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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023

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When a moderator says to you:

All of this is to say: whatever you are up to, you have attracted the attention of the mods, and while this post in itself is borderline (you basically repost the article with minimal commentary), you are starting to look like a bad actor. Whatever game you are playing, start being upfront and stop looking like someone who's not posting in good faith (and is likely a previously banned poster).

And not even a day later you again repost identitarian bait, with minimal commentary, as a top-level post, I have to assume you have opted to ignore the warning.

I want to emphasize: in absolute terms, this post is "not bad." It's not great, it does challenge both "speak plainly" and "avoid low-effort participation," as well as "make your point reasonably clear and plain" (though this post is in that regard maybe a slight improvement on the last one). That it does those things as a top level post is an aggravating factor. The CW thread is not a dumping ground for posts other people have written on topics that are maximally inflammatory. It's a place to test your thinking, which to a great extent demands that you do some thinking in an open and public way. Gradually accruing the annoyance of the sub by being a one-note piano while evading effortful engagement with others is, if nothing else, egregiously obnoxious.

So let's start the banning at 48 hours.

Maybe my reading comprehension is trash, but how is “I'd like to push back against the contention that Jewish overrepresentation among leftist movements is related to activists being Jewish per se” not speaking plainly?

The idea that some people (eg @Fruck) have suggested is that this poster is claiming to be against antisemitism while also thinly-veiled hmmposting links to internet antisemitism in a way that encourages users to click on them and to conclude from them that the post was ‘wrong’ and the far-right position on the issue ‘right’.

This is a relatively complex form of baiting and a violation of the ‘speak plainly’ rule, although it’s not uncommon online. Still, I’m ambivalent on a ban unless the mods have better proof the poster is trolling or being sneaky.

Still, I’m ambivalent on a ban unless the mods have better proof the poster is trolling or being sneaky.

The ban is short, and very much intended to communicate that Amadan's warning should not have been ignored in this way.

We don't like anyone doing top-level posting that is overwhelmingly copy-pasted, even when it's not on a maximally-inflammatory topic, but we also don't want to over-moderate, so when it happens occasionally, or comes from otherwise-well-reputed users, it's kinda whatever. But when one user does it repeatedly, in combination with other kinda-shady behaviors, and immediately after being warned against it, like--what else am I supposed to do?

We don't like anyone doing top-level posting that is overwhelmingly copy-pasted

I'm not necessarily criticizing this ban, but what's the justification behind this? Why does it matter if something insightful came from a user here or from an outside thinker (assuming the poster agrees with what they're sharing)?

Is the idea that this is a way to prevent spamming, by raising the required time commitment to make a top-level post?

I'm not necessarily criticizing this ban, but what's the justification behind this? Why does it matter if something insightful came from a user here or from an outside thinker (assuming the poster agrees with what they're sharing)?

Is the idea that this is a way to prevent spamming, by raising the required time commitment to make a top-level post?

It's bound up in a long history of wrangling with "bare links" and otherwise low-effort content. At the extreme, a user could sock-puppet as a way of skirting the rules of engagement. Like, suppose you write a really scathing takedown of your outgroup. Post it here, maybe you get moderated. Post it on Substack and then share it here, though, maybe you don't, depending on how transparent your effort to circumvent the rules of engagement is.

This is not a common problem, by the by, but it is definitely something that has happened in the past. And the foundation of the whole enterprise is that we're here to discuss things, to test our own shady thinking in a community of people who don't all agree with our views. "Here's a thing for you all to discuss" is not quite the same thing as actually participating in a discussion, and can very easily be trolling/bait/etc. So copy-pasting large chunks of text while providing minimal insight of your own doesn't really reach the necessary level. If someone outside the sub says something insightful, sharing it here is fine--even as a top post, if it's not CW. But if it's a picture, or video, or Culture War material, then we are looking for submission statements and effortful engagement.