censorship on dissensus: the disappearance of the confessions thread

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
somebody who wants to ban people for revealing too much about their own lifes/hang-ups/problems.

It's funny that this is only now being cited as an issue. Some of Dissensus' main contributors do this rampantly.
I don't so much find this a banable or deletable offence as just sort of ill-advised and annoying though. And only in certain cases.

In a way, some poster's massively inflated egos and extreme narcissism give this board some colour at the very least. I actually miss Logan for that reason. :p
 
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bassnation

the abyss
It's funny that this is only now being cited as an issue. Some of Dissensus' main contributors do this rampantly.

no, its been raised as an issue many times before (maybe before you joined?)

i think racism on boards is absolutely unacceptable, and if thats what was on the thread then it deserves to be deleted. can't defend the indefensible, this should be bleedingly obvious to everyone.

personal shit is more problematic - not really a banning issue, but i do feel that people should be a bit more discreet when it comes to talking about drugs but i'm pretty paranoid about things like that.
 

Gabba Flamenco Crossover

High Sierra Skullfuck
I generally think the moderators act with a very light touch on this board, and the posters are generally mature enough to let them take that stance. I've never seen any really vicious flame wars on dissensus which makes a change from most other forums.

The board has been a bit too intellectual for it's own good at times in the past, so like sick boy I don't think that whimsical, superficial or just plain stupid threads are per se a bad thing.

I'm not sure that the pointlessness of a thread is a sufficient criteria upon which to ban it - on the other hand, I support the moderators in taking a stand against thoughtless and intolerent posts creeping in under a smokescreen of anti-PC 'humour'.

Generally if i think people are talking crap I just ignore them - it's a lot easier on-line than it is in real life.
 

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
i do feel that people should be a bit more discreet when it comes to talking about drugs but i'm pretty paranoid about things like that.

Just out of curiosity, are there any other reasons for this other than it just sort of being obnoxious more-fucked-up-than-thou chest-beating most of the time it occurs? Where is the paranoia coming from?
 

zhao

there are no accidents
zhao said he hated the lying in africa

that's like saying i hate the bureaucratic corruption in India. and i did say i don't like how chinese people run their companies.

me and my (African) friends were JUST talking about the lies of many africans. all the shifty, well dressed con-artists or just plain pretending to be what they're not. but yeah it doesn't translate well -- mentioning a real social issue can be easily construed as racism. i understand that.

zhao was being sexist on the "good looking people with stuff" thread

um... i said someone was wearing a "slut costume".

would it be better to say "overtly provocative and revealing clothing resembling the uniform of sex-workers"?

plus the whole POINT was not to judge a book by its cover because she turned out to be the opposite of a "stupid slut". oh whatever...
 

swears

preppy-kei
Maybe all the arsing around and silly buggers stuff can be contained within the misc board?

RE: the board getting dumber...

The thing that initially attracted me to dissensus was the mix of academic stuff and popular culture. Post-structural analysis of TV sci-fi, marxist critiques of the rave massive, that sort of thing. If it was just academic it would be dull, and if it was just another dance music board that'd suck too. Gotta keep a balance, innit.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
me and my (African) friends were JUST talking about the lies of many africans. all the shifty, well dressed con-artists or just plain pretending to be what they're not.

Oh zhao, you didn't fall for the "exiled Nigerian millionaire", did you? :(

*shakes head*
 

zhao

there are no accidents
Oh zhao, you didn't fall for the "exiled Nigerian millionaire", did you? :(

*shakes head*

ha! no... but we do have a common friend. this dude is UNbelievable. you would tell him something like oh i used to dj at this place and he would try to tell you that he dj'd there too. just making stuff up as he goes along. it's incredible. and all the time! it's crazy!
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
There's a condition, isn't there, that makes people compulsively lie? Or rather, that describes people who do this.
 

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
There's a condition, isn't there, that makes people compulsively lie? Or rather, that describes people who do this.

I know a guy connected loosely to my social group who does this to a point where it almost becomes surreal. He lies to the point where his claims aren't even just unbelievable, they are straight up scientifically impossible. And he does this quite deadpan and naturally. Amongst the things I've heard him say over the years:

a) He was a coke dealer, made $500,000, and quit after he killed a man (this is what he told me when I met him actually)
b) He is part native (he isn't), and so therefore he can talk to animals (... he can't.)
c) One of my closest friends is his biological brother (which is incredible because, well, they have different parents)
d) A rich uncle has left him millions of dollars and a huge house in the States, but he isn't allowed to touch it until he is a certain age

There are loads more. The strangest part is that his friends don't ever call him out on it, and generally just let him talk. It feels like a weird dream when you hang out with all of them together.
 

swears

preppy-kei
There's a condition, isn't there, that makes people compulsively lie? Or rather, that describes people who do this.

Oh boy, there was this nerdy middle-aged guy at work who used to tell us all kinds of lies about his life outside. Had a computing degree, then a molecular biology degree (although he didn't know what DNA stood for in the xmas quiz) had a girlfriend who looked like Angelina Jolie, then one who looked like Liz Hurley, he'd say he'd been on holiday to Monte Carlo or somewhere (even though people had seen him in town during his time off) just stupid, ego-boosting things. I'd just let him talk himself into hilarious scenarios and contradictions. Seemed cruel to call him out on it, plus it was great entertainment.
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
Now if we only erased threads that were *actually* chock full of literal racist, homophobic, and sexist posts, we'd be doing some important business.

As it is this place just gets sadder all the time, and not because the "intelligence-level" of the posts has changed one bit. I've been reading dissensus for a few years and I don't think the general tenor has changed at all. It's just that some people (like Stelfox) now get called out on shit and don't like some of the new posters, so they bitch and whine about it (apparently) to mods all the time (GROW UP.)

I happen to like when people drag the political down to that horrible pedestrian level of the personal (oh god, someone related something to their personal experience? my discourselevelometer is going off like crazy). Personally, I find nothing more tedious than people arguing at fucking length about whether "dubstep is it" or some of what passes for "music discussion." To me, those are some of the lamest, most absolutely tedious watching-paint-dry waste of times online. Not the threads where people share personal experiences and compare theirs with others. That's called not being an autistic dork who spends 100% of their time locked up at home counting their vinyl.

It's the fucking internet. If you don't like something don't click on it.
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
The thread was rubbish, it's not worth talking about, even Jaie said to delete it when he started it.

With reference to the board being too light hearted though, I refer you to one of our newest members, Connell's post here

http://www.dissensus.com/showthread.php?t=295&page=14

which might balance things out a bit.

I didn't see the thread, but from what I can tell it was no more or less ridiculous than 99% of what gets posted on here.

I don't want to defend something that doesn't need defending, especially if you think erasing that made sense, Sloane, but jesissss.

It seems like the real problem is that some of the oldest posters don't feel like this is their own little private corner of the internet anymore. In that case, start another message board--this is what happens to message boards over time, people join them and you lose control of the exact way in which people post.
 
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