Wetlook World Forum

If one were to draw comparisons between this forum and "the other wetlook forum", both the problems and their solutions become obvious.

The policy here is to remain open - no membership required; at the "other forum", you have to subscribe (yes, it's free, but the subscription process ties members to email addresses).

The policy here is to moderate as little as possible - to allow for free expression; "over there", moderators are constantly monitoring for abuse and rule infractions.

Of course there is one other significant difference which I suppose one would have to call "editorial policy". It is pretty much a separate issue although the candid pictures allowed by this forum's policy seem to incite a significant volume of negative posts. The "no candid" policy "over there" does seem to eliminate a good deal of negative posts, at the expense of some rather interesting content.

Here, we get occasional flame wars, anonymous posters hurl insults, and in general, very little time passes between various examples of bad or questionable behaviour. On "that other forum", everyone seems pretty well behaved, and what infractions may occur are addressed very promptly. All in all, a very "nice" place (it all depends on what you call "nice"). I'm not aware of anyone ever being banned. Either those inclined to cause trouble simply don't bother to go there, knowing they can't get away with it, or the moderators are very swift, effective, and discrete in their actions.

By the way, I have my doubts that pleading with the anonymouses will have any effect on future behaviour.

Conclusions:

o   Moderation works, but only on the right sort of forum i.e. membership required or "closed".

o   Membership mechanisms are an effective way to discourage and/or deal with troublemakers.

o   If you allow anyone and everyone the freedom to express themselves, sooner or later they will say something you don't want to hear.

I'm not advocating either forum - open or closed - simply pointing out that each has its benefits, and with each you pay a price - you just have to live with it.