What kind of place would Fluther become if all mod involvement stopped?
What would Fluther be like if it was not modded or had less mod activity on it? Would there be utter chaos? Would there be running feuds and cat fights? Would it be so bad that investors or however Fluther makes money flock away in droves? Sometimes I get annoyed when they grammar Nazi my questions to death or it disappears in the Moderator’s Triangle never to be seen again, but I think what if they were not there? I can imagine the dog fights that would be breaking out especially under subjects like abortion, atheism, feminism, gun control, spanking, etc. Imagine at Noon CST all the mods vanished and left Fluther to its own devices, what do you think it would be like? How quick would the no mod change be felt? The direction you imagine it taking it would it be more or less likely to keep you hanging around?
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I was actually a part of a quality Q&A site where this basically happened, after a while. Turmoil started, small at first – nothing that wasn’t manageable for the mods. But then it kept escalating and escalating, to the point where they literally couldn’t keep up with it. There were flamewars, people publicly bashed each other, and all because some accused others of having cliques, and because they didn’t like the direction the site was going, etc., etc. Because people had known each other for years and formed friendships, there were literally sides. It was, pretty much, a civil war. One day, the site owner and creator just stopped. Stopped updating people, stopped listening, stopped going to the site altogether. Then, eventually, the site completely died.
So if all mod involvement stopped, I think that’s exactly what would happen here. I hope it never reaches that point. I’m kinda sick of quality Q&A sites dying. Before Fluther, I had been to three. If Fluther meets the same fate, as much as I love these kind of sites, it’ll be my last and I’ll probably disappear from any kind of online community for good.
I came here because it was a moderated site. That means I deal with decisions that I disagree with – but I get an overall improved quality.
I would leave the first day.
Ever read Lord of the Flies?
Mods are humans with their own agendas and biases so there is no way I am going to agree with all of them all of the time. But they do their job as they see fit and really I rarely feel a need to comment. So I wouldn’t want them to leave, just keep a bit of balance in their ranks.
Just take a look at one of the many unmoderated comments sites on the Internet. Without moderation this is the level to which Fluther would quickly sink and eventually disappear without a trace.
PS I just came across this interview with the founders of Fluther
@Hypocrisy_Central
I’ve been here six months now…my first Q&A site…and, I enjoy meeting up with you all. It IS a big family of sorts. I don’t agree with everyone all the time…and, I’m sure as hell that is a reciprocated fact.
That said, the mods are fine. Sometimes we get a little carried away…and, Bob’s not here to ask for a sandwich, and we need them.
I’d miss the site, now that I’ve been here. It’s a great place to pick someone’s brain or have yours poked upon. I’d miss the characters here…both the ones that I usually have something in common with. And, I’d miss those who encourage me to absorb alternate perspectives…thereby, making me a better person.
Just like all the Q&A sites that did not have moderation. Boring!
An invasion of trolls would take over and we’d have to fight them off like zombies.
It would turn to shit pretty quickly. Like @YARNLADY Id more than likely leave that day and never look back.
@BarnacleBill: “Lord of the Jellies”
If I had the free time, I would stay and fight the trolls, flame-baiters and schmuks in general. It would be a great venue to vent and crack some heads (something you can’t do too much of in real life). I’d go down swinging.
But I would go down – probably sooner rather than later as I’d be overrun by shear numbers and would escape so as not to become too emotionally involved. I do have a real life to attend to after all.
But it’d be a hell of fight!
It would become Yahoo!Answers, which would suck.
I would probally agree with DrasticDreamer here. It would slowly turn into a big monster. Many would probally delete their accounts since trolls and riff raff would start to overtake the site.
Are you familiar with the phrase “shit would hit the fan”?
It would be renamed to “Fluthered” as place that once was…
Hey @bob_ , clean it up, wouldja? The “excrement” would make contact with the air circulation device”.
Fecal matter would be projected towards the rotating blades of an airflow-creating device.
This is the real reason no one’s buying this. Where would be the fun in that?
You are all forgetting about the other invasion… trolls are one thing but spammers are even more aggressive. On my one-year anniversary of modding I banned my 600th user. (I am not exaggerating either.) The bulk majority of the bans being spammers.
For me, even if I had resigned as a mod, I would not stay. I loathe conflict and drama. I prefer respectful discourse with use of real information instead of nastiness and barbs.
@bob_ : Yeah, I probably should have thought that through before I said it, huh.
@Dog: 600!?!?!
(((( Big Hug ))))
@Dog You’re my hero! Protecting the virtual streets of Fluther, one troll at a time!
In answer to the Q, natural mods would emerge, and be empowered by the reasonable types on the site. Just as in society. Luckily, there is no need for that.
Full of spam, and just like answerbag. I wouldn’t stay if it was unmoderated.
Logic would cease to govern reality as we know it.*
*in the case of such event, leading researchers speculate that the earliest signs would be the fall of the Canadian government to an insurgent Moose force.
@Foolaholic: Better than a passive aggressive Moose force.
@Dog is very close to being one of the coolest people in my book.
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