For all the push for functionality in social media, the focus on moderation is just... barely considered?
Why do we never learn the lessons of the last failed project?
One could also replace Moderation with Accessibility and it would also be accurate, although people seem to think things would continue to function regardless.
Borrowed from the excellent original "Dependency" by #XKCD:
https://xkcd.com/2347/
@doug I think part of it is idealism. In our hearts, we all want to believe that everyone will act as a reasonable person. It's the same impulse that leads Charlie Brown to try to kick the football: "Lucy wouldn't do that again, will she?"
As someone who was on Usenet in the early '90s, yes, she will.
At some point, when your site/service/club/group scales up beyond your immediate circle of friends, you will have to moderate it.
@doug And really, that's not just Internet/social media. It goes for churches, companies, social organizations, hobby groups, political parties, etc.
At some point, no matter how small you stay, you will have a bad actor, and how you deal with the bad actor will set the tone for the future of your org.