Reply #147: That's interesting. It explains a great deal - I have three friends who post at DU and: [View All]

[Political Heretic]

I have three real life friends who post at DU. All of them were DU-active long before me, but they talked about it so much that I would come and read the forums sometimes, and generally lurk around.

A while back, one of my friends was all frustrated because he got banned from DU and couldn't figure out what he did. My friends were all talking about it, and they asked him what the last thing he had done on the board was. He said that the admin had just posted this thread of emotionalism threatening people for having the wrong kind of view about the holocaust - he said that he had just been watching Manufacturing Consent at the part where Noam Chomsky argued that someone who held beliefs he vehemently disagreed with still ought to be allowed to exercise his right to speak them, and how much trouble he got into for defending that right.

He said he made the point that "freedom" really doesn't mean much if we only like it when people say what we agree with. And the next thing he knew, he was banned.

Now, I admit I don't know all the details. And I certainly don't know how he voted on the poll or what the poll choices even were. I do however, think its totally stupid to have polls where people assume they mean nothing and are anonymous and then ban people for there answers. I've only been posting for a couple months, and I can think of at least three times where I chose an option because I was completely kidding and thought it didn't mean anything. I would usually then comment on my choice and my lack of seriousness in the thread.

Banning people for choices that may mean nothing to them other than feeling oppositionally defiant some day seems really ridiculous. At the very least, you ought to make a big huge warning before these silly poll telling people that their literal ability to post may depend on how they answer, so don't ever kid around with their choices or be a "rebel" in a poll they think is stupid.