“Actively trying to drive people away” means doing something with the intention of trying to drive someone away. That could mean screaming at them, overusing the word ‘moist’, or agreeing with them when they want an argument. It could also mean downvotes. It may be hard to judge if someone is trying to drive someone away, but defaulting to “they are not openly being abusive blowhards” is not really useful unless the only thing you care about is abusive blowhards.
However, I would argue that “actively trying to drive people away” is less important that “driving away productive contributors”.
I haven’t gone back and checked, but I seem to remember hearing that Eugene_Nier, when contacted by a moderator the first time, said he was trying to drive away people that he considered unproductive. So if it’s the same person it’s likely that he still tries to drive people away.
I arrive late but with a link to the Kaj_Sotala post you’re probably thinking of:
I sent two messages to Eugine, requesting an explanation. I received a response today. Eugine admitted his guilt, expressing the opinion that LW’s karma system was failing to carry out its purpose of keeping out weak material and that he was engaged in a “weeding” of users who he did not think displayed sufficient rationality.
“Actively trying to drive people away” means doing something with the intention of trying to drive someone away. That could mean screaming at them, overusing the word ‘moist’, or agreeing with them when they want an argument. It could also mean downvotes. It may be hard to judge if someone is trying to drive someone away, but defaulting to “they are not openly being abusive blowhards” is not really useful unless the only thing you care about is abusive blowhards.
However, I would argue that “actively trying to drive people away” is less important that “driving away productive contributors”.
I haven’t gone back and checked, but I seem to remember hearing that Eugene_Nier, when contacted by a moderator the first time, said he was trying to drive away people that he considered unproductive. So if it’s the same person it’s likely that he still tries to drive people away.
I arrive late but with a link to the Kaj_Sotala post you’re probably thinking of:
Yes, that’s what I remembered.