mmol_6453's Journal: I can no longer moderate.

I no longer have the ability to moderate or meta-moderate. My preferences don't even have the "Am willing to moderate" check box any more.

I expected it to happen, eventually. As a still-maturing reader of Slashdot, I become more and more likely to be at odds with general geek opinion. I suppose some moderation or comment of mine must have irritated one of the editors, and my moderator access was revoked.

It makes sense, and I agree it's the appropriate thing to do, but it's still sad. I enjoy reading Slashdot, the stories and comments, the polls. I visit Slashdot more often than Google News, my other online news source. I'm going to miss being able to highlight gems of wisdom or information, and I'm going to miss the careful weighing of points of view that went into my meta-moderating.

I say it makes sense, not because I'm cynical about Slashdot's administration and behavior, but because a homogenous environment like the Slashdot community isn't likely to survive being disrupted by dissenting views. It risks flamewars like the kind you can find all over Usenet, and it becomes harder for people to find information provided by people they agree with. (The zoo is a step towards making that easier.)

I don't see a point in griping about the system. If you do it in a comment, you'll be flooded by "insightful" and "troll" moderations. If you do it in your journal, who's going to read it? I'm willing to bet that most Slashdot users have something negative to say about the system, but so what?

To put it simply, CmdrTaco can do whatever the hell he pleases. He started the project(I think. I'm not too knowledgeable in /. lore), and users play by his rules. The fact that Slashdot is still around simply shows that those rules work well enough to keep a community thriving.

damn, dude...

[intermodal]

if you're not gonna be cynical about slashdot editor misbehavior, i'll do it for you. How's this:

Those bastards, trying to keep anyone they disagree with down. Especially that Michael Sims guy. And CmdrTaco. To their credit, however, Hemos and CowboyNeal are good (except as poll choices). IN SOVIET RUSSIA, OPINION BLACKLISTS YOU!

how was that?

Re:damn, dude...

[mmol_6453]

It's their website. They're free to do with it what they want.

Besides, by putting down dissenters, they're keeping Slashdot from turning into a massive flamewar contest too large for existing moderation controls.

The fact that I turned out to be one of the ones they put down doesn't mean they're wrong. Notice I said that this occured partially because I'm maturing. If it makes you feel better, think about what that says about them. :)

(No offense to anyone of authority reading this. Not all of us can m

Re:damn, dude...

[intermodal]

I know, i was just playing a role. I don't often do that sort of thing in the actual posts. Journal entries I make an exception.