One area of A.org where moderation (or lack of) has had an adverse effect is the Marketplace. Trading, buying, selling or dealing in any way, is a total joke here now. Has been for at least the last couple of years. How about this for example.... say you want to sell something. The original poster should have the ability to "lock" their thread and direct all inquiries straight to their mailbox. The seller then could qualify and deal privately. They could then update their sale or wanted thread as applicable and appropriate. Sale threads shouldn't be long-assed MySpace looking vertical nightmares that take up several pages where idiots post silly questions such as "how much to ship to Italy" and then several posts later respond publicly with "interest withdrawn due to shipping". :mad:
That's just one example where self-voluntary moderation might come in handy. But just think if the original poster was allowed to lock their thread in another forum. They would then be free to post news about 'whatever' without fear of immature reprisal and opinions that just junk up a thread and ultimately, leads to school-yard fighting. If someone is dumb enough to post a flame toward someone or something and then locks the thread, great! Those of us who'd rather dwell on the business at hand, ie: buying/selling/trading/talking about computing, won't have an opportunity to feed the trolls. Combatting nonsense with nonsense isn't being "social". It's counterproductive is all it is.
This is how self-moderation works on some of the most popular social sites in the world. Facebook for example. Don't like what someone has to say? Well, if you're the original poster, you have the ability to simply delete their comment. If you find a comment is irrelevant, delete it. If it's a personal attack - goodbye! If it's a qualified comment and you want to address it in a mature manner and feel the other person can debate in a similar fashion - there you go then! You've now created your own environment where you would feel free to express yourself, all the while ignoring all the dolts around you. Isn't that what we do in real life? Actually, real life face to face, "moderation" is done much more swiftly. Sometimes with violence. Sometimes through legal means or through some other form of punishment or reprimand.
