Joined a RuneScape clan as a kid. They had made their own forum site. I posted only in bright pink by wrapping my text in [color=#f19] [/color] or something. And of course we all had cool signatures lol. They had an IRC channel too that I hung out on all the time. To this day we’re still together, just on Discord now. I like to think of them as my Internet Family.

It may seem like “jumping to an extreme response” but once you’ve had enough experience in online forums you can see the storm clouds forming from a mile away, and you know you’re just better off with an immediate ban to nip it in the bud before it inevitably turns into a huge problem. People without experience see mods doing this and think they’re too heavy-handed, but it’s just basic internet etiquette to keep things friendly and clean.

I personally saw a few red flags, gave the admin the benefit of the doubt, but when the issue was raised enough to him, and he failed to ban the offenders, I knew exactly where it was heading and just packed up and left. The nicer places will move too eventually once they see enough of it.

It’s always a joke until it’s not anymore. It’s why places like 4chan led to the creation of QAnon and real-world white supremacist terrorism. Even on sh.itjust.works, the mod of the Trump community insists it’s all just “ironic”. But I’ve heard that before and it never stays that way.

That’s why I left that instance. I tried to explain the paradox of tolerance but they refused to listen. They didn’t want “censorship” of their “free speech”. I don’t have the patience to watch people learn the same lesson that has been learned over and over again all throughout history, in millions of different contexts. It’s always the same thing that will happen because sheeps keep thinking it’s “healthy” to have “discussions” with “dissenting” hungry wolves.