Text 21266, 73 rader
Skriven 2011-07-25 04:12:06 av FidoNews Robot (2:2/2.0)
Ärende: FidoNews 28:30 [02/05]: Guest Editorial
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                         GUEST EDITORIAL
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  Guest Editorial, Originally The Editorial of FidoGazette, 07152011
by Janis Kracht, 1:261/38

There's a flurry of discussions in the Fidonews echo this week
concerning the style of moderatoring in that echo.  As you know, the
moderator of the Fidonews echo is the same fellow who holds the
postion of publisher of the 'snooze, Bjorn Felten.  Therefore, until
he resigns his position as editor, we're literally stuck with Bjorn
and his very negligent moderating.

Bjorn subscribes to the hands-off appoach to moderating, in other
words, no moderating at all as far as I can see.  This non-moderation
is just too familiar to those of use who reject Listservs,
Newsgroups, and web-related discussion groups because they can be
overrun with trolls, troublemakers and general creeps..  As a matter
of fact, those internet areas are what bring a lot of people to
Fidonet, because they don't want to have to deal with the kind of
environment those groups and discussion areas foster.  With no
moderator in sight, these Internet trolls usually overrun online
discussion groups, often killing any meaninful discussions, and
filling their messages with hateful remarks, meant to stir up
reactions from their intended "victim".

The original variety of Internet troll developed years and years ago
as the Usenet troll.  These troublemakers would post the same
annoying message into various discussions to increase their chances
of angering a victim, but various other types of trolls also
developed in time:

Insulter trolls jump right in to conversations, hurling insults so
that people will lose their tempers.

Sneaky trolls pretend to be interested in the conversation, but soon
begin posting messages designed to undermine any meaningful
discussion.

Colluding trolls work in pairs to try to steer the conversation's
direction, hoping to destroy it altogether.

So what type of trolls do we see in the Fidonews echo?  I'd say all
of the above, perhaps the worst at times being the moderator himself
because he just can't let the chance go by to hurl insults on people
he doesn't like, or doesn't agree with.  He carries baggage from
years past when Zone 1 was a much larger entity, as though he fears
Zone 1's return to it's earlier size.  Along with his anti-US
statements, he and his colluders have let North American participants
know that he doesn't appreciate those who spell his name with a
non-Swedish character set, meanwhile, his name is spelled in a
latinized style by his own ZC in the nodelist.  Requests for Bjorn's
resignation are ignored.

Some Fidonet SysOps avoid the Fidonews echo, sometimes making it
passthrough rather than "available" for users, since it has literally
become an anti-US cesspool, and a place where one is more likely to
be insulted, than not.  It's been stated by his colluders that if you
don't like Bjorn's style of moderating, you should just leave.

What would we like?  Well, I know what I would like: I'd like to see
Bjorn turn the Echo and Fidonews publishing over to someone who cares
a bit more about how the rest of the world views Fidonet, and who
might actually encourage it's growth.  JMO.




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