I've been here about four years, and for most of that time, I never clicked on hiddens, didn't even see it there as an option. Too busy learning my way around the rest of this site, with its AMAZINGLY complex codes of conduct, community moderation, HR lore, --- and well I just have to say, wow, a culture all on to its own. And one that I have come to appreciate.
Then one day, in a piece by Kos, he said that the "hiddens" got more clicks than almost anything else, or something to that effect. My rabbit ears went straight up.
Really? I thought to myself, it's all goin' on somewhere here I've never been? Didn't take me long to find "Hidden" on the front page, once I knew what I was looking for. I clicked. I plunged. I've never stopped checking it out.
Let me get past the salacious component before the orange croissant. Yep. I'm human, I'm drawn to a bit of drama now and then. But what baited my interest to begin with, changed into an important component of taking my part in community moderation here, understanding it better, and frankly, seeing where the community is active and effective and where the administration tends to lag behind.
I will defend my premise beneath the fold.
What I have learned from the hiddens.
1. Even some of our most trusted users go off the rails sometimes. There's a lot of anger out there, and this site will NOT help you feel less angry. Anger is an important part of activism, one might say the necessary spark, but it is also hard to keep on a leash. IMO, we are all to be forgiven and forgive ourselves for our occasional intemperate remark.
2. I deeply respect the rules here. I have been around on the internet and if you have too, you'll have to agree with me that this site is an exception to the rule. People here tend to be very informed, to fight with facts, and to avoid the personal more often than anywhere else I've been on the internet. Part of that is because Kos has imposed a pretty tight girdle. Not tight in the respect that anyone is denied their opinion, but very tight in how that opinion is expressed.
Other sites do the same by simply censoring your comments, without including community feed back. (I'm looking at you Arianna.) Or there is no community, anyone can say anything and it ends up a train wreck of comments that shout all sorts of ugly stuff at each other, never progressing an inch for the effort on either side. While imperfect, this site has done much that is VERY right when it comes to community moderation.
When I read the hiddens, I often see the kind of trash so prevalent on other sites. The kind of trash that makes conversation a sad joke. The kind of trash that only masquerades as communication. And most disturbingly, the kind of trash that divides and never conquers.
When you read the hiddens, you come away with great relief that to new users, these comments are not visible. I lurked here for awhile, no TU status, and so I only saw what I thought I could live with, and jump into.
It is vital to the growth of this community, something I think we all want, that new users see their efforts will not be wasted on endless back and forths to no avail. Those kind of sites turn off a lot of thoughtful users. And, I LOVE the fact that this site is dedicated to electing more and better democrats, and makes no bones about it. This too helps keep this place from being a waste land of useless ideological argument.
3. This is the constructive criticism part. In reading the hiddens, I see that while it may be a huge draw to the community at large, it seems to draw relatively little interest from the administration of this site.
I say this because I have seen new members, never more so than now during election season, get away with stuff over and over and over again before they are banned. And imo, the administration of this site needs to recognize that their community is doing their share here, and not always being backed up.
It's one of those pesky truths of life that the better your record is, the stronger your voice for better or worse, the more people expect of you, while their expectation of dolts is so much lower and they get away with so much more. I've seen this in the work place all my life.
We have all seen that in valuable members of this community being banned or handed a NR punishment, for a whole lot less than brand new members seem to get away with. Including diaries and comments that earn a baker's heaven of donuts, over and over again, for days and weeks.
So what do y'all think? Maybe it's right that we hold our strongest community members to the highest of expectations. Maybe it's not. And, I want to say here, I'm SURE NOT LOOKING FOR A META FIGHT OVER RECENT BONY MOJOS. Please, oh please, spare me and us that.
I'm looking for some reflection, both from the members of this community and the administration. And, I'm going to wind this up with my original premise. There's a lot to be learned about the hiddens in this community, for the better and for the worse.