The plain and simple of it is that I’m not a good moderator. I have no idea what I’m doing. I wanted a community where people could post conservative stuff without it getting overwhelmed by lefty stuff, and then you could have discussions/arguments in the comment section. Bring to light stories that wouldn’t normally be seen on lemmy. Since that didn’t exist on lemmy, I had to do it myself.
Right now, there’s a lot of toxicity, some straight up telling people to kill themselves. My whole moderation policy was basically “So long as it isn’t a straight up slur, you could comment it”.
You’d think it’d be simple, just ban those who do that. Well, what about those who defend baby murder? I know lefties genuinely believe it isn’t, but I do. How do you tell what is horrible shit, when lefties act like horror movie monsters?
What about those who I’m like 90% sure are arguing in bad faith? I want to encourage discussions and arguments, and if I’m wrong, what then?
Me doing keyword-based moderating was a bad idea, but I am at a loss of how to do better, without breaking what this sub was supposed to be about.
I need ideas.
How should I moderate this community?
Ban bad faith arguments.
I’m conservative and I support abortion. Most conservatives do in private. The recent votes have shown that to be true.
You can’t push your view of conservatism as the gospel. Conservatives are a diverse group with many different ideas but typically have an overarching goal.
Ban slurs. People screaming Nazi of fascism unless it’s truly either don’t add anything and distract from other connectives participating.
Ask yourself, is the person wanting to have a conversation and do they just want to shrill at people.