This is a decision about what you want wetfish to be.
I frequently hear about how it’s a goal to make wetfish more diverse. When you allow channels like freefish and poomp to exist on the network, and people from these groups join the network and see the kind of content that’s permitted on those channels, they will probably decide not to stay.
Many users who made excellent contributions have left over the years because the network allows this kind of behavior.
So from my perspective, it’s really a question of what you value more: do you want to make the network a place that’s welcoming to a more diverse community, or do you want to keep it the way it is?
I am not in freefish and I have floof on /ignore, but new users are just going to leave the network instead.
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I agree this is a decision about what Wetfish wants to be. I disagree that restricting expression or behavior fosters diversity.
The more rules you put on behavior, the more limits you put on expression, the more ideas that are deemed offensive or "retarded", the closer you get to a monoculture. It may be true that your monoculture appeals to a broader user base, but that doesn't equal diversity. Strictly speaking, a monoculture requires less diversity than a pluralist community. Despite the fact that it includes more people that agree with you, it also excludes people that hold different values. Pluralism is uncomfortable, it guarantees conflict, but by definition it is more diverse and inclusive of different schools of thought.
People that reject this setup are authoritarians. Not making a value judgment, just want to be clear that the argument that's being made against the existing laissez-faire policy is authoritarian in nature.
Wetfish is already diverse. How many communities do you know of that have users with polar opposite political views? To me that is a special thing about wetfish and worth defending. I like being able to find the common humanity in people I disagree with. Frob and I have even bonded a couple times over similar struggles and Frob hates my guts. That's beautiful.
I would rather attract users that are OK with ignoring users or parting channels they don't like. If that means scaring away authoritarians and proponents of monoculture du jour, so be it. That's my 2 cents. Which do we value more? Rachel has already expressed her preference to keep things free and diverse the way they are. I agree.