moderator.
The rapidity with which posting has decreased is interesting. Perhaps it's a summer thing.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1047296
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20130702/msgs/1047739.html