since some folks have been retweeting and adding to my discussions around #fosstodon, i'd like to say one last thing, for fear of being a never-ending cycle of replies. i promise this is it and i'm so sorry for the wall of text in advance. <3
after briefly having a back-and-forth with gina and mods et al., it has now been proven to me multiple times that not only is the new admin team incapable of running a large-scale community but they are also incapable of reading comprehension and understanding nuance in criticism levied toward them, particularly around politics, identity, and marginalization. they are incapable of separating emotion, hearing frustration, and being on the receiving end of a very (rightfully) angry user-base. and that is a telltale sign of an inadequate moderation team.
they clearly do not have enough time, energy, knowledge, or know-how to navigate through these issues and claim to be an "inclusive" place. i don't know if it's a willful ignorance, a lack of care, or mix of both, but this is not surprising as the "centrism" being touted in these circles as the hill to die on is something that is not new to those of us who have grown uncomfortable within tech spaces. these so-called "centrist ideals" have increasingly become dog-whistles within tech and tech-adjacent communities, ESPECIALLY within the open-source space. this has been a problem for years. the reason why people are louder about it now is because the people this has historically affected have grown in voice and size.
this same "centrism" which has only grown more extreme over time (laughably, no longer being centrism a long time ago) has continually been downplayed and dismissed by well-intended europeans (why is it always europeans? -- this is partially a joke) who manage these communities. and, after being online for a long time, i'll just say that a lot of the communities i've seen this happen with before are no longer around.
it now makes sense why the no politics "rule" exists in #fosstodon -- in quotation marks because that's clearly not what's happening on the platform as political conversations happen consistently. it exists because the moderation team is incapable of navigating through political landmines that are community management 101.
the first time the 32-bit cafe had an issue with one of these "enlightened centrists"? it happened week two of our opening our discord. guess how long it took to come up with a response about how much that shit wasn't going to fly? about an hour. guess how many hang out at the cafe today? zero.
*because* i created my community knowing what values i wanted, knowing what behavior was appropriate and what wasn't, what kinds of members i wanted to have, and i consulted with people who did not share my identities (white, cisgender) to understand what other communities had done wrong so we would not make those same mistakes. i did not create a community get clout or micro e-famous, and i set the standards because i knew what had been missing from others.
it's clear now that gina would rather accept her role as a wickerman for those in the community to point to when they, too, share views that dehumanize human beings, de-legitimize lived experiences, and "just ask questions." it's okay, guys, we have a bisexual woman in charge! (/s) as a fellow bisexual white woman, it just ain't enough.
i could continue to outline more reasons why the (very public) actions of the admin and moderation team are continually, face-palmingly disappointing, but i think it's obvious to anyone who's seen this writing on the wall before.
and since this seems to be the hill that gina & co are dying on, i want to extend a welcoming hand to anyone from any historically marginalized group who feels as though their community is falling out from underneath them. you're welcome at the https://32bit.cafe. you're welcome at https://omg.lol. there are tech communities that you don't have to navigate through this bullshit with.
i hope the remaining folks are fine with being a giant learning experience for the lot of fosstodon's inexperienced, overwhelmed moderation team, who will be the ones to actually suffer in the community while those with no skin in the game (predominately privileged community members) wax poetic about how "both sides" have done bad things (which, lord, is not the point, y'all -- listen to what people are telling you), stroking their egos about how level-headed you're managing your community. by all means, become the pariah of watering holes for people of color, gays, and trans folk; if you'd like to be a community of "enlightened centrists," god help y'all.
i wish all y'all at fosstodon.org the best of luck.
for the rest of us, i recommend defederate.
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