Re:Show HN: Reveddit.com: Improving online discourse with tr...
by rhaksw on Saturday November 05, 2022 @04:12PM
(#33485154)
> the more secrecy about removals, the less signal that favored users get that their opinions were published because the mods approved of them
That's deep. I hadn't thought about what happens to the ego of users whose content is approved. One lie in the chain really does screw up everything.
> b) the 25%, seeing the vigorous debate about the cost of the King's new crown (and not the debate about the King or the crown themselves), don't understand why having the King as a mod could have a chilling effect on speech.
You're right, it's like a newly manufactured Overton window that can be adjusted on a per-group basis. A simpler term is brainwashing but I think you do need to spell it out as you do here. This is good stuff, I can use these principles to tell stories using real examples and make what's happening more relatable. Or you or anyone else could too.
And related: the more secrecy about removals, the less signal that favored users get that their opinions were published because the mods approved of them. If you mod away 75% of posts:
a) the remaining 25% see the 75% as opinions nobody has, and the debate looks like a reasonable 15% vs a radical 5% on one side and another radical 5% on the other side. The vigorous debate among a small minority gives the illusion of a free space, even if it's e.g. people debating how much should be spent on the King's new crown, while the people saying that there shouldn't be a King, or even that the King shouldn't have a new crown have been modded away. And
b) the 25%, seeing the vigorous debate about the cost of the King's new crown (and not the debate about the King or the crown themselves), don't understand why having the King as a mod could have a chilling effect on speech.