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Voting with your feet

Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
I've only just recently realized the relief and freedom that comes with voting with your feet.

When I was a member of online communities that were run by corrupt, power-tripping mods, admins, or staff, that had lost touch with the communities that they were supposed to be serving, I would stay, participate, and try to change them from within. I would try to reason with the powers that be, and I would try to convince them to change their ways. I would try to do whatever I could to resist and restore justice until I inevitably got banned. I would try to go down fighting for what I believed in.

But then I gradually changed over to a more "defeatist" attitude. The war cannot be won. The mods/admin/staff don't care about your opinion. They're just going to use their power to do whatever they want, and they'll squash all dissent. It's their little slice of the internet and they will not be ousted.

The first corrupt community I voluntarily left was reddit, followed by StackExchange.

And let me tell you, it feels good. Sure, trying to fight the power is cathartic and might arouse your emotions, but it never ends. You never win. Voting with your feet and just leaving is how you achieve true victory. Internet injustice and corrupt mods will always exist, but you don't have to waste time on them, and you don't have to let them have power over you. Go do the things you want to do instead, and you'll be a lot happier.

And if you still want to fight internet injustice, you still can, just don't do it on their turf, or in a place that they control. Make your own space and rant against them there, where they can't take down your content.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
Mod bullshit is actually something I don't experience much of, if at all, anymore. Mostly because I don't post threads at Imgur or Reddit. That being said, the voting system for each can just die in a fire. I absolutely fucking hate it above anything else on those sites, hands down.

In the end though, the response I should take is probably the same as you. I need to start building up this community here again and stop focusing on even replying to threads on those sites. At very least, I should find another forum to give my patronage to instead of those shitty sites. It just sucks because everyone is there at those big sites, and if you want your post to have the most "coverage", you HAVE to post there. You have no choice.
 

bluegate

Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
292
If "internet injustice" is a combination in your dictionary then that's a sign you should disconnect and find other hobbies, go out into the real world and connect with real people rather than internet personas.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
If "internet injustice" is a combination in your dictionary then that's a sign you should disconnect and find other hobbies, go out into the real world and connect with real people rather than internet personas.
Do you believe there no such thing as such or do you believe it's not worth your time to even worry about?
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
Not worth the time worrying about, not worth "getting consumed" by.
I would agree with you, but it can get incredibly irritating when this crap starts happening to a community you love and have been in for a long time.
 
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