I write this article because I want to make clear an issue I have a burning contempt for, and I believe I do so with good reason.
Any community that tries to be as opaque about how authority is exercised, meted out, and put into practice. I believe accountability for one's actions is a fundamental good for everyone, and it ensure the parties who are supposed to enforce the rules are not above them, nor can they use the rules as an excuse to vent their own personal beliefs, hatreds, and grudges under the guise of doing their jobs.
That is not to say I believe there are not times when such opaque activity is bad. In the case of legal matters, private information, or other matters requiring sensitivity and discretion, then there is a reasonable, ethical basis for not being flagrantly transparent, such does more harm than good.
My primary basis for this contempt stems from many web communities I have either been members of or have administrated myself, but I believe, the above exceptions noted, any attempt to make murky the actions of those who enforce policy in any endeavor with rules and regulations is naught but a springboard for corruption on the part of the rule enforcer, and their personal animus, bias, or hatreds have a greater chance of being allowed to taint their supposedly neutral task of enforcing rules and order, to the detriment of the communities they administrate.
I have been a member of some communities that are maddeningly obtuse, and despite my personal contempt of the murkiness of authority being restricted from ultimate accountability, I am willing to accept the price of being a member of these communities is accepting things I personally despise, but as for myself, on any community where I have power, I want my actions to be subject to public scrutiny because I personally live in mortal fear of becoming corrupted and arrogant with power, and I would rather die than become what I fear most: becoming a power mad tyrant.
I have been personally abused by communities that were subject to whims of such people, and I even founded my own fork of a website because such evil was so beyond the pale for me I refused to meekly submit to same nor subject others to it.
In conclusion, my main argument is that public transparency insofar as it does not do more harm to keeping order than such is supposed to prevent is one of the best shields against corruption and vice in the hands of those in power, and I would urge all communities to adopt these beliefs as their own.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Saturday, September 8, 2018
The Hypocritical Troll Who Got The Crappy Games Wiki closed on Wikia
I recently found out Wikia shuttered the Crappy Games Wiki, apparently due to this guy.
By their own account, they did so because they were fighting sexism and fighting libel and defamation. (archive)
The truth is far from this supposed moral high horse they want to ride.
In fact, the real reason they did this was revenge for being blocked. (archive)
Proof they are the same person on Wikia and RationalWiki. (archive)
This all said, I just want to say I'm not going to get into whether GamerGate or any allegations made by anyone on anyone are valid in detail save to say I was an adamant supporter. I fought that battle long ago, consider the matter over, will let the facts speak for themselves, and I'm leaving it at that.
However, what I am going to say is that this PKMNLivesNew/ UglyRat disgusts me because despite their supposed claims to fighting sexism and violations of Wikia policy, they were trying, as the above links demonstrate, to recruit a personal army to vandalize and troll a wiki they hated, were told no by RationalWiki in what I must commend them for good sense as recognizing as utter stupidity, and they advised this party work through proper channels (reporting the matter to Wikia Staff) to get them to take down inappropriate content.
From where I'm sitting, despite my admitted pro-GamerGate biases, if Wikia found legitimate reasons according to their policies to remove the wiki, then so be it, I will be the first to respect that, it's their service, they have every right to remove content at their discretion in accordance with their policies.
However, I do want to say the party who admitted they reported the content in question to be closed down, despite their claims of higher motives and cowering behind Wikia policy, their motives were not noble in this effort, they clearly wanted revenge and suborned Wikia to be their tool in getting it, and frankly, it disgusts me.
For the record, they also got a few things wrong.
1. Defamation and libel are not matters another party can fight on behalf of the parties allegedly being defamed and libeled, only direct intervention by those parties legally can effect proper challenges to such activity under American law.
2. I looked over their Wikia history, they seem to have a history of being inflammatory and cruel and trying to cower behind the excuse their enemies are sexist and harassers while basically being a nasty piece of work themselves. In short, their morals are a sham, they are in truth a hypocrite who uses those excuses I mentioned to appear morally superior while plotting petty revenge against other people and they apparently love to incite people to anger.
3. I admit I have a bias against RationalWiki, as I used to be a member until I was cast out for not falling in lock step with their anti-GamerGate stance and my account there was sabotaged so I could not log back in or recover my password. Which is fine by me, as I have no intention of returning, and I will respect they don't want me back because they drew a line in the sand on what they want to hear, and I'd rather walk away then try to cross it.
That said, I still must give them due credit in telling this vengeful concern troll NO on being a personal army and that they would be best served either going through proper channels or letting the the facts for the anti-GamerGate case speak for themselves. In that respect, they have my praise, that was the most rational advice they could give.
4. I am of the personal opinion this particular party acted in bad faith and even if Wikia found legitimate reasons to shut down certain content, this party still duped Wikia in helping them enact personal revenge and thus abused the trust and authority of their staff for their own ambitions.
In conclusion, I just want to say that the wiki this party got closed on Wikia has relocated to the Miraheze wiki farm, which I hope it prospers on.
By their own account, they did so because they were fighting sexism and fighting libel and defamation. (archive)
The truth is far from this supposed moral high horse they want to ride.
In fact, the real reason they did this was revenge for being blocked. (archive)
Proof they are the same person on Wikia and RationalWiki. (archive)
This all said, I just want to say I'm not going to get into whether GamerGate or any allegations made by anyone on anyone are valid in detail save to say I was an adamant supporter. I fought that battle long ago, consider the matter over, will let the facts speak for themselves, and I'm leaving it at that.
However, what I am going to say is that this PKMNLivesNew/ UglyRat disgusts me because despite their supposed claims to fighting sexism and violations of Wikia policy, they were trying, as the above links demonstrate, to recruit a personal army to vandalize and troll a wiki they hated, were told no by RationalWiki in what I must commend them for good sense as recognizing as utter stupidity, and they advised this party work through proper channels (reporting the matter to Wikia Staff) to get them to take down inappropriate content.
From where I'm sitting, despite my admitted pro-GamerGate biases, if Wikia found legitimate reasons according to their policies to remove the wiki, then so be it, I will be the first to respect that, it's their service, they have every right to remove content at their discretion in accordance with their policies.
However, I do want to say the party who admitted they reported the content in question to be closed down, despite their claims of higher motives and cowering behind Wikia policy, their motives were not noble in this effort, they clearly wanted revenge and suborned Wikia to be their tool in getting it, and frankly, it disgusts me.
For the record, they also got a few things wrong.
1. Defamation and libel are not matters another party can fight on behalf of the parties allegedly being defamed and libeled, only direct intervention by those parties legally can effect proper challenges to such activity under American law.
2. I looked over their Wikia history, they seem to have a history of being inflammatory and cruel and trying to cower behind the excuse their enemies are sexist and harassers while basically being a nasty piece of work themselves. In short, their morals are a sham, they are in truth a hypocrite who uses those excuses I mentioned to appear morally superior while plotting petty revenge against other people and they apparently love to incite people to anger.
3. I admit I have a bias against RationalWiki, as I used to be a member until I was cast out for not falling in lock step with their anti-GamerGate stance and my account there was sabotaged so I could not log back in or recover my password. Which is fine by me, as I have no intention of returning, and I will respect they don't want me back because they drew a line in the sand on what they want to hear, and I'd rather walk away then try to cross it.
That said, I still must give them due credit in telling this vengeful concern troll NO on being a personal army and that they would be best served either going through proper channels or letting the the facts for the anti-GamerGate case speak for themselves. In that respect, they have my praise, that was the most rational advice they could give.
4. I am of the personal opinion this particular party acted in bad faith and even if Wikia found legitimate reasons to shut down certain content, this party still duped Wikia in helping them enact personal revenge and thus abused the trust and authority of their staff for their own ambitions.
In conclusion, I just want to say that the wiki this party got closed on Wikia has relocated to the Miraheze wiki farm, which I hope it prospers on.
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