So recently I finally gave up and starting adding people to my foes list when I encountered people whose posts I felt I'd be better off never seeing. I've been avoiding doing that because I figured, "Hey, I may not like what these people are saying now, but I just might dig it later!" Then yesterday, I was more like, "fuck that," and felt much better.

But today as I added someone else to my list, I started to think about how this might be having some kind of effect on the effectiveness (!) of user moderations in this forum. When I do get moderator points, I'll never think to moderate any of these people down, because they'll already look like -1 to me. I'm sure that other people do the reverse for people on a Friends list. Likewise, I've set a -1 moderation for anonymous posts. So when someone who uses these techniques gets moderator access (like myself), it's going to be used less effectively, because this person's already made decisions about how his/her comments are viewed. Why moderate something down if it already looks like it's been moderated down? Or why mod something up that already shows up as +5 on your screen?

Now, obviously this isn't exactly a pressing problem, and one could even argue that it doesn't even matter at all* because, after all, people no longer have to rely on moderators to filter out unwanted posts, or see posts that you'd otherwise miss. But it's still interesting. Or so says I, anyway.

* Well, obviously nothing on Slashdot really matters but you know what I mean.

A feature I really want for Slashdot is the ability to automatically mod posts down that bitch about moderation. And anyone who's got some lame-ass .sig about "ooh, the /. editors are evil! Just Evil!" Give it a rest. Jesus. It'd be like those "anyone on my 'friends' list gets +1" options, or whatever. Except that it would scan the content of posts and just be able to tell. It could be put under the "People Modifier" section, under "Idiot." Maybe I should submit this into /.'s sourceforge account as a feature request . . .

Update: Oh, and anyone who bitches about some kind of slashdot hypocrisy, too.

Update: T(H)GSWB is officially over. Feel free to return to Slashdot's usual Weevil-related madness. I'll post another journal entry soon for discussion of how things went.

Update: No, I won't. That takes work, and I'm bored with this now. So if you want executive summaries, you'll have to make 'em yourself. :)

Well, the time is now upon us. Remember not to talk about you-know-what for the remainder of this week. After the twenty-seventh, however, feel free to continue the highly animated you-know-what discussions we've always enjoyed here on Slashdot.

If you've got any concerns or questions, though, feel free to use this forum. And in the meantime, here's a new SIG to use during the blackout (lameness filters might mangle it a bit):

<STRONG>Stop talking about <A HREF="http://slashdot.org/~cjpez/journal/7282">You Know What</A>!!!</STRONG>

If you use it, this sig will serve as a gentle reminder to posters that dicussion of you-know-whats should be discouraged during the week.

Thanks for all the support!

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To continue discussion, head over to the latest journal entry!
Just don't talk about you-know-what! The time is upon us!

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I'll add more to the mix in a bit - I just wanted to get this started so discussion about the issue can continue. If you're confused about the whole thing, I suggest you check out my previous journal, wherein the situation is explained in full.

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To continue discussion, head over to the latest journal entry!
There's a smattering of discussion about the subject on this journal, too, although it's been archived.

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Saved for posterity:

... while I don't mean to dismiss the value of weevil discussions on Slashdot, the percentage of readers who follow weevil-related comments is small. Yes, weevils draw readers, and keep them coming back, but half the readers don't care!

This kind of dismissal by Rob Malda of the extreme importance of weevil discussions on Slashdot reflects on the inability of Slashdot's "editors" to understand the way communities work.

This easy dismissal of the value of the only providers of weevil-related content on Slashdot is offensive. Thus, I propose a small revolt. The (Hopefully) Great Slashdot Weevil Blackout.

T(H)GSWB will be during the week of April 21 through April 27. Easy to remember. During that time, I will not be mentioning weevils, nor will I click through to read other weevil-related comments. I will become the weevil-less reader Malda thinks I am. I will provide absolutely no weevil content whatsoever.

During that week, I'd like to see if Malda sees Slashdot become a better place, and I'd like for the "editors" to really see what the true value of Slashdot is--not the sum of click-throughs and page-views, but the sharing of knowledge and dissemination of weevils; the passing of weevil experiences (weexperiences) from the more to the less.

This is where the (Hopefully) comes in. This is only meaningful if enough free content-providers (i.e., comment posters) agree to go along and participate. If there is only me and a handful of others who cease discussing weevils during that week, it will be pretty meaningless. Barely a dent will be made in the vast landscape of weevil discussions, and Malda and the other "editors" will never realize the incredible value they receive from comment posters talking about God's True Creatures, the Weevils.

To spread the word, I'm changing my sig to link to this journal entry. If you would like to help, you can link to this journal from your own sig, or you can simply resolve to enter into a voluntary one-week blackout. Pass the word. This will only work if a goodly number of comment posters participate.

To summarize, if you wish to participate, during the week of April 21 through April 27

• Do not click through from the home page to any weevil-related comments
• Do not post any weevil-related comments to stories
• Do not submit new weevil-related stories

A useful HTML link to this journal entry (116 characters, should fit in just barely). You'll probably have to unfungle it after the lameness filter gets through with it:

Join <a href="http://slashdot.org/~cjpez/journal/6146">The (Hopefully) Great Slashdot Weevil Blackout</a> Apr 21-27

(with sincere apologies to rho)

The subject says it all, really. Why would you care what I say in my Slashdot journal? It's not like you know me personally or anything. Well, maybe you do, but if so, you'd probably just call me up if you wanted to know what was on my mind. Maybe you enjoyed my posts so much that you just HAD to take in as much of my writing as possible. But that's rather silly, as most of my Slashdot posts, like this one, tend to ramble on incoherently for awhile and then sputter away to nothing towards the end.

Regardless, I return now to my original point. I suspect that this posting will go entirely unnoticed.