I can see how your moderation strategy might be different if you were optimizing for intelligent debate of issues in your community as opposed to optimizing for maximum fun had by the members of the community. In that case, though, you probably shouldn’t conflate the two in your post.
For the record, I am not a denizen of 4chan, but I do have a lot of fun in moderation-light internet communities. I have been fortunate enough to see a natural experiment: the moderation team at my main online hangout was replaced en masse with a much easier going team a couple years back while leaving the community intact, and it was amazing how much easier it became to dick around to be funny when you no longer had to worry that you’d get a three-month ban for “being stupid”.
I can see how your moderation strategy might be different if you were optimizing for intelligent debate of issues in your community as opposed to optimizing for maximum fun had by the members of the community. In that case, though, you probably shouldn’t conflate the two in your post.
I won’t be having much fun if the discussion ceases to be intelligent. Maybe the people who’ll come after will have fun, but this is a community-wireheading scenario: you don’t want to wirehead, but if you do wirehead, wireheaded you will have lots of fun...
I can see how your moderation strategy might be different if you were optimizing for intelligent debate of issues in your community as opposed to optimizing for maximum fun had by the members of the community. In that case, though, you probably shouldn’t conflate the two in your post.
For the record, I am not a denizen of 4chan, but I do have a lot of fun in moderation-light internet communities. I have been fortunate enough to see a natural experiment: the moderation team at my main online hangout was replaced en masse with a much easier going team a couple years back while leaving the community intact, and it was amazing how much easier it became to dick around to be funny when you no longer had to worry that you’d get a three-month ban for “being stupid”.
I won’t be having much fun if the discussion ceases to be intelligent. Maybe the people who’ll come after will have fun, but this is a community-wireheading scenario: you don’t want to wirehead, but if you do wirehead, wireheaded you will have lots of fun...