patrick.net

@patrick

Doesn't seem to work at all. A thread pops to the top of the front page, I click either the icon that marks a new comment has been made, or the hyperlink to the last comment, and I'm directed to the Original Post. Tsk tsk, Patrick. Your "solution" is stifling Free Speech.

I'm forced to censor what I post, or risk offending some feeble minded sissy, because you empower other users to alter my experience.

If you want to enable the Anti-American Free Speech haters to have a Safe Space, you're going to lose more users. If you must assist those too weak to simply scroll past the comments of someone they do not like, then keep the ignore feature simple: if User A ignores User B, then User B comments are hidden from User A view. The End

No stupid suggestions from some Facebook loser about empowering the anti-free speech crowd, to adversely affect those of us who value Free Speech.

Or, have all comments posted anonymously. No user names, No icons. Just words and thoughts. That way, there is no chance of those from the shallow end of the gene pool, cluttering the forum with personal attacks.

Isn't that kinda what reddit does?

BuckState says

Thought there was value in seeing debate between iwog/others vs. a bit more of a one sided discussion these days.

Had no issue with iwog myself. This post seems strange to me though. He had an issue with posts being moderated and bailed on the site. As Patrick has mentioned and is commonly known, you can start your own site if you don't like this one. Not sure your point. Start your own site if you don't like it here and Patrick can help you with that.

BuckState says

Totally get it- if you don't like what you're reading go elsewhere. And I'm aware of Patrick's offer to stand up other message boards for people.

My macro point (reason for the post) was that a DM feature might be nice to have on patnet, as if there were I would have just messaged a few people who have been here a while to ask: a.) Do you know if iwog still posts anywhere, would be interested in reading a blog/etc. Or b.) Where else do you go for debate / conversation.

Yes, I'd agree DM would be a good feature. A) I personally have no idea if/where he still posts. I kind of think this was his place, so not sure if the iwog lives on in another forum/site. He probably does, but he might not considering how open he was here. Who knows.

B) Logical debate or conversation? Good luck. I'm not sure where you can find that now a days.

WookieMan says

He had an issue with posts being moderated and bailed on the site

Iwog was angry at everything and the site bailed him.

His OP's were often interesting and insiteful, but reading his debates was just terrible. Wordgames, strawmen, misrepresentations, willfully ignorance of nuance... for hundreds and hundreds of posts. It was impossible to discuss anything substantively w iwog. He did however offer a sounding board for some interesting info dumps, such as Logan for example.

BuckState says

Thought there was value in seeing debate between iwog/others vs. a bit more of a one sided discussion these days.

Debate?

Could we implement a way to like/dislike original posts? I only see this option on post comments.

CBOEtrader says

Iwog was angry at everything and the site bailed him.

His OP's were often interesting and insiteful, but reading his debates was just terrible. Wordgames, strawmen, misrepresentations, willfully ignorance of nuance... for hundreds and hundreds of posts. It was impossible to discuss anything substantively w iwog. He did however offer a sounding board for some interesting info dumps, such as Logan for example.

That's revisionist history there. Iwog left because he could see what was going to happen when Goran was chosen to be moderator of the politics forum. And he proved to be prescient....

rocketjoe79 says

Could we implement a way to like/dislike original posts? I only see this option on post comments.

@rocketjoe79 The up and down arrows next to the original post title are for that. They look like triangles, see them?

Duh....I Got it

CBOEtrader says

Then why are either of you still here? This temper tantrum routine you two do every few weeks is very childish.

lol--"temper tantrum". Just pointing out untruths.

LeonDurham says

personal

I'd agree, but I'd guess I'm the moderator that marks the least personal or even deletes them. So I'll leave it, someone else can mark it. I liked the free speech concept for the most part. Doxing, outright racism, and over the top personal comments (like I hope your mom dies) should be whacked for sure. There's no place for that.

And don't get me wrong, minor personal attacks are annoying and derail some good conversation or arguments. But it honestly shows the true colors of people, at least their internet persona. And I know I'll get "hypocrite much" as I've tore off on some people (person) before in recent history. Generally though I avoid personal or seemingly personal comment 95% of the time here.

I think it's fair game to talk about since he's no longer here, but Iwog was very childish when he tore into people. Were they wrong most the time? Sure. Calling them idiots and the laundry list of other names though was kind of silly if you think about it. I miss his contributions for sure. At the end of the day though, Patnet doesn't really matter. Acting like it matters is kind of petty. That's not a put down on the site Patrick, more of a philosophical statement.

I can't remember if Patrick implemented it or not, but I still like the idea private or invited threads. Kind of like a facebook messenger setup. This way you could at least keep trolls out from what could have been a good conversation. Recent example is Bob's post on PR and Columbia. Comment 11. But here's the thing, still make the thread title/summary visible to everyone, but people have to ask to join it if they're interested in the topic. Commenter 11 basically trashed what was a well thought out thread/post and up until 11 everyone appreciated what Bob had posted.

Let's say I'm planning a trip and have seen that say 7 other people have mentioned traveling there. I could invite just them. And then if others see the thread they can ask to join in, but can be uninvited if it's a trolling attempt after a few comments. Maybe the person asking to join comes in with some good stuff, then they stay and an actual good conversation or trading of ideas occurs.

Or if you want to get in a fight, invite your enemies and be allowed to go after it, out of the public view of the site for new visitors. But if you're intrigued by the topic, you can still join if the thread starter wants you and approves it. I'd also say the thread starter PLUS the original invitees have the ability to say yes or no to an outside user that wants to come in.

And of course you could post something to the whole board still too. It's just certain topics are known to be trashed immediately just because User X started the thread.

Jesus I went on a tangent there. At least for once it was kind of in the right thread.

Aphroman says

Patrick knew the solution at one time. He banned Ironman. All these hoops to jump through just to facilitate a troll. Not sure why he changed his mind, but it was a horrible decision. Good forums have no problem with perma ban on obvious trolls

I'm gonna avoid talking about other active users here. I still think there needs to be private threads. Your Cannabis stock thread would be a great example. It's not even just one user, you know multiple users here will have a problem with it. Why not just be able to invite the people you know will want to discuss it? If others are intrigued they could still ask to be invited.

And again, the choice would be yours to post it to the whole board and make everyone able to comment on it. But it's visible either way. You can either just comment on it, or you would have to request an invite to that thread. The topic itself isn't hidden. I think it keeps the BS underground for the newbie that stumbled upon the site and sees some of the shit going on and runs for the hills.

The reason certain trolls stick around, and that's the key stick around, is that they have troll food. If they can't get to the food source, they get disinterested. Banning anyone won't work because of cheap as hell VPN services. The solution has to be troll proof the site as much as humanly possible.

And just like the earth rotates, the cannabis stock post got dumped on by multiple..... well two people. This is what I'm talking about with invited/private threads. They wouldn't have a voice on that thread. If one of them doesn't have his ego masterbated, by another male, then he goes away. Simple as that.

Aphroman says

CBOEtrader says

Aphroman says

That's revisionist history there. Iwog left because he could see what was going to happen when Goran was chosen to be moderator of the politics forum. And he proved to be prescient....

That seemed to be at the heart of it, and as often the case, iwog was right, again

What kind of people are triggered by those who are right, early and often?

Then why are either of you still here? This temper tantrum routine you two do every few weeks is very childish.

Huh?

Who is having a temper tantrum?

I’m merely stating facts. Why are you so triggered by facts?

This is trollish and childish behavior. Why waste your time? Do something productive

LeonDurham says

personal

Wookie--

Can I ask what was personal in that post? I didn't think it was offensive at all.

@Patrick--

Are my posts automatically flagged now?

LeonDurham says

LeonDurham says

personal

Wookie--

Can I ask what was personal in that post? I didn't think it was offensive at all.

You understand I wasn't talking about your post being personal, right? I get what you were doing and not using the personal button to get auto moderated, well now flag link. Was CBOE's post "technically" personal? Sure, mildly. There aren't enough moderators in the world though to help weed out trivial digs at other people. So I filter through them and get rid of the worst. At some point, two adults need to be... well.... two adults.

WookieMan says

You understand I wasn't talking about your post being personal, right? I get what you were doing and not using the personal button to get auto moderated, well now flag link. Was CBOE's post "technically" personal? Sure, mildly. There aren't enough moderators in the world though to help weed out trivial digs at other people. So I filter through them and get rid of the worst. At some point, two adults need to be... well.... two adults.

I'm not sure what you mean--I didn't flag anything.

Also--was just asking you because it seemed like you had read it and I wanted your take on it. I didn't figure you had marked it.

personal

personal

LeonDurham says

I'm not sure what you mean--I didn't flag anything.

Also--was just asking you because it seemed like you had read it and I wanted your take on it. I didn't figure you had marked it.

I think I see what happened. It's Patrick's new moderation system I believe. I never even saw the comment. I thought you literally typed personal but didn't want to hit the personal button (now flag) and potentially get auto moderated. I think that's where the confusion lies. My mistake.

Either way, we're all good and just having fun on Patnet, right? I hope so.

WookieMan says

LeonDurham says

I'm not sure what you mean--I didn't flag anything.

Also--was just asking you because it seemed like you had read it and I wanted your take on it. I didn't figure you had marked it.

I think I see what happened. It's Patrick's new moderation system I believe. I never even saw the comment. I thought you literally typed personal but didn't want to hit the personal button (now flag) and potentially get auto moderated. I think that's where the confusion lies. My mistake.

Either way, we're all good and just having fun on Patnet, right? I hope so.

Absolutely. But, back to my original question--I'm genuinely interested so I can change my behavior, if needed. Can you tell what was offensive and personal in my first comment to CBOE?

LeonDurham says

Absolutely. But, back to my original question--I'm genuinely interested so I can change my behavior, if needed. Can you tell what was offensive and personal in my first comment to CBOE?

There was nothing as far as I can tell. I was commenting on his comment saying you were childish.

Given the new implementation of moderation, I think some of this has been lost in translation. I think everyone here knows I'm chill. I'm not certain I can unwind this or care to take the time at this point. Everyone here is good by me.

@Patrick - Any possibility of bringing back the tabs for Housing, Economics, Government, Politics and Miscellaneous - maybe the Music thread as a separate tab as well since there are a lot of links just on that thread.

6 tabs total.

Housing is starting to be a thing again, so is the economy.

Politics will always be a thing.

Would make it much easier to go to whatever someone is interested and avoid what they are not interested in.

Yes, it's possible, but are there enough readers to make it worthwhile?

That I do not know - not sure how difficult it would either to migrate everything to the appropriate tab but housing is becoming more and more in the news and will continue to be unless something miraculous happens.

Same with economy.

I think you would have the best access to daily hits etc. to see if it is justified.

If everyone would add whatever to the appropriate section - that would be great, maybe cut down on some of the other things as well.

Patrick says

Yes, it's possible, but are there enough readers to make it worthwhile?

If you ask the poster to choose from those 5 hashtags, then find w filter buttons or just use search the search function it would accomplish this goal

There may be some difficulty trying to migrate things or look up things - a lot of the newer posts no longer have hash tags

CBOEtrader says

or just use search the search function it would accomplish this goal

Yes, maybe there's some way to use search to do it. You could just put a keyword in a post, and search should find it. So I could move search to the top, and also have some pre-filled searches where you just click on a button to see, say, #housing.

Patrick says

#housing

If every post is categorized w a hashtag, it would work perfectly

@Patrick

Since changing the formatting to highlight the words you, your etc. if those words are in the title of a link that is provided - it appears that screws up the link resulting in an error code of link not found.

Fixed now, I think.

Tarantula says

I have a suggestion. Don't allow threads such as this to proliferate: https://patrick.net/post/1322636/2019-02-24-black-history-month-memes

99.9% of potential new contributors will never return after seeing that type of content. The 0.1% who remain probably aren't the type of houseguests anybody would want.

Lots of folks would like to have frank and open discussions about politics, the economy, housing, and other topics but very few will put up with that kind of thing.

I disagree. I think people should freely express their opinions, it's the whole purpose of patrick.net
You won't get honest discussion like we get here if speech gets censored. There are already reasonable limits here.

I agree with FortWayne. The whole purpose of the site is to be able to escape the ever-tightening noose of "politically correct" speech.

Yes, offensive things will be posted, but if one chooses not to be offended, problem solved, and we all live in a better world. The problem is not offensiveness in itself, it is the reaction to it.

The only rule is not to directly attack the other users.

Maybe a text limit to keep some users from spamming copy paste with no comments.

There is a limit, but yes, maybe it should be smaller.

Tarantula says

Fair enough, but then the site caters to "politically incorrect" speech. This type of content is almost purely racist, nationalist, or sexist.

I disagree. I say that unfounded accusations of racism, nationalism (why should that be a bad thing anyway?), and sexism are used daily by the elite as an excuse for policies which profit themselves and harm everyone else -- namely the export of manufacturing to China and the import of millions of illegals. Both of those dramatically drive down wages and increase the earnings of bosses and owners.

"Offended" is just a ruse to maneuver for leverage over the conversation. To the likes of "Anti-Semitic", "Racist", "Conspiracy Theory". Keep it open, keep it civil.

Tarantula says

Patrick says

The whole purpose of the site is to be able to escape the ever-tightening noose of "politically correct" speech.

Fair enough, but then the site caters to "politically incorrect" speech. This type of content is almost purely racist, nationalist, or sexist. It seems like a somewhat ignoble cause to defend, but to each his own. For what it's worth, I don't think normal folks are offended by the type of content here, but rather find it simply distasteful and silly and just move on.

In the end I suppose that if you base a website on primarily offensive language and ideas, you will end up with mostly low-level content.

I think everyone is offended by tarantulas.