I hope this article helps with the PoliticsWorldwide - Gunsnet relationship. All comments welcome. There's a XXXXX thread about it
Since XXXXX was formed in May 2010 a relationship has developed with
Gunsnet, a US forum which supports the US 2nd Amendment (right to keep and bear arms). A number of members belong to both forums.
Gunsnet is a good forum: large, long-established, lively, well-run. It's useful for European left-wingers who wish to test their arguments in a 'hostile' environment. Many Gunsnet members are from the libertarian right - capitalists who want government out of their hair - and may give 'Eurolefties' - who support a more vigorous state - a run for their money.
Conversely, XXXXXXX members include conservatives, liberals, social democrats, socialists, Marxists and anarchists whom American right-wingers enjoy arguing with.
The two forums have different traditions. This article is to assist members of each community get the most from the two sites.
Both forums have a strong commitment to free speech but operate within the law and their ISPs' terms of service. Moderation is light but hate-speech, unlawful activity and trolling is not permitted.
I'm defining trolling as 'Posting lies, or being otherwise insincere, to provoke an argument on the internet.' Obviously, it's not trolling to post a lawful and sincerely held political belief which someone happens to disagree with. That's called 'political debate.'
XXXXXX is a full-blown politics forum divided geographically (Europe, Asia, the Americas etc plus general forums on the arts, technology and chit-chat ) while Gunsnet is a specialist firearms site with political and general forums.
It is therefore unwise for a XXXXXXX member to post provocative material in a Gunsnet forum devoted to guns. Even sincere or humourous material may be viewed as trolling and cause upset and, consequently, work for Gunsnet mods. Best to stick to the general and political areas of the site.
Joint members should also be aware that the two forums have different attitudes to cyber-abuse - the posting of material attacking a member in personal, foul-mouthed terms.
Gunsnet has a small contingent of male, spotty, 14 yr old members who, operating as a gang, may pursue someone they disagree with politically about the forums, posting foul-mouthed abuse, disrupting threads, setting hares running, and generally trolling the GN political and general threads. Some even post foul-mouthed abuse on personal profile pages.
Conversely, cyber-abusers are not permitted on XXXXXXX. They're viewed as the enemy of free speech and are dealt with by the moderators quickly, fairly and firmly.
Extreme cyber-abusers are banned, e.g. Crappy, while others are confined to the 'Gulag' until they learn to debate without engaging in foul-mouthed abuse, e.g. Dr. Gonzo GED and chiak47.
An example of a Gunsnet cyber-abuser:
Note the foul-mouthed (excrement, genitalia and homosexuality fixated) language of a 14 yr old male, unsure of his masculinity, possibly a homosexual in denial, safely anonymous on the internet.
The above is not to criticise the Gunsnet moderation style. It's simply a difference in culture between the two forums. Joint members should be aware of the difference if they're to enjoy the two sites to the full.
Finally, the two sites' commitment to free speech extends to a general culture of non-censorship, hiding or locking threads as little as possible, keeping bans to a minimum, not interfering with members' posting permissions, and generally avoiding the mistakes of other, over-moderated, forums.
Members of both sites are treated as responsible, free-thinking adults. They're expected to behave as such.
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