Since when is slashdot low on flametroll contributors? In the years that I have used /. I've found the only useful way to read it is to set the filter to ignore anything below "Score: 5". Otherwise there is way too much useless comments

The online "social" world has long been argued to be the ideal libertarian experiment: Those with useful content will rise to the top, those with dross will sink and a truly meritricious society will form. Well the research says otherwise. What forms in this libertarian microcosm are either oligarchies, or the chaos of Gresham's law triumphs. Nothing else seems to prevail

Even in socially progressive sites like www.utne.com and www.salon.com aggressive moderation is used to keep the air of camaradarie from being driven out by Gresham's daemons.

The irony of course is that the strongest advocates of liberatarian ideals in the usa today ARE the digirati. And yet their own realms prove that it does not work, invariably devolving into either an oligarchy, a dictatorship (single editor) or chaos.

degsme:

Since when is slashdot low on flametroll contributors? In the years that I have used /. I've found the only useful way to read it is to set the filter to ignore anything below "Score: 5". Otherwise there is way too much useless comments

The online "social" world has long been argued to be the ideal libertarian experiment: Those with useful content will rise to the top, those with dross will sink and a truly meritricious society will form. Well the research says otherwise. What forms in this libertarian microcosm are either oligarchies, or the chaos of Gresham's law triumphs. Nothing else seems to prevail

Even in socially progressive sites like www.utne.com and www.salon.com aggressive moderation is used to keep the air of camaradarie from being driven out by Gresham's daemons.

The irony of course is that the strongest advocates of liberatarian ideals in the usa today ARE the digirati. And yet their own realms prove that it does not work, invariably devolving into either an oligarchy, a dictatorship (single editor) or chaos.

the ultimate in such democratic experiments is usenet; and of course, it's dominated by cranks, nuts, monomaniacs, and people off their meds posting to every newsgroup about how their minds have been manipulated by the cia. you can't beat the nuts; they have way more motivation than a sane person and nothing else to do with their time.