Self-censorship on Reddit

Thanks for confirming what I was getting at 👍
The one thing you still need to grasp is that you aren't the one calling the shots here. On most major platforms—unlike that toxic mess over at Reddit—you wouldn't even be permitted to say something like that in the first place. It’s essentially a non-starter.
The moderators have their own supervisors to answer to. If they’re incompetent, they get replaced. And just as importantly, we don't allow every single idiot to spit on them (God forbid I'm referring to you).

Jason Brown5 said:Thanks for confirming what I was getting at 👍
The one thing you still need to grasp is that you aren't the one calling the shots here. On most major platforms—unlike that toxic mess over at Reddit—you wouldn't even be permitted to say something like that in the first place. It’s essentially a non-starter.
The moderators have their own supervisors to answer to. If they’re incompetent, they get replaced. And just as importantly, we don't allow every single idiot to spit on them (God forbid I'm referring to you).

The bottom line is this: bad moderators aren't being let go, and that’s exactly why the owner is opening threads like this with the Prosecutor—because he knows that if he keeps up this policy, there won't be anything left to moderate!
People like you should be the very first ones cleared out. Complaining about moderators 🙏 Wow, filing a complaint against the mess you're making is treated like attacking a high-ranking official—a forum moderator 🙏 while claiming your own decisions are flawless.
Honestly, you are the literal embodiment of everything wrong with this community; just the fact that your profile exists is an issue. You're like a mascot for bad behavior...

So, boss, prove you're actually ready for some real change and get rid of these troll moderators, because they serve absolutely zero purpose for the growth of this community...

Maria Barnes said:Can you expand on that comparison between how things are moderated here versus elsewhere?

Sure, I'll type it all out once I get home tonight...

wanderingcanyon61 said:The bottom line is this: bad moderators aren't being let go, and that’s exactly why the owner is opening threads like this with the Prosecutor—because he knows that if he keeps up this policy, there won't be anything left to moderate!
People like you should be the very first ones cleared out. Complaining about moderators 🙏 Wow, filing a complaint against the mess you're making is treated like attacking a high-ranking official—a forum moderator 🙏 while claiming your own decisions are flawless.
Honestly, you are the literal embodiment of everything wrong with this community; just the fact that your profile exists is an issue. You're like a mascot for bad behavior...

So, boss, prove you're actually ready for some real change and get rid of these troll moderators, because they serve absolutely zero purpose for the growth of this community...

I won't speak on my own behalf, but I will mention one thing: what you fail to grasp is that every single moderator—every single one except me, which is fine by me—is infinitely more valuable to this site and to Maria Barnes than you could ever hope to be.
Not just compared to the users who produce quality content, mind you.

But compared to you—someone who probably runs an ad-blocker and therefore contributes nothing via clicks, while the content you generate consists of pathetic attempts to hit on every female profile in completely irrelevant threads—you provide no utility whatsoever.

And let's be clear: moderator decisions are not infallible. However, they aren't "wrong" simply because some user said so. You didn't understand a single thing in your first post, nor did you actually comment on anything related to that post. It doesn't matter how many times some whining victim complains; the only thing that matters is whether they have a legitimate grievance.

And that isn't your call to make.

Jason Brown5 said:I won't speak on my own behalf, but I will mention one thing: what you fail to grasp is that every single moderator—every single one except me, which is fine by me—is infinitely more valuable to this site and to Maria Barnes than you could ever hope to be.
Not just compared to the users who produce quality content, mind you.

But compared to you—someone who probably runs an ad-blocker and therefore contributes nothing via clicks, while the content you generate consists of pathetic attempts to hit on every female profile in completely irrelevant threads—you provide no utility whatsoever.

And let's be clear: moderator decisions are not infallible. However, they aren't "wrong" simply because some user said so. You didn't understand a single thing in your first post, nor did you actually comment on anything related to that post. It doesn't matter how many times some whining victim complains; the only thing that matters is whether they have a legitimate grievance.

And that isn't your call to make.

I mean, honestly, it's just not your call. I guess when the boss shows up with plans for a whole new Reddit, it kind of implies the old one and its admins aren't exactly cutting it anymore, right? So, uh, maybe just come down from the clouds a bit.

Jason Brown5 said:I won't speak on my own behalf, but I will mention one thing: what you fail to grasp is that every single moderator—every single one except me, which is fine by me—is infinitely more valuable to this site and to Maria Barnes than you could ever hope to be.
Not just compared to the users who produce quality content, mind you.

But compared to you—someone who probably runs an ad-blocker and therefore contributes nothing via clicks, while the content you generate consists of pathetic attempts to hit on every female profile in completely irrelevant threads—you provide no utility whatsoever.

And let's be clear: moderator decisions are not infallible. However, they aren't "wrong" simply because some user said so. You didn't understand a single thing in your first post, nor did you actually comment on anything related to that post. It doesn't matter how many times some whining victim complains; the only thing that matters is whether they have a legitimate grievance.

And that isn't your call to make.

What you're failing to realize is that when someone claims they are "pathetically hitting on every woman's profile," that's just a direct reaction to the moderation required for people like you, because having any kind of normal conversation became impossible.
I don't mind if Maria Barnes finds certain moderators more important than regular users, but if that happens, she'll just have to accept that she'll end up with maybe 50 to 100 active members left who basically moderate themselves.
However, since by opening these threads with the Police, you've at least shown a glimmer of intention to understand where the problem lies, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself wrong.

As a gesture of good faith, the admin really ought to give your profile a complete makeover. Just to show he's willing to embrace change...

Otherwise, if he keeps tolerating people like you, he might as well just lock all these threads right now and we can go back to the way things were, spiraling downward... 🙂

wanderingcanyon61 said:What you're failing to realize is that when someone claims they are "pathetically hitting on every woman's profile," that's just a direct reaction to the moderation required for people like you, because having any kind of normal conversation became impossible.
I don't mind if Maria Barnes finds certain moderators more important than regular users, but if that happens, she'll just have to accept that she'll end up with maybe 50 to 100 active members left who basically moderate themselves.
However, since by opening these threads with the Police, you've at least shown a glimmer of intention to understand where the problem lies, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself wrong.

As a gesture of good faith, the admin really ought to give your profile a complete makeover. Just to show he's willing to embrace change...

Otherwise, if he keeps tolerating people like you, he might as well just lock all these threads right now and we can go back to the way things were, spiraling downward... 🙂

Not from the Reddit users. 🙂 The users here—the folks on Reddit—are easily the most valuable asset we have. They’re also the most important. Though, let's be honest, not all of them carry the same weight. Some contribute more than others.

briskbison55 said:I mean, honestly, it's just not your call. I guess when the boss shows up with plans for a whole new Reddit, it kind of implies the old one and its admins aren't exactly cutting it anymore, right? So, uh, maybe just come down from the clouds a bit.

Bravo! Truly a stroke of genius—thanks for opening my eyes to the obvious.
It’s blindingly obvious that nobody even bothers asking the moderators. Honestly, they usually see right through it anyway—you don't see any of them whining when people actually point out their mistakes. 😉

I get it. The system is rigged—it’s fundamentally broken from the ground up. And that goes for your people too, when you look at the numbers. 329 That's a strike. Honestly—those bitter moderators are dead wrong here; you’re absolutely in the right.

So, did anyone actually manage to dodge a red card from you? Or have you finally gone and collected every single Pokémon out there?

Jason Brown5 said:I can weigh in here—mostly because I’ve spent a fair amount of time lurking and posting on various forums myself. It’s common sense, really: smaller communities naturally dodge a lot of the headaches that plague the big ones. On most international forums, what stormylynx4 is saying holds true—though, if we're being honest, the underlying reasons are entirely different:

There simply isn't a subforum for this—not one that allows us to endlessly nitpick over every single individual card.

Short bans are incredibly rare around here—it’s more like an all-or-nothing policy. The rules are pretty straightforward: you're expected to have read them, and if you break them, a ban means a permanent ban. No mercy, no second chances. I actually experienced this firsthand on one of the very first international forums I ever joined; I got hit with a permanent ban for something that wouldn't even earn you 45 points on a strict subreddit. Surprisingly enough, offering a sincere apology through a burner account actually worked to get me back in, but the underlying principle remains clear—there's no room for error.

Look, it’s obvious enough that there are administrators pulling the strings behind the scenes, managing both the backend and the moderation teams. But honestly? It’s impossible to ignore when you see the exact same individual popping up—like, literally 150 times—acting bewildered and asking why they got banned. It's absurd. At that point, you have to wonder if the issue lies with the moderator themselves—in which case, maybe the mod should be the one getting removed—or, in the absolute worst-case scenario, the user is headed for the exit once they hit that "three strikes and you're out" rule. It's a cycle that just doesn't make sense.

My apologies to the fellow user—and colleague—whose complaint was singled out for being at the top of the pile. On most other forums, something like this would be absolutely impossible: I’ve been spending far too much time lately lurking on Reddit—mostly just observing the chaos—but I finally decided to weigh in on this particular thread regarding the recent legal developments. It’s quite a mess, honestly. The discussion seems to be spiraling around whether our current judicial system can actually hold anyone accountable, or if we're just watching a choreographed dance of bureaucracy. There’s a lot of talk about how the Prosecutor is handling these cases, and frankly, it feels like we're seeing a massive wave of self-censorship from the media outlets that should be shouting from the rooftops instead. One user, Maria Barnes, was making some rather pointed observations about the lack of transparency, which I find hard to argue against—though she does tend to get a bit carried away with her theories. Then you have someone like Gerald Chavez7, who seems convinced that everything is fine as long as the paperwork looks correct. It's a classic case of missing the forest for the trees. I find myself stuck between two extremes here: the people who think every minor error is a grand conspiracy, and those who believe the system is an infallible machine. Neither side is particularly convincing. The truth, as usual, is likely buried somewhere in the middle, obscured by political maneuvering and a general lack of public interest. It’s exhausting to follow, really—almost as exhausting as trying to keep up with the endless debates over sports or whatever else is trending today—but one can't help but watch the slow-motion train wreck unfold.

Either the ex-mod is going to step up and act like a legitimate member of this Reddit community within the next 24 hours—or, the actual moderator needs to start doing their job. I mean, seriously—either they fix the constant stream of insults and targeted attacks from that one specific user (who is usually the culprit anyway), or we’re stuck with this endless, toxic cycle where everyone is perpetually complaining. It’s bad enough as it is; there's no need to let that "everyone is miserable" atmosphere take root.

The sheer volume of complaints is irrelevant—which is exactly why they kicked them out of the room ages ago. It doesn't matter if you're looking at three filings a month, thirty, or thirty thousand. What actually matters is whether those claims hold water. At the end of the day, everyone sitting in a prison cell is technically innocent until proven otherwise.

The whole point of reporting something via the icon clearly isn't working.
What you wrote is honestly the bare minimum I expected to hear. I need an answer.
If my report is baseless, then fine, send me a DM explaining why and give me a strike. If it’s valid, the offender takes the hit. That's the least you can expect in a place that claims to be democratic.
Democracy starts with respecting every single user.
I read the owner's statements about how this site should run a long time ago, which is actually why I joined. If I don't have the right to voice my opinion, and if the moderator uses self-censorship to delete that opinion, then that practice needs to stop. I have a specific example I could walk you through if it helps move the needle on this self-censorship issue.

Emily Myers8 said:The whole point of reporting something via the icon clearly isn't working.
What you wrote is honestly the bare minimum I expected to hear. I need an answer.
If my report is baseless, then fine, send me a DM explaining why and give me a strike. If it’s valid, the offender takes the hit. That's the least you can expect in a place that claims to be democratic.
Democracy starts with respecting every single user.
I read the owner's statements about how this site should run a long time ago, which is actually why I joined. If I don't have the right to voice my opinion, and if the moderator uses self-censorship to delete that opinion, then that practice needs to stop. I have a specific example I could walk you through if it helps move the needle on this self-censorship issue.

The owner has stated more than once—just a few days ago, actually, somewhere in one of these threads—that there is no democracy here, nor will there ever be any. Go ahead and dig through his posts if you don't believe me.

Emily Myers8 said:The whole point of reporting something via the icon clearly isn't working.
What you wrote is honestly the bare minimum I expected to hear. I need an answer.
If my report is baseless, then fine, send me a DM explaining why and give me a strike. If it’s valid, the offender takes the hit. That's the least you can expect in a place that claims to be democratic.
Democracy starts with respecting every single user.
I read the owner's statements about how this site should run a long time ago, which is actually why I joined. If I don't have the right to voice my opinion, and if the moderator uses self-censorship to delete that opinion, then that practice needs to stop. I have a specific example I could walk you through if it helps move the needle on this self-censorship issue.

Do you even understand the difference between self-censorship and actual censorship? Or do you not?

Why was my avatar deleted? 😳

Jason Brown5 said:Not from the Reddit users. 🙂 The users here—the folks on Reddit—are easily the most valuable asset we have. They’re also the most important. Though, let's be honest, not all of them carry the same weight. Some contribute more than others.

Bravo! Truly a stroke of genius—thanks for opening my eyes to the obvious.
It’s blindingly obvious that nobody even bothers asking the moderators. Honestly, they usually see right through it anyway—you don't see any of them whining when people actually point out their mistakes. 😉

I get it. The system is rigged—it’s fundamentally broken from the ground up. And that goes for your people too, when you look at the numbers. 329 That's a strike. Honestly—those bitter moderators are dead wrong here; you’re absolutely in the right.

So, did anyone actually manage to dodge a red card from you? Or have you finally gone and collected every single Pokémon out there?

Sarcasm is basically just a tool for people who can't make a real point, so maybe just let it go. On a thread about Reddit, you first claim nobody asks the mods, then you get all worked up when someone points out that nobody's asking *you* either, so I guess your opinion here carries the exact same weight.

And honestly, where am I getting bothered by bans, deleted posts, or other restrictions? Do you really think this site is such a big deal that it actually triggers any emotions in me? I don't know if there's anyone who hasn't slapped me with a ban, I just see that all the places where I don't post (and plenty of others) have basically decayed to the level of a landfill. But that's on the regular users, not on some biased, hyperactive group of people getting banned. 😁

Jason Brown5 said:I won't speak on my own behalf, but I will mention one thing: what you fail to grasp is that every single moderator—every single one except me, which is fine by me—is infinitely more valuable to this site and to Maria Barnes than you could ever hope to be.
Not just compared to the users who produce quality content, mind you.

But compared to you—someone who probably runs an ad-blocker and therefore contributes nothing via clicks, while the content you generate consists of pathetic attempts to hit on every female profile in completely irrelevant threads—you provide no utility whatsoever.

And let's be clear: moderator decisions are not infallible. However, they aren't "wrong" simply because some user said so. You didn't understand a single thing in your first post, nor did you actually comment on anything related to that post. It doesn't matter how many times some whining victim complains; the only thing that matters is whether they have a legitimate grievance.

And that isn't your call to make.

Maybe you wanna explain what "quality content" actually means?
Is Reddit better off with some high-brow expert posting perfect stuff on the Police boards that maybe two people understand and even fewer can reply to? Or is it better to have someone posting in "useless" threads who actually gets people talking and brings in the traffic?
Asking seriously.

Emily Myers8 said:The whole point of reporting something via the icon clearly isn't working.
What you wrote is honestly the bare minimum I expected to hear. I need an answer.
If my report is baseless, then fine, send me a DM explaining why and give me a strike. If it’s valid, the offender takes the hit. That's the least you can expect in a place that claims to be democratic.
Democracy starts with respecting every single user.
I read the owner's statements about how this site should run a long time ago, which is actually why I joined. If I don't have the right to voice my opinion, and if the moderator uses self-censorship to delete that opinion, then that practice needs to stop. I have a specific example I could walk you through if it helps move the needle on this self-censorship issue.

Look, if an appeals system exists—and apparently it still does here—then you have a point. But the real issue lies in the *nature* of the appeal itself. I’m actually glad two classic examples of "innocent users" popped up just now to demonstrate the conversational style; I intentionally met them with the same level of energy—perhaps I shouldn't have, but the goal was to illustrate exactly what happens when people engage in this specific brand of dialogue.

Appeals ought to be civilized. Moderators are volunteers. Super-moderators? Also volunteers. Both groups will much rather deal with a polite, reasoned appeal than accusations of tyranny or persecution (I mention yours specifically because you actually asked, whereas yours is still quite decent compared to the others floating around).

There is absolutely no reason for you to receive a strike for filing an appeal that simply didn't yield the desired result—provided, of course, that the appeal itself was handled decently.

wanderingcanyon61 said:Why was my avatar deleted? 😳

Now even the admins are coming after you. This is getting ridiculous.

wanderingcanyon61 said:Why was my avatar deleted? 😳

Because we can't have identical 🙂

dustypilot11 said:Maybe you wanna explain what "quality content" actually means?
Is Reddit better off with some high-brow expert posting perfect stuff on the Police boards that maybe two people understand and even fewer can reply to? Or is it better to have someone posting in "useless" threads who actually gets people talking and brings in the traffic?
Asking seriously.

Everything has value. And everyone is valuable, provided they engage in discussion at a civilized level.

I was just speaking with Krabs in the exact same manner he believes gives him some sort of divine right to lecture the moderators. This was in response to a decently written post—one in which he apparently managed to find himself.

This other rambo-wannabe has 329 cards and 3 partials; instead of being grateful that the ruthless administration even allows him to remain here, he’s busy spitting in the faces of perfectly good moderators. 🤣

That is all for today.

Cheerio.

Jason Brown5 said:Everything has value. And everyone is valuable, provided they engage in discussion at a civilized level.

I was just speaking with Krabs in the exact same manner he believes gives him some sort of divine right to lecture the moderators. This was in response to a decently written post—one in which he apparently managed to find himself.

This other rambo-wannabe has 329 cards and 3 partials; instead of being grateful that the ruthless administration even allows him to remain here, he’s busy spitting in the faces of perfectly good moderators. 🤣

That is all for today.

Cheerio.

Hey, what's up. 😁
But I still haven't gotten an answer to my question. It feels like Reddit is pushing something specific, but honestly, who knows what direction they're heading in.

@Bryan Thomas3 🤣

Casey Bennett said:The owner has stated more than once—just a few days ago, actually, somewhere in one of these threads—that there is no democracy here, nor will there ever be any. Go ahead and dig through his posts if you don't believe me.

Do you even understand the difference between self-censorship and actual censorship? Or do you not?

I just can't accept that as part of a civilized society in this day and age. By being part of a democratic world, we've moved past one-sided thinking; we have to clear out those leftovers because they threaten our very way of life.

Do you even know the difference between self-censorship and censorship? No?

Limiting my freedom to express an opinion through my posts is self-censorship. But since actual censorship is also being applied to what I write, both are against civilized norms and problematic in their own right.

Emily Myers8 said:I just can't accept that as part of a civilized society in this day and age. By being part of a democratic world, we've moved past one-sided thinking; we have to clear out those leftovers because they threaten our very way of life.

Do you even know the difference between self-censorship and censorship? No?

Limiting my freedom to express an opinion through my posts is self-censorship. But since actual censorship is also being applied to what I write, both are against civilized norms and problematic in their own right.

Look, look at it this way. Reddit is private property, so the owner can do whatever they want.
It's like owning an apartment and someone walks in thinking they can do whatever and say whatever because they have a "democratic right" to do it. If you own the place and they're getting on your nerves, you've got the right to kick them out—that trumps their "right" to speak there. Like, yeah, they still have free speech, they just gotta go say it somewhere else.

Bryan Thomas3 said:Because we can't have identical 🙂

Gotta show some love to the little guy on Reddit. ☕