Cory DoctorowThis profile of me in *The New Yorker* came out really well, if I do say so myself:
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕@woozle Excellent bit at the end of Doctorow's New Yorker profile on content moderation:
I worry that, because of the attacker’s advantage, the people who want to break the rules are always going to be able to find ways around them, and that we’re never going to be able to make a set of rules that is comprehensive enough to forestall bad conduct. We see this all the time, right? Facebook comes up with a rule that says you can’t use racial slurs, and then racists figure out euphemisms for racial slurs. They figure out how to walk right up to the line of what’s a racial slur without being a racial slur, according to the rule book. And they can probe the defenses. They can try a bunch of different euphemisms in their alt accounts; they can see which ones get banned or blocked, and then they can pick one that they think is moderator-proof.
Meanwhile, if you’re just some normie who’s having racist invective thrown at you, you’re not doing these systematic probes—you’re just trying to live your life. And they’re sitting there trying to goad you into going over the line. And as soon as you go over the line they know chapter and verse. They know exactly what rule you’ve broken, and they complain to the mods and get you kicked off. And so you end up with committed professional trolls having the run of social media and their targets being the ones who get the brunt of bad moderation calls. Because dealing with moderation, like dealing with any system of civil justice, is a skilled, context-heavy profession. Basically, you have to be a lawyer. And, if you’re just a dude who’s trying to talk to your friends on social media, you always lose.
I think Doctorow's touching on a universal truth: that any rules-based system ultimately ends up being a sort of barristered hell. It's why content moderation is so damned context-sensitive. And also why and how extremists on both sides of a divide can drive out moderates and give rise to a highly-partisan shriekfest. Closely related to SSC's "Toxoplasma of Rage":
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/17/the-toxoplasma-of-rage/
#CoryDoctorow #NewYorker #ContentModeration #Lawyering #ToxoplasmaOfRage
David Gerard@dredmorbius @woozle @pluralistic you were doing so well until you cited SSC, whose goal is literally and excplicitly to edge up to the line of advocating racism
@davidgerard I don't read the site a lot. I've a friend who's been critical of it though for unspecified reasons, so I'm aware some find it problematic.
That specific essay ... seems to hold up well in describing a specific dynamic within social media (and elsewhere).
Meta-meta comment that your meta-commentary itself somewhat illustrates the same point.
That said, point taken.
@dredmorbius @woozle @pluralistic I think that one can dredge a sewage outlet for kernels of corn is not a recommendation for poop corn
and that's not really a great "no u"
"going meta" is also an SSC term for "ignore the actual problem"
@dredmorbius @woozle @pluralistic i am absolutely not going to accept that the guy who wrote the email linked was ever working in good faith https://www.tumblr.com/reddragdiva/643400252772302848/topher-brennan-ive-decided-to-say-screw-it
@davidgerard Thanks, that's news to me.
@davidgerard I might have come up with a better example / illustration. The Toxoplasma essay is familiar to me (availability heuristic) and has circulated / been discussed for years. The specifics of the dynamic seem close to the lawyering Doctorow was mentioning.
There are a few other possibly related dynamics --- fandoms come to mind, and the Evaporative Cooling Effect:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101012105003/http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-evaporative-cooling-effect/
Though both miss the specific work-by-rules / sabotaging element.
There's a brain-drain / #GreshamsLaw aspect as well.
Again, I'm no particular fan of the site, it was the example, illustration, and dynamic that I was hoping might be useful.
niplav