What follows is a bit of a ramble. 
Pardon me. I don't feel like being that 
disciplined today.

Recently, there was a bit of a dispute 
in a thread on the BBS at 
circumlunar.space. It was nothing 
serious (at least, I don't think it was) 
and I don't want to overstate the extent 
of the disagreement.

I didn't initially read through the 
thread in question because heated 
disputes (even mildly heated ones) 
really don't interest or fascinate me. 
Then, since I wanted to write this phlog 
entry, I read through it. As with most 
such disputes, it ended up not piquing 
my interest.

So the dispute is not the issue here. 
The reason for this phlog entry is to 
ruminate on some of the proposed 
solutions to the dispute, which involved 
discussion of downvoting, killfiles, 
hiding forum threads, and the like. In 
the end, the decision was not to 
implement those solutions, but it seems 
to me that the BBS lends itself to such 
solutions because it exhibits the 
problems typical of forums. It also 
seems to me that the upvoting/downvoting 
solution (which was to be combined with 
some sort of automated moderation) is in 
itself as much of a problem as the 
reactionary style of argumentation 
provoked by the instantaneous responses 
typical of a forum/bbs environment.

I don't particularly care for 
upvoting/downvoting and I also find 
myself bothered by some of the 
intentionally confrontational and/or 
conflict-inciting behaviour that I see 
on internet forums. The simultaneous 
popularity contest/conflict-ridden 
atmosphere those behaviours produce 
bothers me enough that at one point, I 
even wrote a greasemonkey script to 
remove all of the upvote/downvote 
information on reddit. Then I just gave 
up and deleted my account, because even 
when you cannot see the votes, they 
impact the discourse. I also wasn't 
disciplined enough, and found myself 
turning off the greasemonkey script to 
figure out what was 'really going on' at 
times, which kind of defeated the 
purpose. I clearly need to learn more 
self control, but I'm getting old, and 
it seems like that won't happen. In 
addition, there's no way to screen out 
intentional provocations with a 
greasemonkey script (but seriously, if 
you know of a way...).

When I come online, I want to read good 
content. I don't want people's views to 
be constrained by popularity and 
groupthink. Nor do I feel like reading 
the lightning attacks that often follow 
upon the legitimate expression of a 
person's opinion. Sometimes the most 
interesting and thoughtful analyses are 
far from popular (or socially 'safe' to 
express), but might encourage you and I 
to rethink our ingrained ideas if we 
take time to ponder them. I want to see 
those ideas. On the internet and in 
person, some of the most enlightening 
things that people have said to me 
involved them taking a risk, questioning 
common knowledge and received wisdom. 
These days, it is getting more difficult 
to do that, and people risk their 
reputations and careers if they depart 
from our social norms.

The immediate, rapid responses of the 
BBS often serve as a surrogate for the 
upvote/downvote -- they replicate the 
instantaneous voting response in words. 
But, in fact, they can be worse. It's 
easy to fire off a response on the spur 
of (and in the heat of) the moment. I've 
seen it several times. It's not 
horrendous. I can handle it -- and I 
usually recognize a dispute developing 
and simply tune out. But I am not 
usually the target, because I'm not that 
adventurous. I'm quiet, internalize a 
lot, and intentionally avoid conflict. I 
suspect it is much worse for the person 
who is targeted in that manner -- and I 
am sure that it makes a lot of people 
just clam up.

I came to the small internet because of 
gopher. I once referred to it as the 
slow food of the internet. It's good in 
part because it takes time (and often 
has the best ingredients!). That's 
probably not an original thought. But 
it's apt. Few people will ever dash off 
an irate or oversensitive phlog post. 
Most will take their time, consider the 
whole question, and respond 
thoughtfully.

In fact, a few weeks ago, Solderpunk 
wrote a phlog entry on software 
licenses. My immediate response was ... 
absolutely wrong. I didn't fully 
understand the complexities of public 
domain vs. copyleft licensing. But since 
I was about to write (and 'publish') a 
phlog entry on the subject, I looked 
into the issue, realized I was wrong, 
and didn't write my intended response. 
Solderpunk didn't have to endure my 
ill-informed phlog, and I didn't have to 
embarrass myself (well, except for now). 
Win-win.

My point (there is a point ... honest) 
is that I think certain forms of 
internet interaction foster both 
groupthink and conflict. Others moderate 
(but, of course, do not entirely 
eliminate) those possibilities. It's a 
strange facet of my personality that I 
thought that in becoming a user of 
circumlunar.space, it was incumbent upon 
me to participate in all aspects of the 
'service.' But on reflection, it is 
obvious that there are only some aspects 
of the small internet that work for 
me.

So I guess I probably won't be 
frequenting the BBS in the future, 
because it replicates the style of forum 
that I find problematic in general. It 
is possible for us to do on the small 
scale the very things that we fled on 
the Large Internet.

I don't mean any offense whatsoever to 
anyone who enjoys the BBS (especially 
board 5, which is clearly the best one). 
We're all different. Most of you are 
obviously capable of making good use of 
the BBS and enjoy doing so.

By the way, I was thinking that I should 
explain the long silences on my phlog. 
My work has a seasonal rhythm, and I'm 
just going through the busy part of the 
cycle. I'll be writing more often in the 
near future.