I was a moderator on DU way back when.

[Prism]

117. I think it's just a function of cliquishness that's hard to root out of human nature

I've been on the net for over 20 years and moderated my fair share of boards.

It almost always happens that those with power tend to 1) clan together against those who do not have it and 2) fall into an easy groupthink where favorites and the unfavored are subtly formed over time. There were some posters under the old mod system that were absolutely bulletproof. They could do and say nearly whatever they liked and be left alone. With other posters, if they stepped one toe out of line, they could see their entire thread nuked.

Humans are arbitrary creatures. When that arbitrariness can be given names and faces, the "masses" have targets. On the old DU, there were mods I absolutely disdained. They were condescending, patronizing, and had no trouble wielding their privilege around with an unspoken stick of threat.

With an anonymous jury system, you don't really have a target. Your defense against DU juries is really, "Don't be a jerk," or as Skinner says, "You take your chances." Most hides I've seen (and participated in) were fairly clear cut cases. If I had to name a trend, it would be that people are more inclined to leave things that are borderline rather than hide them.

Almost every time-out I can think of involves someone who was wandering the board kind of being an ass in some way. I remember when, I think LoZoccolo, complained to Skinner that he was getting hidden because he was disliked, Skinner replied somewhere along the lines of, "Well, have you tried being the kind of poster people won't dislike?" (obviously I'm paraphrasing). The guy was a total troll, of course. But there was truth in what Skinner said there.

It takes 5 hides in 90 days for a time-out. You really have to be doing something wrong to manage it. Obviously I don't know every person who gets a time out (I'm not here very much usually), but the ones I am aware of involved people who needed to be knocked down a peg or two with their attitude.

And as always, the admins have final say over who gets to leave the island. They may also show mercy if they so choose (Nance's reprieve for compassionate reasons).

Imperfect, yeah, but I just don't want a small group of chosen people to lord over the rest of us. It always ends in suck. JMHO.