On SlashDot.org

[ttraub]

By Terry Traub, February 8, 2002

SlashDot.org is a technical news and discussion forum frequented by some of the brightest and most interesting personalities in the technical world. It has its share of critics but there is really no alternative for the kind of news, discussions, and archived information which they accumulate by the day. Slashdot's primary focus is open software, especially the Linux operating system and related software, but they love to talk about the latest new handheld gadgets, gaming machines, MP3 players, nanotechnology, etc.

I like SlashDot and I try to read it every day. I do have some reservations about the hubris of many of its posters, who seem more interested in promoting their own ideas than in posing questions and exchanging ideas with others.

Unfortunately, SlashDot encourages this headstrong approach to a certain extent by its use of a moderation system which gives most active logged in users a chance every once in a while to moderate, or rate, others' postings. This system generally allows the more insightful and interesting posts to percolate to the top while the trolls, nonsense postings, and teenage prank messages are hidden (in other words, only visible if you really want to see them).

While this system is a reasonable enough approach to maintaining some sanity on the discussion boards, it also seems to encourage people to make "insightful" comments rather than simply pose questions or otherwise make meaningful contributions to a discussion.

I would like to see a little more humility on the SlashDot boards and a little less of the uninspiring and uninformative screaming matches which seem to take over so many of the topics. I will note that the occasional level-headed remark is the one which earns my moderator points, and the screamers will earn a penalty from me.