I feel that our progress towards the goal will be in exact proportion to the purity of our means...They say ‘means are after all means’. I would say ‘means are after all everything’. As the means so the end. (Gandhi)
I have not been very involved in this issue. Not involved in the flame wars, the troll wars, the Obama wars. I really enjoy the diversity of opinions posted in diaries on DK, and over the years, I've gotten much better at not getting sucked into personal battles, where I feel the need to take on an individual or several on a specific issue or comment. There's certainly value in having discussions at that level, but it's something that I personally try to avoid. The conflicts I've had rarely have satisfying outcomes, in terms of achieving agreement/understanding, and I've often subsequently regretted my judgement and word choice, while in the heat of conflict.
So I've been behind the curve on all of this, and will remain so, deliberately. Not because I don't care about trolling, or race issues, or site moderation, but because they're not my focus at DK. Some people are much more actively involved in these issues, and I appreciate their contributions to DK, although I may not always agree with them. I like that DK functions as forum where a diversity of people can exchange ideas, and am not surprised that sometimes things get ugly.
That said, the current boycott is an opportunity to have a discussion about how to address problematic behavior on DK. There seem to be some entrenched positions on the topic, and I'd like to focus on ways to improve discussions on DK.
The boycott is in response to the Kos Purge of specific individuals for what he felt was inappropriate behavior, but the core issue seems to be the general sense from some at DK that racially offensive behavior is tolerated at DK. Attempts by others to justify or minimize the relevance of this kind of behavior would not be appreciated by those who are experiencing it. At the same time, DK is a diverse community with people coming from a wide range of life experiences, with significantly different opinions about acceptable behavior. And then there are the trolls.
Any social dynamic as large and diverse and complex as the DK community is subject to attempts by groups and individuals to manipulate it for purposes that may not be in the best interest of the DK community. And even those with the purest of motives here participate with the intention of influencing the DK community. At the core, the issue is about Power. DK is a powerful communication forum, and those who participate here are interested in Power: the power of knowledge, of communication, of community, of inspiration, of organization.
With power comes conflict. Which can be constructive, but obviously isn't, in this situation. So the question is, how can we move towards a more supportive and respectful atmosphere? DK is basically a self-moderated community, so there aren't many formal mechanisms for addressing this type of conflict. Those mechanisms that are operative are inadequate.
That said, the diverse DK community certainly must include many people who have significant experience addressing and resolving these kinds of issues. I know that many of them have been sharing their opinions about this issue, and contributing to the general discussion.
What would be their vision for effective DK community moderation? What would be your vision for effective DK community moderation?
Caveat: I would prefer not to discuss the specific incidents that contributed to the Purge/Boycott. While it's certainly important to discuss those incidents, I would like this diary to focus on discussions about how the DK community can work towards better ways of communicating.
Also, I ask that commenters to this diary be civil and respectful to each other.