I don't think that's entirely true JJ. There's been less substantive debate, and more oneupmanship and condescension on this forum than to my liking for a fair while now (and it appears that that sentiment is shared by others too). And the WUMs/kneejerkers aren’t the only ones to blame. Equally responsible are those who are trigger-happy in expressing their condemnation of supposed wind-ups or, at times, mere contrarian/controversial views.
What has always made this site special is the absolutely top class quality of banter. That’s a function of many things – the almost complete lack of censorship, the fact that it comprises of a relatively smaller group of posters (as compared to other sites like RAWK etc) who’ve known each other through the internet for many years, the absolutely diversity and breadth of opinions, and most importantly, the fact that almost every poster brings a different personality to this site.
I think it’s that combination of factors that makes the site self-moderating. So while it’s fair to lay the boot into the occasional idiot who’s clearly on a wind-up, I’m not sure it’s justified in laying the boot into someone, like say Modo, in every second thread, who though often brusque in his manner, is someone who’s been on the site for years, and has surely been accepted for what he/his style of posting is? To my mind, he’s as much a part of SCM, for the better or the worse, as say, someone like Vlad, and it’s that diversity is what makes the forum special.
If it’s a question of keeping a repeatedly offensive or disrespectful poster in check, then historically, the site has been almost unanimous in such poster’s condemnation, and that’s really the only kind of moderation necessary. Any condemnation of opinion, however, even if controversial/illogical, is something that in my opinion is dangerous for the forum, and it’s something that I think has increased in the past few months. This obviously is also a function of many things, not in the least the fact that everyone’s been super frustrated with the way things have gone this season. I hope for the sake of the forum that this changes. But that’ll not only require people to refrain from being disrespectful to someone like Kenny, but also require other people to refrain from making arguments like ‘we need Brendan back to weed out some of these cunts’.
