the unknown power structure that operates the Second Life forum platform is becoming increasingly dictatorial. exactly when the dictate came down to actively quash the freedom to express thoughts critical of the Lab isn't precisely known. as far as the general userbase knows it's not tied to any specific moment. but if you've been on the forums for the length of time i have, even going back past the v2 purge, you can sense a pernicious and unrelenting force that is actively bent on preventing users from speaking their minds.
case in point, bonniebots:
a post was initiated 1Aug22 in the General Discussion Forum that asked about an army of bots appearing on the grid. the post ran its course in a few days but was picked up 12Nov22 by an individual who related the bots to some paranoid stalking episodes. a number of forum brown nosers tried to quell the panic with a few posts but a Mole eventually showed up and redacted the mention of the bonniebot name from every post in the thread with a due warning.
the reason for the Lab's interest in that innocuous post wasn't brought about with the necro pick up. as far as i can tell, and i have no internal connection to the policy enforcers, it was initiated by a malicious hacker asking a new question on the very same day Quartz Mole flew in and removed the bonniebot account names in the earlier post.
seems to me there's more going on in the background than what appears on the front end. some higher up obviously tasked the Moles to kill the nacent rumours that were eeking out from the concerned residents who ignorantly thought they might share their concerns on the community forum website. and it got worse. those pesky users added more and more posts on the topic and each and every one was quickly murdered before the whole damn story was revealed.
so, before all the effluence was laid to rest i thought i'd question the dirty little moles about their policies. it, of course, never made the light of day.
i don't envy your task of wrangling us humans into corners of discussions that align with your corporate dictats for a saleable happy happy friendly community discourse. the number of intellectually distanced administrative interventions (i count 6 so far) doesn't seem to have quelled the urgency of the issue you feel overly consumed to stop.
perhaps, should the clouds of thought control part and your humanity prevail, the office you all work for might lead your actions to considering some modicum of support for the people you are ruling over. has that discussion been broached? do the higher ups realize that their users have legitimate grievancies that beg for airing? is your only response kill or be killed?
i'd hate to think that i've been right about the corporate us and them division has creeped into the Lindens who i used to hold in great esteem. i may be older than you but i remember a time when we, the community you serve, would share the same virtual space. is it too late for the dream of a community ecosystem to involve communally desired goals without our fundamental basis in life being quashed by the heavy handed contravention of our estranged "leaders"?
who are you? where do you stand? with who?
is it time to publish the internal guidelines of the Lindens/Moles?
the "issue" of daring to allow the forum to act as a communal sounding board has been finally put to rest. should you wander through the posts "after the slaughter" of free speech you might think there was no spirit left in the remaining attempts at use.
not a good look Linden Lab. shame on you.
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