First a call-out of fatphobia (https://hexbear.net/post/4189552) that ended up proving its point, then the stuff about “he/hims” (https://hexbear.net/post/4187781) ". Apparently a mod got banned!?
I am not very active and I never look at the megathreads, the number of comments in them scare me away from them. Is that where it’s happening? I feel confused about what this community is like now.
I, uh, don’t really know what my point is. Maybe someone can explain what the state of the site is? Especially on the he/hims thing. Maybe that’s the main point of this post.
I feel sad for people that got hurt by this.
idk but I’ve been on this site since it existed (and r/cth before the cataclysm) and every time a struggle session happens I usually completely miss out on wtf happened and within a day or two it’s usually over with, though a couple of times the subject of the conflict has been something too obnoxious for me to endure so I just log out for a little while
otherwise in the meantime I just keep posting tiny rants about shit nobody here cares about and also random thoughts that several people always upvote for reasons that escape (and yet delight) me, like I just commented “beepboopasaurus” in the mega a couple days ago and it got like 5 upbears like?? who the fuck upbear’d this random thing that my fever-stricken brain decided to post lmao
anyway what were we talking about
Every day I’m like
beepboopasaurus comrade
Hexbear mods use to have a stance of maintaining peace and order on the half serious/half shitpost reddit spin off, now mods want it to be an ideologically coherent org without any of the actual org work
And without any of the coherency
It’s weird to only be involved exoterically on this site i guess is one way to put it? I really don’t wade into drama threads, i don’t exist in the deeper social network here. I just browse the pages, and the closest thing to drama I indulge in is like, when someone from a lemmy instance with liberal brain rot wades in and demands group humiliation from us.
I can tell it’s impacting the user base, and the activity level, and I do want to ask the mods what’s going on in the back end? Because the number of drama bombs going off behind the scenes that leaks out into the instance as a whole is probably beyond what’s necessary - this shouldn’t be happening like this y’all.
Like, to me an ideal mod-admin cadre exists to facilitate discussion inside some parameters, like a set of rules and conventions for behavior. Hexbear is leftist, and has a sizeable contingent of serious leftists, so I understand that comes with some of the tensions these spaces have in real life, and is prone to wrecking and power tripping and all that stuff - I think leftists expect some of that.
But it’s happening an awful lot, and it’s fucking things up - so structurally something should probably change, I just can’t comment on specifics. I am just certain that unity of intention and purpose, and being even handed and consistent with enforcement does prevent a lot of what’s happening. The fat-phobia stuff should not be happening, and it didn’t need to go this far. I am transfemme and I have traumatic history with cis men and toxic masculinity - i struggle to be nice about men to be very delicate about it - but some of what flies here is just toxic to a healthy community in that regard. I say that with the hopeful understanding that as a transfemme woman I really do not want any cis men coddled over their identity and perceived oppression, but it still gets kinda wack here in that regard.
If this site wants to go that direction, i even think that would be fine, but consistency and, again, not letting drama be aired like, on the main page, is important because it’s the kind of drama that makes people nope out, and regardless of merit, that shit kills the site, and i don’t think hexbear deserves that as a place or community.
I’m gonna try to limit this post to all I say on this. I generally like the moderation and administration here - but something is clearly wrong, and some kind of overhaul in hierarchy, vetting, and autonomy needs to be reviewed.
Hexbear has a lot of issues that have been present for a long time. These are issues that came along with the exodus from r/CTH and never went away.
There’s this perception that because someone has been on the site for a long time, they can’t possibly have any bad takes or harmful opinions lying below the surface. Surely they would have aired them out over the past 4 years, right? If someone hasn’t been banned, they must have good takes! But if issues like fatphobia or misogyny or western chauvinism or white supremacy aren’t being actively handled, these things can just… Hide below the surface. People can hold opinions that suck, and the subject just hasn’t come up before or they were previously not seen as concerns worthy of moderation.
As we’re trying to work on some of these issues, tons of people with unexamined brainworms are coming out of the woodwork and exposing their reactionary mindsets. Some of those people are on old accounts, some of them are even mods. Obviously, we want to give everyone the opportunity to learn and grow, but a lot of people just seem to want to die on the hill. People really just keep trying to post through it, and end up saying or doing something so egregious that it results in a ban.
If you don’t want to get banned, all you have to do is just not harass people in DMs, not write a weird racist screed that’s virtually indistinguishable from a chud uncle’s holiday dinner rant, not spend two hours blowing up at all the other mods and admins over an argument, etc. People aren’t getting ousted for taking a certain side in petty arguments. They’re getting into petty arguments, doubling down, refusing mediation, getting really mad at everyone else, and then refusing reconciliation and even literally going as far as to ask for a ban.
Regarding the drama constantly making it to the front page, there’s a certain clique of users on the site who keep dredging up all of this stuff and making every modlog action they don’t like into a struggle session. If you go back to these other struggle session threads, you might start noticing that some of the same people just keep showing up over and over, arguing in every thread, making unfounded accusations, and posting about how they think the mods are destroying the site. Do whatever you want with this information.
There’s this perception that because someone has been on the site for a long time, they can’t possibly have any bad takes or harmful opinions lying below the surface.
For sure. You however seem to be under the intention that just because you’re well-intentioned or a member of some persecuted group, you cannot have brainworms of your own. The people you complain about have repeatedly and patiently tried to explain their issues, they’ve gotten banned for asking for clarification, they’ve gotten banned for asking how things in the modlog can be proof of an issue, when the modlog is proof of moderation functioning. This comment explains the issues so much better than I ever could.
Regarding the drama constantly making it to the front page, there’s a certain clique of users on the site who keep dredging up all of this stuff and making every modlog action they don’t like into a struggle session.
Reacting to people getting banned for no reason is not making every modlog action a struggle session. Banning people for no reason creates the struggle session. Avoiding the arguments put forth in good faith, dismissing users concerns, banning people for disagreeing, never clarifying, upholding rules inconsistently, allowing some users to be incredibly inflammatory and then punishing those that react, this is what creates drama and struggle.
The removal of the linked comment is a perfect illustration of what the actual issue on the site is.
Just another day on the bear website
Everytime theres a struggle session on this site, it remember it being hashed out a decade ago on Leftbook. In another decade, the same thing will happen again. While some things change, some things will remain. It’ll be fine.
I missed all the drama but think of megathreads like a twitter feed for the site. You don’t have to read everything, just engage with whatever interests you.
its very funny that a post by a casual user asking whats going on
turned into another struggle thread
Me checking my post be like:
Ironically though, it seems I now know out what’s going on: lots of individual users holding grievances against each other or staff as the resut of struggle sessions or mod actions.
This is just hexbear at heart, doing what it loves: arguing with itself
:yea:
This place is going to absolute shit lol
Was fun as long as it lasted I suppose
I write this as someone who isn’t all that happy either: HB isn’t going to shit, it’ll be okay. It’s a stressful time for people who experience a lot of stress – as my old man says, “Shit flows downhill.”
I dunno. I’ve been here from the very beginning, and it never felt like it does now. Things have taken a turn for the worse imo
Our struggle sessions used to be about cats and rocks, and kicking out obvious reactionaries, not whatever the fuck is going on now
I could be wrong; I often am. The deletion of CarlMarks’ post does fit with my feeling that moderation has been recently used to “win” (possibly not the right word) arguments, with the modlog reasons being final points that are impossible to respond to. Having been part of forum and chat mod teams in the past, this is a very familiar feeling.
Idk, I think the vegan struggle session was the worst I’ve ever seen here, and this current stuff isn’t even close to that imo. Tbf though I never pay that much attention to site drama anyway
idk what to tell you if you think shit like “not all men” and “lose weight fatty” isn’t reactionary. this is why your website sucks, not the other stuff
idk what to tell you but if you think that’s what they think then you’re part of the problem
do you ever log off
Is that so? Am I? Well, if you say so.
i do
You don’t seem to think very much before you type anymore
Our struggle sessions were about much more than that, and pretending they weren’t is deeply misleading.
You’re lying to try to prove a point, a pathetic one, about how a site has changed after four years. Like some sort of old geezer bemoaning about how “things aren’t like they were back in my day” while conveniently leaving out all the shitty parts that conveniently never affected you.
Drop this, it’s pathetic
Removed by mod
Yeah. I hear people say “We’ve had strugglesessions so many times” and uhh not like this. So many regulars gone, vibes suck shit.
I think it’s important for people to recognize the divisiveness you’re fostering on this platform. The narratives you’re pushing claiming the admins are bad or suggesting power users should be pushed out are creating unnecessary tension.
You were especially persistent during the debate over the renaming of the dunk tank, engaging in lengthy arguments about something trivial. When I didn’t engage in your attempts to bait me into a debate, you escalated the situation by rallying others against me leading to my ban. I suspect you were also behind the alt accounts used to harass users, given how many hours you were wasting posting and your inability to get a debate from me.
It’s ironic that you called out others for “ableist” behavior, such as telling people to log out, yet you privately sent me a similar message. This contradiction highlights your lack of authenticity. You’ve built a persona of being caring and genuine, but your actions suggest otherwise.
After I was banned you accused me of creating multiple alts which targeted users and coincidentally yourself, being transphobic, and telling them to s*icide, while positioning yourself as a victim. This combined with your dismissive attitude toward me when I mentioned my long-standing presence on the site, shows how seriously you take “power posting.” You seem to thrive on drama, manipulation, and creating divides within the community.
For context, I’m autistic and have learning disabilities and you mocked me for struggling to articulate myself clearly, which felt unnecessarily cruel. I hope others see through your behavior and recognize the harm it causes, particularly to users who approach this space in good faith. You tried to gatekeep my condition and at the same time weaponizing it just to get a one up on others, it’s truly disgusting because not only you, but people I had genuine interactions with for years thought I was behind it all and you started to push the narrative that I was just a random cis neurotypical wrecker. Given how badly you want people to be against certain powerposters, only those who see through your bullshit, it would only make sense that you would attempt to drown them out, it’s funny because you have nothing to offer other than fake sincerity that naive users fall for, and being a shitty debate lord, you’re unfunny, you’re not special, you’re not unique, your kind are so common on the internet so it’s very easy to figure you out.
I’m committed to stepping away from this platform because it’s become increasingly unwelcoming especially with users like you creating such a toxic environment. The coordinated pile on you initiated came at a particularly difficult time for me, and it solidified my decision to leave for good.
I only wish more people could see through the facade you’ve created. You manipulate others with your fake sincerity but it’s obvious to anyone paying attention that your main goal is to stir up drama and divide the community, again coincidentally you always return whenever there’s drama and i’ve been online long enough to recognize troll behavior when I see it, and you’re nothing more than a transparent instigator trying to build yourself up at others’ expense. Eventually people will see you for what you really are: a petty, insecure person desperate for validation on a niche website. You’re just a dork redditor clinging to this platform like it’s your whole identity. Enjoy being a loser online while the rest of us move on with our lives.
Also stay mad because I won’t be replying teehee. Go back to reddit lol
thank you
Not gonna read all that, so here’s a reply to the first line: pointing out what is going on is not causing divisiveness. Also post from your main
It’s beluga/melina can’t post because i was banned for telling you to log off, and months later the same sentiment stands. Log off loser
This isn’t me BTW
But fucking preach, REgon you need to calm the fuck down about this and stop peddling deranged nonsense. This isn’t the posting trenches, you don’t need to turn your terminally online debate bro habits against the site because you’re bored.
Good thing I’m not doing that then 👍 Me disagreeing with you is actually not toxic, sorry
What’s toxic is the sheer amount of your disagreement. You’ll come back to days old arguments where the offending parties already gotten banned and you’ll needlessly tack on nonsense. Again, Mods enforcing rules is not some sort of special tyranny that’s oppressing you, get over yourself.
I’m sorry regon but it’s been more than 4 years since this started. Even without the purges most of the OGs would still be gone by now due to just drifting away. Youre trying to make gold out of straw.
Removed by mod
Post from your main, loser. Not that its hard to work out who you are
Removed by mod
Removed by mod
Lmao, dunk on me harder daddy. What’s gonna happen if I don’t? Ya gonna ban me? Ooooh
Removed by mod
The idea that this is the worst hexbear has been is just fucking insane to me. Really, not even with the fucking insanity of federation having actual fascists scare off minorities? Even further back during the transphobia purge or vegan struggle sessions?
I think you’re just being extra cause you salty the mods don’t give a shit about your mid opinions.
Idk. I managed to miss a lot of this stuff by some very precise time blocs and I’m kinda grateful.
From what I gather people have been saying fatphobic things and a comrade made a thread to call them out. People came in and tried to shame or cast blame on fat people and got banned for being shitty.
The he/him situation is a bit more touch and go. I guess someone who was a mod was being antagonistic in the mod chat and they happened to be menby which lead to some jokes about all the masc posters on hb having he/him pronouns being bad, to which someone made a thread to correct.
That’s what I saw anyway.
Before that, posts were deleted and members were banned regarding the topic of age-gap relationships between adults in which one adult is fairly young (19). To anyone reading this, I am not making any judgments on the topic, nor am I inviting discussion or debate; this is simply a comment relevant to the thread.
Older users that listen/listened to the podcast Chapo Trap House and joined the subreddit (the namesake for this comm) from back in the day vs people who have come to Hexbear later on for the vibes.
The podcast in question (and adjacent TrueAnon et al) drew in plenty of baby leftists, but their style includes a fair amount of things this comm (once again, named after the podcast) or this website as a whole does not allow. Felix would have been banned a long time ago for body shaming Charlie Kirk or some dweeb. Brace for being ableist. Matt Christman for for being fatphobic in a rant somewhere. Etc etc. But the podcast(s) also drew in so many listeners who like it because it wasn’t as serious as some of the other left leaning podcasts.
I believe a schism was always going to occur. Mainly between the old users who made up who we were and new users who want to shape what we will be. For some we have strayed too far from the days of allowing a reactionary comment up so we can dogpile on the reactionary, get them to post their penis then body shame them for their ugly penis or weight. For others, creating a safe space for comrades supersedes the need to leave up reactionary posts for the purposes of dog piling on a chud.
I gotta say I sort of disagree. I’m one of the people dogpiling on chuds, but I’m also for creating a safe space. I do not think the “new users” you describe are creating a safe space, they are creating a space of power users and unsure vibes. One person can fly off the handle and it’s cool and fun, another can respond and get banned for debate pervetry.
In my view there’s two groups: Those that understand what @CarlMarks@lemmygrad.ml was writing and those that decided to find some way to dismiss it so they wouldn’t have to do any selfcrit. The removal of that comment is a great example of what I talk about when I describe people using leftist rhetoric to legitimise their shitty behaviour.
Left is lefting
Just hexbear things, happens a lot
Which mod got banned?
PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS
