I agree that we need open places for discussion… no holds barred. My concern is that a disproportionately huge part of the Web 2.0 is like that and dominated by a tiny, vocal, often nasty, anonymous lot.

Reminds me of towns in the Wild West before the farmers and families arrived in sufficient numbers.

I raised the issue because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how engaged people are with their neighbors through Front Porch Forum while keeping these online conversations remarkably civil and constructive… even when getting into divisive issues. I’m thrilled to have an online space like this in our community when many others lean heavily toward the the “wild west” model.

As it happens, I dislike cats profoundly (because I don’t like finding their mess in my garden, especially when my kids were young; and I quite like having birds in the neighbourhood). I happen to think people who own cats are antisocial. But I would take no exception to the remark you quote.

Indeed, if I was sitting in a pub and someone nearby made this remark, I’d probably try to engage them in what I hope would be a healthy discussion. So I guess my point is that in our concerns for moderation (a better term than ‘supervision’, I suggest) and our aversion to potential conflict, we risk stifling diversity of opinion, and that would be disastrous (and I’m sure we agree about that!)

best

kevin