sllort's Journal: The Moderation Death Ray Strikes! (back)?

For those of you not familiar with the fact that a few comments were removed from this story for this reason, you should read up before continuing further. Once you read what happened, you'll understand why I'm not going to mention Slashdot's reason for doing what it did, nor am I going to fault them for it. Stupid people do stupid things. And no, this is not a hoax, just a /bot who shot his mouth off.

Once you understand what's going on, take a look at the whole picture. That's the entire thread, post-comment-removal. Notice that some people actually replied to the idiot, without breaking the law? Let's take, for example, this guy. A 100% on-topic post with no intent of trolling anyone. Notice that the entire thread has been slapped down to -1 Troll, including non-troll posts? Ok, ok, maybe it's not the best Editor Threadslapping in the world, but they probably had their reasons. The Church of Scientology is one thing, but this is quite another. I'm not here to cry foul, but to ask this question:

If Moderation isn't Censorship, then why did they Threadslap the entire thread to -1 Troll?

Not so easy, eh Yossarian?

Update 2/25: Shortly after I posted the above text, a large number of On-Topic posts were restored to their original comment Threshold with approximately 10 "Underrated" Moderations. It's actually kind of disturbing how frequently my journal is read by people with unlimited moderation points. If you're reading, guys, maybe a little less time with the Moderation gun would prove beneficial. Consider it a research project. Go an entire week without Moderating your web site. See if page/ad views go up or down. If they go up, repeat. Who knows, maybe you're spending all this time just fucking yourselves over?

Of course it is.

[GSV NegotiableEthics]

If Moderation isn't Censorship, then why did they Threadslap the entire thread to -1 Troll?

Your answer is in the question. Of course moderation is censorship--that's the whole intention. Moderate down tripe, moderate up good material. Anybody who wants to read the whole thing , except for the illegal threat, just sets score level to a negative number.

Re:Busted!

[GSV NegotiableEthics]

That's very funny, but your reasoning is a bit out. Lots of people disagree with one another, without calling one another liars. Rob doesn't think moderation is censorhip, I think he's obviously and trivially wrong. Woopdidoo, wouldn't the world be a sad place if we couldn't disagree with one another.

Re:Busted!

[wholesomegrits]

Is that the correct spelling of Whoopdeedo?

Re:Busted!

[GSV NegotiableEthics]

No, it's a variant spelling of "pedantic".

Not the first time

[flikx]

How can we forget the whole scientology thing [slashdot.org]?

This bullshit has been going on for quite some time. How dare someone threaten the emperor and one true god George W.!

oh whatever. I've had enough of the secret service, being the fact that I've been searched by them almost every day I've come to campus for the past two months. Just this morning, those assholes took almost an hour to search my truck.

Re:Not the first time

[sulli]

He's in Salt Lake City, until yesterday the home of the Olympics.

Re:Not the first time

[jeffy124]

searched by them almost every day I've come to campus

where do go that requires such tight security measures? May I recommend taking the bus to avoid having a search of your truck on daily basis? Or clean the truck out to speed up the search?

Re:Not the first time

[flikx]

I go to the University of Utah, former home of the olympic stadium and olympic village. It's quite a hassle to students such as myself.

And my suburban is clean.

Re:Not the first time

[jeffy124]

well that explains a lot. i kinda know how you feel, i was working as an intern on a military base 9/11, and the few weeks after that until school started again. thank god i dont have to return there again anytime soon.

Let's face it...

[wholesomegrits]

You post a ton of shit, but have a fairly articulate journal. 425 comments, the most recent 25 (at least as of the time of this reply) is a standard crapflood -- something I thought the troll community had generally moved beyond. It's been at least a year, more like 18 months, since the grand days of posts slightly more interesting than liquid shit.

Troll with style...