Stamets

AtomicPoet, moderator of [email protected], is abusing it as he goes along

https://lemmy.world/post/36281965

AtomicPoet, moderator of [email protected], is abusing it as he goes along - Lemmy.World

Bro is used pretty colloquially and, admittedly, often as a dismissive turn of phrase. Exactly as it was in this comment of mine on the post “Lemmy users are in an uproar because MAGA fascists spun up their own server.” [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/017b05ff-b1b5-4a91-b69d-16e08012f048.png] [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/2e47897d-d7d7-43e0-98ce-06b177160616.png] I made a pretty off hand dismissive comment because I thought the wording of the post was a bit sanctimonious. Didn’t even downvote it. Then I took a nap and woke up to a comment from the mod. He has now deleted it after it hit -20+ comments but was > “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Also, we’re not related. Refrain from the bro speak.” A comment that I thought was kind of idiotic and so I dismissed it as much with a response [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/644bf902-716b-4102-a0f7-b466cd61a53f.png] What I didn’t see was that the moderator had DMed me at the same time. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/da38ee8c-56da-4fc7-9658-3d4b75733a03.png] So because of a moderators personal interpretation of how the word “bro” is used, using the word at all is offensive to them and ergo is banned from usage on [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] [https://piefed.social/c/fediversenews] under the rule of “Be Civil.” Now this is utterly impossible for any user to ever follow unless it is made clear. This moderator refuses to make this information clear publicly so I edited my original comment, gave context and added a screenshot of that message. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/3b6b53ed-69e8-47f7-ab05-760676f3db71.png] At the same time I also responded to the moderator via DMs. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/085a261f-7646-4136-8274-f9a4d3c25463.png] I got another notification from @[email protected] [/u/[email protected]] [https://leminal.space/u/shifty] with this comment: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/94299500-9de3-4b5e-8e7d-95d7526ca886.png] I went to respond but by the time that I had, the moderator had already banned me (effectively permanently) from the community. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0780c699-fa7a-44d5-a3f4-35132e1b8375.png] So let’s recap here. The moderator is taking the word “Bro” as personally insulting/offensive for whatever reason. They’re using the rule of be civil as a cudgel to enforce their opinion but they refuse to make this opinion clear. Meaning that it is impossible to properly follow this rule. On top of that, if the moderator messages you then you must keep that entirely private or you will be banned. @[email protected] [/u/[email protected]] [https://piefed.social/u/atomicpoet] is out here complaining about fascism while using fascism. Neato. Edit: Last second edit but the whole time I thought I was just dealing with the [email protected] account but I didn’t realize that user has made his own instance and account on it with @[email protected] [/u/[email protected]] [https://atomicpoet.org/users/atomicpoet]. THAT account was what posted the original post and that account doesn’t even have moderator abilities. What an utter joke. Edit 2: This entire community is filled with extremely heavy handed moderation. 11m ago, 12m ago, 22m ago, 23m ago, 24m ago… My apologies to people like @[email protected] [/u/[email protected]] [https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/u/TherapyGary], apparently you’ve been permanently banned from the above community for “Downvote Brigading”. This AtomicPoet dude should go back to reddit… [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/5ef0b3cb-c083-4e8f-93ee-b53ef43da797.png] [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/26804fd2-c552-4f69-b700-dd2382fed976.png] I’d suggest people start defederating from this dude though. Looks like he’s a hairtrigger away from doing it to you if you piss him off. Last edit: I couldn’t help myself. I sent him the link to this post with the wording “Here you go, bro” What can I say. I’m also an asshole. --------------------- If you liked this manuscript of moderator misconduct, you may also marvel at Jordan Lund: Master of Malicious Mismanagement [https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/post/36059687] and The Admins of StarTrek.website: Value Subtracted & Corgana’s Calamitous Command [https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/post/31729575]. Collect the complete compendium of corruption today!

Sep 22, 2025 at 4:20amWeb
Show threadGanbatSep 22, 2025
Wow, threatening to ban users for disagreeing with the mod because that’s “toxic”? Total PTB.
Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025

For real. Just as a recap…

  • Threatened to ban unless you agreed with him

  • Banned for disagreeing

  • Banned for downvoting

  • Threatening a banning for downvoting him

  • Banned for screenshots of messages

  • But isn’t a fascist

    • Show threadtheskyisfallingSep 22, 2025

    Just another day for atomicpoet. I wonder if he will show up to this thread to rant incoherent bullshit like he did on the last thread in this com.

    Bro is a fucking idiot.

    Show thread13igTymeSep 22, 2025
    Yeah, this is not the first time this piece of shit has gone on a power trip over nothing.
    Show threadBlazeSep 22, 2025
    [email protected]
    Show threadladSep 22, 2025
    I found that when another user commented with a misogynistic joke, atomicpoet confronted them in the open. I guess it kinda makes them a bit better in my opinion, but also makes me suspicious if they completely understand when their demands are unfounded and should be hidden 🤔
    Show threaddethedrusSep 22, 2025

    What the sweaty hell?

    Bro is seriously off his rocker, bro!

    Show threadbetterdeadthanredditSep 22, 2025
    B R O
    Show threadChozoSep 22, 2025
    This is disappointing to see. I used to know AtomicPoet from back in the early Digg days, and I would sing his praises as he started offering his time and energy into helping the Fediverse grow. Sad to see that bro may be crashing out now.
    Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025

    If dude is threatening people over his own perception of a word… then yeah. He’s crashing out.

    Also didn’t really put two and two together that he was that AtomicPoet. Jesus. This is even more sad then.

    Show threadRustyShacklefordSep 22, 2025
    I didn’t even consider it until I saw this post; who it was. That said, I think you handled the situation well, considering the circumstances. You were in the right, and I’m sorry to say that I missed the vote and didn’t get banned myself, haha.
    Show threadRaoulDuke85Sep 22, 2025
    Show threadFlagstaffSep 22, 2025
    I gotta rewatch that movie…
    Show threadthannSep 22, 2025
    Bruh
    Show threadroscoeSep 22, 2025
    That’s a ban for attempted ban evasion brah.
    Show threadlathSep 22, 2025

    Hey there, Jimmy Kimmel.

    Current fascism in a nutshell: “it ain’t fascism when I’m doing it!”

    Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025

    So weird thing about the Jimmy Kimmel situation.

    When Trump silenced him, he also silenced a Canadian Mayor. Did you know that Jimmy Kimmel is the ‘mayor’ of the town of Dildo, Newfoundland? A place I live a couple hours drive from?

    Show threadlathSep 22, 2025

    Huh. I did not know that…

    Hey, wait a minute! I just checked wikipedia. Dildo, Newfoundland is run by way of LSD, which is chaired by Greg Pretty!

    Was Kimmel replaced because he wasn’t pretty enough?

    Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025
    More that Jimmy was always just a figurehead. Dildo is too small of a town to really have a mayor itself. A lot of these tiny ass towns here in NFLD, like the one I’m from, are like that. They have a “Mayor” but not really.
    Show threadArxCyberwolfSep 22, 2025
    Dildo also has their own version of the Hollywood sign on a nearby hill, which I find entertaining.
    Show threadCassandererSep 22, 2025
    Typical, dildo newfoundland is always getting screwed by fake fucks.
    Show threadx00zSep 22, 2025
    How the hell did you make this into something involving the USA?
    Show threadSolSerkonosSep 22, 2025
    I went to make sure I wasn’t subscribed (I was, so glad I checked. I might accidentally call someone bro not realizing where I am, after all. Need to ensure he has a safe bro-free space) and he’s not just locked the thread, but locked the entire comm due to “brigading”.
    Show threadbetterdeadthanredditSep 22, 2025
    I think the term would be “brogading” in this case.
    Show threadnocturneSep 22, 2025
    [email protected]
    Show threadBlazeSep 22, 2025
    [email protected]
    Show threadStarvingMartistSep 22, 2025
    I don’t care about any of that, let crazy be crazy. But policing up votes and downvotes is some psychopath shit. Can you imagine him sitting there in his little den, seeing the -2 on his comment and just FUMING “I’ll show them, they’ll rue the day!!”
    Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025
    I’ve seen mods do that all the time on Lemmy but the thing that I’ve never seen was DMing them specifically to say don’t downvote me or else.
    Show threadI Cast FistSep 22, 2025
    Bro completely lost his mind to weird internet rot
    Show threadpsudSep 22, 2025
    I think, from his comment upthread, that last time he was in PTB he was told his fault was not warning people before banning them, hence the DMs
    Show threadStarvingMartistSep 25, 2025
    Either way, that’s more or less vote manipulation and it goes against the spirit of the platform
    Show threadDragonTypeWyvernSep 22, 2025
    Tbf when I say bro I either mean bro or “you absolute fucking trashcan”
    Show thread_cnt0Sep 22, 2025
    Same, bro.
    Show threadAxExRxSep 22, 2025
    Where i live, people generally use bruh or brah to distinguish they mean the latter.
    Show threadcloudlessSep 22, 2025

    I wouldn’t be surprised if AtomicPoet is a narcissist with low self esteem in real life. They have all the signs of a fragile ego who overcompensates by asserting power over little internet brownie points.

    I think some people call this small d syndrome.

    Show threadZierSep 22, 2025
    How bizarre, I was just talking about him today. I used to follow him on Mastodon a very long time ago. I had to unfollow him because he posted so often, that he completely filled up my feed. He drowned out the few people I followed and posted all fucking day long.
    DUDE! Put down the fucking phone already.
    Some people need to have time limits on how long they are online and how much they post.
    He clearly has some obsessive tendencies.
    Show threadMelonYellowSep 22, 2025
    I constantly upvote his review posts too because he puts in the effort, so he’s got a super positive score on my Voyager. Had no idea he was a PTB like this. Geez. I’ve been duped
    Show threaddb0Sep 22, 2025
    Some people are perfectly pleasant members of the community, but the smallest amount of power does something to their brain. It’s happened before and it will keep happening so long as rigid hierarchies are enforced on the software.
    Show threadXLESep 22, 2025

    One of the biggest problems I have with Lemmy is the hierarchical nature of it. I don’t have a problem with moderation, but the software makes it too easy to suppress stuff by accident.

    For example, let’s say I’m talking to somebody in a comment thread. The entire thread can get wiped out if the thread’s OP decides to delete the post, or a moderator removes the post, or a site admin removes the post

    Show threadBlazeSep 22, 2025

    For example, let’s say I’m talking to somebody in a comment thread. The entire thread can get wiped out if the thread’s OP decides to delete the post, or a moderator removes the post, or a site admin removes the post

    Been there too. Somehow now if I see a new account that looks suspicious and the thread is interesting I tend to archive.is it, just as a way to keep valuable comments around

    Show threadBlazeSep 22, 2025
    Someone can post very interesting content but still power trip as a mod, the two are not exclusive
    Show threaddb0Sep 22, 2025

    Bruh, I’ve never seen a mod go full PTB like this just because of “bro” and downvotes. Someone really needs to touch grass.

    EDIT: It also seems that this mod does not understand the social impact of sliding into people’s DMs to warn then privately about his little community. Hint: It’s not going to be taken the way you think this is going to be taken.

    EDIT2: Whole community in lockdown. I can almost certainly guess they were flooded with comments and posts saying “bro”.

    Lockdown Notice: This community is temporarily closed

    Because of the behaviour I’ve seen in recent discussions, I’m placing [email protected] on lockdown until further notice. The probl…

    Show threadturdburglarSep 22, 2025
    Show threadNorah (pup/it/she)Sep 22, 2025
    I hope it wasn’t because people from here brigaded 😔
    Show threaddb0Sep 22, 2025
    Nah, there was a post in the frontpage of /all (now deleted), with hundreds of comments taking the piss
    Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025

    I still feel like a dick for the part that I played in this. I didn’t want to brigade him. I didn’t want to bully him. I just wanted to make a post that called out his terrible moderation style in this moment. Keep seeing people who are like commenting bro on random things of his and that’s not what I want of this social platform. People can make mistakes and people can disagree. People can fuck up. The problem is when they double down and insist that they have nothing wrong with that and continue to do the same thing. If this dude continues to do the same thing over and over again, then yeah, I stand by the position that he is a terrible person to be in charge of community. However, he has done this on one occasion so far. Granted, he did a bunch of stupid shit in this one moment, but stress can have that happen to a person. I don’t blame him for this entirely. People are allowed to make mistakes. Maybe he made one. But if everybody keeps dogs piling on him and making this worse for him, it’s not going to allow him to see this in any way other than him being bullied. And to be honest, in a certain extent, that will be a correct way of seeing this. I want people to be able to learn from mistakes and grow and be better. I can’t say I always do that, and I definitely make a ton of mistakes. But I want to treat this dude how I would hope people would treat me. None of my comments here show me wanting to go after this dude any more than just calling this behavior out. I didn’t even recommend anything happen. This wasn’t like Jordan, where I was like, oh my god, did this guy must be gone! It was just, hey look, this behavior is suspect.

    That being said, I haven’t looked into this guy any further than this. I don’t know what else is going on, but I don’t want my one single post to be a reason for him being bullied over the word Bro. Since making this post, I’ve heard a couple of different complaints about them, but nothing I’ve heard has been extremely egregious, just maybe a bit of a dick occasionally. Maybe that shows a pattern where maybe he needs somebody else to help him out or maybe he shouldn’t be in charge of a community or whatever else But giving him shit over the word bro here and banning me from a community for 74 years that I will never comment in again anyway?

    But from the one experience that I’ve had, I don’t want people going around bullying this guy and giving him this level of shit from this one event. I want this place to be better than Reddit, not a clone.

    And now I go back to begging for money because my life is its own misery filled wasteland.

    Show threadBlazeSep 22, 2025

    But if everybody keeps dogs piling on him and making this worse for him, it’s not going to allow him to see this in any way other than him being bullied. And to be honest, in a certain extent, that will be a correct way of seeing this. I want people to be able to learn from mistakes and grow and be better.

    That’s nice of you.

    Unfortunately in this case, this isn’t the first time he’s featured in this community, the other post got removed for whatever reason. The only remaining evidence of that is

    Chris Trottier (@[email protected])

    That’s 12 people I banned from [email protected] within the last hour. 🤭

    Show threadatomicpoetSep 22, 2025

    I’m honestly a bit puzzled why you’d want to put me on blast here. From my side, I thought we had been working together amicably on [email protected], and I’ve always appreciated your role there.

    As for the recent events, the explanations are straightforward. At first, I thought there was a brigade, so I acted quickly. When it became clear that one of the people wasn’t part of it, I unbanned him, and he took down the thread. Not every ban has been undone, but in the cases where it was uncertain, I reversed course. The main feedback I got was that I should reach out before taking mod action.

    So this time I tried to put that feedback into practice—messaging first, in what I thought was a kind and gentle way. Maybe it wasn’t perfect, but I was genuinely trying to reduce toxicity. For clarity: in the last 24 hours, the only bans were for accounts that publicly posted private messages or openly brigaded from this thread and from [email protected].

    And I do hope you don’t think “go harass a mod” is the right response to situations like this. If something like that ever happened to you on [email protected], I would absolutely stand up for you and shut it down without hesitation.

    Show threadBlazeSep 22, 2025

    I didn’t put you on blast, I provided context of previous events, including the ban reversals.

    I thought was a kind and gentle way.

    We are probably going to disagree here, but messaging people about using a word as common as “bro” today and threatening them from a ban if they reiterate doesn’t really seem kind or gentle.

    publicly posted private messages

    Messages sent to users from mods threatening them from being banned should be able to be made public.

    And I do hope you don’t think “go harass a mod” is the right response to situations like this. If something like that ever happened to you on [email protected], I would absolutely stand up for you and shut it down without hesitation.

    I’ve been on the other side of power tripping, on a movies community no less, so wouldn’t be so categoric about “stand up for the mod”.

    lemmy.zip/post/25898384?scrollToComments=true

    Tl,dr: power tripping mod perma banned me from a community I built, instance admin didn’t want to intervene as it was against their admin policy. It took me months to rebuild that community elsewhere, and that’s probably why I’m very cautious with power tripping mods since then.

    Being a mod on Piefed/Lemmy requires more transparency than on other platforms due to the transparency of the mod actions and the federated nature of the platform.

    Users here have choices between several versions of the same community, they will usually avoid the ones where the mods are enforcing what they perceive as arbitrary decisions.

    Harassment is never a good thing, but mods are also accountable for their actions.

    If you have doubts about how your rules or actions will be perceived, feel free to ask on [email protected] where other mods can discuss it with you.

    [email protected] power trip, and how it lead to [email protected] and [email protected] - Lemmy.zip

    Tl;dr: - these are old events, 9 months ago. - we have since then mostly moved on, but I still thought it could be interesting to document those in this community - the power trip was a single mod not wanting to discuss how a community should be run and banning people wanting to discuss it - the new communities we created following this power trip ([email protected] [/c/[email protected]] and [email protected] [/c/[email protected]]) are now more active than the initial one Hello everyone, I added the summary of the event in the tl;dr above. If you are here, you probably want to know the details of what happened. #### Starting point As you may remember, there used to be a movie focused instance called lemmy.film. Following its shutdown, a few users were looking for a new movies and TV shows community that would not be on Lemmy.world (if you want to know why some people are against overcentralization on Lemmy.world, you can have a look here: https://lemm.ee/post/30444527 [https://lemm.ee/post/30444527] and https://feddit.uk/post/18336398 [https://feddit.uk/post/18336398] ) While I was contacting the lemm.ee [http://lemm.ee] admins to become mod of the at the time abandoned [email protected] [[email protected]], another mod (I’ll just call them “The mod” in this thread) created [email protected] [/c/[email protected]]. We contacted the other people who were on the old lemmy.film communities and started posting. I posted a lot over there, if you sort by Old, you’ll see a lot of my posts from back then: https://lemm.ee/c/moviesandtv?dataType=Post&sort=Old [https://lemm.ee/c/moviesandtv?dataType=Post&sort=Old] - https://files.catbox.moe/vrnv1t.png [https://files.catbox.moe/vrnv1t.png] I was also trying to set up discussion threads as they were things who were missing on Lemmy at the time, and a lot of people were complaining about that - https://files.catbox.moe/75zkck.png [https://files.catbox.moe/75zkck.png] I also started asking for a weekly thread “What have you been watching”: https://lemm.ee/post/13386100 [https://lemm.ee/post/13386100] which was denied. It wasn’t a big deal for me, I was mostly focused on growing the community, I assumed that we could revisit that topic later. That was on 31 October 2023. #### Success for the community 12 November, we celebrate our 300 subs: https://lemm.ee/post/14621123 [https://lemm.ee/post/14621123] 17 November, I start a weekly thread: https://lemm.ee/post/15176837 [https://lemm.ee/post/15176837]. 7 comments, reasonable success for a first. 26 November, I am appointed as mod: https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863 [https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863], and start pinning the weekly threads. 4 December, I am removed as mod. I ask the mod to make me mod again (purely because it’s easier to pin threads), they never answer. 10 December, I open another thread on how to handle movie discussions: https://lemm.ee/post/17546624 [https://lemm.ee/post/17546624] I let it go for 6 weeks, I keep posting, after all, this is more or less okay. By then, the community has around 1100 subscribers. #### The power trip 30 January, I open a thread to discuss with people in the community how they wanted to handle movie reviews: - https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/dc0a56ca-bcca-466b-b351-8815c8ab34c9.png [https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/dc0a56ca-bcca-466b-b351-8815c8ab34c9.png] - https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863 [https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863] The post get removed I open another thread “Are we not allowed to discuss the way this community is managed?” - https://discuss.tchncs.de/pictrs/image/c1c8fa89-8cad-4914-aec0-c2c30ab70405.jpeg [https://discuss.tchncs.de/pictrs/image/c1c8fa89-8cad-4914-aec0-c2c30ab70405.jpeg] I get banned I use an alt to comment > Hello, As you banned my other account, I am now commenting with this one. I’m not going to comment on this that much, the modlog is public, people interested can have a look at make their own opinions. For history, the two removed posts: (screenshots) I guess we can just conclude that we disagree on how to manage this kind of communities, which is mostly fine, that’s what Lemmy is about after all: freedom. I’ll probably contact the people interested in review threads (and there seems to be a few, based on the removed threads and the 200 upvotes on the other post) and see it we can offer an alternative for people looking for a more structured community. Good luck Comments gets removed: https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863 [https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863] The mod then posts how they want to address the community issues: https://lemm.ee/post/22459747 [https://lemm.ee/post/22459747] My alt gets banned. Please not that those are permabans. Up to this day, I am still banned on those two accounts from that community. #### The aftermath Let’s be honest here, I was a bit annoyed. I had been actively posting to a community, helping building it from scratch from months, to get banned just for asking how we could manage this community better. I reached out to sunaurus, the lemm.ee [http://lemm.ee] main admin, who told me that he couldn’t do anything, as his admin policy was to not interfere with mod decisions. It’s a fair policy that I could understand (even though I was still annoyed). They made me mod of [email protected] [[email protected]], and I thought I would take it from there. I built [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] with the same energy I had put in the previous community. I found other people who had seen the drama happening on the other side and wanted to join forces in building another community. I appointed all of them as mods, because why not. Over time, our community became more and more popular, and now has 2.97k monthly active users, while [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] has 1.52k The mod had promised to add other mods to the community. They did for 4 months (https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863 [https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863]) but then removed them in June 2024. In the meantime, they also banned another user in April 2024 for similar reasons to the ones used for me: https://lemm.ee/post/30754133 [https://lemm.ee/post/30754133] They also removed the AMA we organized in May 2024 on [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] (https://lemm.ee/post/31335226 [https://lemm.ee/post/31335226]) because “Unvarified AMA not organized by this community - seems like spam” (https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863 [https://lemm.ee/modlog/408863]) More recently, we started a [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] community, which now has 2.35k monthly active users. That’s it.

    Show threadatomicpoetSep 22, 2025

    We are probably going to disagree here, but messaging people about using a word as common as “bro” today and threatening them from a ban if they reiterate doesn’t really seem kind or gentle.

    Let me ask you honestly—not rhetorically—what would you see as both practical and kind in a situation like that? I truly want to understand.

    I’ll say again: I don’t think it’s realistic to list every possible insult or epithet in the sidebar. That’s why I’ve tried different approaches.

    I’ve been on the other side of power tripping, on a movies community no less…

    So have I. That’s exactly why I started [email protected]. A moderator there didn’t like my reviews and removed them without explanation, so I decided to create a new space where that wouldn’t happen.

    From that point on, I promised myself that if something wasn’t clear, I’d do my best to make it clear. At first, I did that with public notes, but then I was told private messages were kinder. So I shifted. Then I listened to more feedback—but this time, things still didn’t work out.

    And this is where the challenge comes in: moderation takes time, it’s unpaid, and when you step into it, you often end up facing dogpiles and harassment.

    The truth is, I’m the main contributor in most of my communities. I spend hours every day creating original posts to keep them alive. Given that, it’s hard to see what purpose it serves me—or anyone—if a wave of people shows up only to harass.

    I don’t believe everyone is automatically entitled to participate if what they bring is hostility and outrage. And I hope you’d agree that building a healthy space means drawing that line somewhere.

    Show threadBlazeSep 23, 2025

    Let me ask you honestly—not rhetorically—what would you see as both practical and kind in a situation like that? I truly want to understand.

    “bro” is a commonly accepted term on the Internet today. If I had to ban it on my communities, I would add this in the rules, even potentially with a link to a post with an extensive list of banned terms. That way it’s clear for everyone.

    From that point on, I promised myself that if something wasn’t clear, I’d do my best to make it clear. At first, I did that with public notes, but then I was told private messages were kinder. So I shifted. Then I listened to more feedback—but this time, things still didn’t work out.

    The context were probably different. For moderation decision regarding brigading with non subscribers downvotes, private messages can work better, as users prefer to keep their votes private.

    For rules decision, public communication is better, see above.

    And this is where the challenge comes in: moderation takes time, it’s unpaid, and when you step into it, you often end up facing dogpiles and harassment.

    I’m well aware, but a lot of mods can still mod and step in without being considered power tripping. One important part is to make the rules you apply public, as I said already.

    The truth is, I’m the main contributor in most of my communities. I spend hours every day creating original posts to keep them alive. Given that, it’s hard to see what purpose it serves me—or anyone—if a wave of people shows up only to harass.

    There are two options for you

  • Join communities where other posters are already active, so that you don’t feel like the other person in charge of keeping them alive. Those communities will probably have other mods and rules that you’ll have to follow.
  • Be transparent about the fact that the communities are mostly your blogs with comments, and state that clearly in the rules. Something like “This is my community about X, here are the rules”. That way people clearly know what to expect.
    • Show threadatomicpoetSep 23, 2025

    “bro” is a commonly accepted term on the Internet today. If I had to ban it on my communities, I would add this in the rules, even potentially with a link to a post with an extensive list of banned terms. That way it’s clear for everyone.

    The challenge with listing every banned word is that someone will always find a way around it. They’ll use a term not on the list and then claim, “It’s not banned, so it must be fine.” That’s why I prefer to keep it simple with the guideline: Be civil.

    That said, on !videogames@piesocial I wrote up a detailed explainer and linked it directly in the sidebar. I plan to do the same for all my communities—and since we co-moderate one together, I’d really value your feedback on that.

    There are two options for you…

    My preference is to start Piefed communities myself because they’re portable. If I ever spin up my own Piefed server, I can migrate them over. That flexibility matters to me.

    But just as important, I’ve been an early adopter of Piefed and probably one of its most vocal evangelists. When I create a new community, it often gains traction quickly simply because I’m already out there championing the platform.

    That’s really why I start new communities—to keep momentum going and to help Piefed grow.

    Show threadBlazeSep 23, 2025

    But just as important, I’ve been an early adopter of Piefed and probably one of its most vocal evangelists. When I create a new community, it often gains traction quickly simply because I’m already out there championing the platform.

    That’s really why I start new communities—to keep momentum going and to help Piefed grow.

    You’re not really addressing the distinction I made: either communities are for a wide target audience with more laxist rules, like [email protected] (by the way, if someone called someone else ‘bro’, would they not be considered civil on [email protected] ? What if they call you ‘bro’ ? ), or they are more of a smaller community thing with tigher rules, like [email protected] seems to be based on the current activity, especially compared to [email protected] or [email protected]

    [email protected] seemed like it was a general community, but your decision about it made it more of a small community with stricter rules, and it seems this is where the issue comes from. If people had known from the start that it was mostly your community with your rules, they would have probably posted on [email protected] and let you do whatever you want on [email protected]

    In other words, if you want a community to reach a wider audience, the rules need to be acceptable by a wider audience as well

    Gaming - Lemmy.World

    !gaming is a community for gaming noobs through gaming aficionados. Unlike !games, we don’t take ourselves quite as serious. Shitposts and memes are welcome. ### Our Rules: ::: spoiler 1. Keep it civil. ___ Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. ___ ::: ::: spoiler 2. No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia or any other flavor of bigotry. ___ I should not need to explain this one. ___ ::: ::: spoiler 3. No bots, spam or self-promotion. ___ Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed. ___ ::: ::: spoiler 4. Try not to repost anything posted within the past month. ___ Beyond that, go for it. Not everyone is on every site all the time. ___ ::: --------- Logo uses joystick by liftarn [https://openclipart.org/detail/322683/joystick-game-controller-silhouette]

    Show threadatomicpoetSep 23, 2025

    (by the way, if someone called someone else ‘bro’, would they not be considered civil on [email protected]? What if they call you ‘bro’ ?)

    Here’s the approach I’d take now:

  • Reach out personally—not as a mod—and politely ask them to ease off.
  • If it continues, follow up as a moderator with a clear warning.
  • If the warning is ignored, then consider further action.

    • [email protected] seemed like it was a general community, but your decision about it made it more of a small community with stricter rules, and it seems this is where the issue comes from. If people had known from the start that it was mostly your community with your rules, they would have probably posted on [email protected] and let you do whatever you want on [email protected]

    The majority of people on [email protected] actually came from @[email protected], which migrated over to Piefed. Most of them already know me, so I don’t think they would have gone to [email protected] instead—many of them aren’t even familiar with how Piefed itself is structured. That’s something I’m actively working to change.

    And just for context—[email protected] exists because @[email protected] was one of the very first communities on the Fediverse focused on Fediverse news. The only problem was that Friendica really isn’t well-suited for forum-style discussion, so I created a new home for it on Piefed.

    In other words, if you want a community to reach a wider audience, the rules need to be acceptable by a wider audience as well

    On that point, I see it differently. The way I see it, I’m providing these communities with an audience, not the other way around. A lot of people join in or comment because they’re already familiar with my Akkoma account first.

    And honestly, “Lemmy” specifically isn’t even my focus. My communities were always aimed more at microblog audiences, and Lemmy engagement has just been incidental.

    Show threadBlazeSep 23, 2025

    Here’s the approach I’d take now:

    You didn’t answer for [email protected]. Would you do the same?

    On that point, I see it differently. The way I see it, I’m providing these communities with an audience, not the other way around. A lot of people join in or comment because they’re already familiar with my Akkoma account first.

    It depends on the community. For [email protected] it might be true (and I say might because active posters like @[email protected] maybe just discovered your community here on Piefed, not from Friendica)

    For [email protected], [email protected] was among the top 100 most active communities on the Lemmy/Piefed, so it’s definitely different.

    Fediverse News

    A group devoted to news about the Fediverse, which includes all ActivityPub-enabled services. ## Rules 1. Be civil 2. No discriminatio…

    Show threaddb0Sep 23, 2025
    • Reach out personally—not as a mod—and politely ask them to ease off.
    • If it continues, follow up as a moderator with a clear warning.
    • If the warning is ignored, then consider further action.

    If this is the approach, then the first part is never “not as a mod”. You can’t take off the mod hat, when you have the power to put it back on to enforce your own preferences. This is not how it works and people will call you out on this.

    To be an effective moderator, you need to be transparent and honest, or people will notice and raise hell about it until your inevitable crash-out.

    I totally agree that one cannot cover every potentially situation in the rules or else rule-lawyers will get around it, but you also need to be cognizant when some personal preferences like “bro” are not what most people would consider “uncivil” and in this case you need to spell them out explicitly to avoid issues, or just accept that you are in the minority on this and don’t enforce them at all and instead try to organically curate a community which agrees with you on it.

    Show threadStametsSep 22, 2025
    Still don’t want people to use my particular post as a jumping off point to give him shit for that. Especially if he’s reverting bans. Like maybe he shouldn’t have the community, Idk. I didn’t find him important enough to bother doing a real deep dive into his shit of. I just don’t want to be the reason for bullying I guess. I hate myself enough as it is.
    Show threadjjagaimoSep 22, 2025

    Got my own

    Dude needs mental help if a downvote is enough to trigger him this much

    Show threadturdburglarSep 22, 2025
    yep i got. one last night (bro)
    Show threadGeeDubHaydukeSep 22, 2025
    Bro. Now i feel left out. It’s like the new Nicole!