Reposting a comment I made yesterday: I can't help but feel like the splinter subs are a bad idea. In AA, when a group starts fracturing and people want to start a new group because of difficult personalities, they have a saying: all you need is a resentment and a coffee pot...

We need to work through some unregulated rules here and really have a thread that gets a TRUE consensus of this sub. If we let "the tards & trolls" have THIS much power, wtf will happen when SHTF? We should UNITE in our common beliefs and respectfully disagree about smaller details. Otherwise, we are subverted so, so easily.

And wtf does conspiratacy or however you spell it even fucking mean?!

So important conversations are taking place elsewhere because people are butthurt? No thanks.

I generally agree w much you share, fly, but not this. If we can't be civil here based on size (& troll brigades), we're doing the newcomers a great disservice.

Hey, I'm the second mod over at /r/conspiratocracy and I wanted to offer my perspective on how this sub can serve as a compliment to /r/conspiracy.

/r/conspiracy has proven to be a great place to share information with other people who already think, let's say for instance, that 9/11 was an inside job. I am going to continue participating here to engage in these kinds of discussions because this is where I first learned so much about all of this.

At the same time, we have to recognize that there are many people out there who do not agree with us about many things. While talking amongst ourselves is important, it is also important to talk with people who are not yet convinced of the things we think are important to know.

Since the subreddit has been created, there has been much respectful discussion about a wide variety of subjects. Think about it this way: if engaging with people in /r/conspiratocracy leads some users of /r/conspiratard to change their mind about 9/11 truth, won't that be a good thing? And if our hypotheses and theories are exposed to healthy skepticism, won't that be a good thing?

There is much to be gained from subscribing to this subreddit and I hope some more people here join us there.

I for one will give it a go. I appreciate this respectful approach and, as long as /r/conspiratocracy is allegiant to the facts (and not the Official Facts), then I'm all for seeing what gets posted up there. If I end up in a quagmire of debating hardcore debunkers with their blinders on, then I'll dump the sub.

Unfortunately it's become that to some degree. I am no longer a moderator and not sure how it's going to end up.

I'm going to write more extensively about this soon. Look for something in /r/conspiracy in the next week or so.

Conspiracy has an uphill battle as it stands so I'm certainly not interested in any attempt to undermine it any further. The conspiratards know they were caught so I believe this new sub is just another rally point for them so they may continue their efforts. It may appear pristine but it's just a white wash for now.

It was announced on conspiratard at least 3 days ago so you may have a point.

I announced it here as well- but it didn't do as well in the voting. I have also announced it on a handful of other conspiracy related subreddits. /r/conspiratard is so far the only subreddit that was very interested in /r/conspiratocracy. That doesn't always have to be the case. Flytape is not from ctard and despite his fringe views on the holocaust- he has been very respectful in his discussions- so he is welcome in /r/conspiratocracy. All we ask is that people have respect for each other (most of the sidebar guidelines are variations on that theme). If respect can be had- any viewpoint (no matter how controversial) is welcome.

Guys, I am ashamed to see /u/solidwhetstone's comment in negative territory here. Maybe some of y'all don't like him or feel mad about the moderator thing, but, he stepped down honourably and so far, from what I can see, this post here is respectful. So what if some of you disagree with the splinter sub? We're supposed to be above downvoting just for spite.

I'm subscribed to see what happens. And I can tell you that, yes, if it fills up with the same /r/conspiritard bullshit then yes, the sub will epic-fail. BUT, I personally see this as a huge opportunity to engage those guys on a foundation of respectful rules. IMHO, this is what has always been lacking. They do drive-bys of our sub here all the time. But if they're willing to handcuff themselves from all their ad hominem arguments and insults, well, heck, if what WE over here believe to be the truth can't stand on that foundation, then, hell, we didn't have a leg to stand on anyway, if that's the case. I personally welcome the idea.

Great! I'll check it out. It was probably bot downvoted here within 5 minutes of posting.

This is not an attempt to undermine /r/conspiracy. I am a regular here and the second moderator at /r/conspiratocracy. This subreddit is designed as a meeting ground for skeptics and theorists from all across reddit and I've written more about some of the good that can come from it here.

Well that's certainly noble but why can't that happen in conspiracy?

It can and i think this subreddit will help facilitate that. Our userbase consists of subscribers to /r/conspiracy, /r/conspiratard, and many other subreddits of course. If engaging skeptics in this subreddit leads to some people changing their mind about important conspiracies like 9/11, then they'll find their way here too.

I just got banned 3 minutes ago from r/conspiratocracy. Do you know why?

I replied to you via PM with the reason. I don't know if you want me airing your dirty laundry, so I'll leave it up to you if you want to share with the community why.

hey i just wanted to add to this conversation that the ban was reverted. we are very open to negotiating these kinds of things and want to be as flexible as possible.

It's an interesting sub and I'm happy to subscribe, and occasionally post but I do echo that it's not ideal to have splinter groups overrunning the discussion.

That said, good luck with it.

So, just got done checking it out, reading posts and comments. My take on it is that it's a conspiratard hatching ground (recruiting ground). Or better yet, /r/ConspiratardRebooted. I can see the tagline now, "Check out the fresh, new face of Conspiratard! Conspiratocracy! Yeah! So refreshing!"

Just because there are a number of ctard members doesn't mean if is run by them. It is a neutral ground and we hope more /r/conspiracy members will respectfully participate in the discussions to balance them out.

It's not a matter of who "runs" it. My observations are that the tone of the sub leans to a "moderately skeptic" mindset with conspiratard undertones. I saw some thinly veiled disrespect towards conspiracy believers as well. Not a place I'll be visiting in the future.

http://m.imgur.com/5vjzISG The comments why I was banned. Only 2 different comment chains, and one was where I told someone to "kiss my insecure ass". Kinda bullshit when one dude is calling sources and theories "retarded" or saying that people who subscribe to certain theories are "insecure" in their "basements", and I'm the one who gets banned. Sucks for solid cuz his subreddit is about to become a little more circle jerky than before (though before it was a little less circlejerky than r/conspiratard, because the most obvious shill/disinfo posts were dv'd).

Anyway, I wish I could say I wanted to be unbanned at this point but I really don't trust solidwhetstone to be at all partial or fair in his moderation.

can you link me to the 'retarded' comment i am personally enforcing a strict removal policy re: that kind of language and will give this person a warning if that has not already been done. if there are repeat offenses of this magnitude a ban is in order.

i sympathize with where you're coming from but would like to suggest that fighting fire with fire may not be the best response. toning down the rhetoric will make your argument more persuasive

all bans are subject to negotiation, and we intend to be very flexible w/r/t unbanning people. We are also going to work hard to ensure that respectful discourse is maintained in the subreddit and will be enforcing a very strict policy against trolling.

please keep in mind that solidwhetstone is not the only moderator in this subreddit. we will work together to make decisions about things like this. i am coming at this from a perspective that does not see the kinds of generalizations you are referencing as respectful. we will talk about whether or not these kinds of generalizations are worthy of warnings/bans.

It's in the comment chain I was banned for.

I removed the slur comments in question and issued a warning to that user as well as the person who made the generalization about conspiracy theorists.

We really appreciate your initial support for our subreddit and hope that you'd consider coming back if you're also willing to tone it down a little.

In the future, if someone makes these kinds of generalizations or uses these kinds of slurs instead of responding like this, downvote the comment, report it to the mod team, and ignore. We'll take care of it.

Come post and comment. It's easier to change people's mind in there than r/conspiratard. And it's also a good place to back up your claims with facts and put people on the spot without them being able to go off on circlejerk comments about how edgy we are and whatnot. It's a good idea, and there good discussion going on.

EDIT: jk I've been banned.

I wonder why

Yea, how vulgar of me. I'm very ashamed of myself /s. Actually, I told sws exactly how I thought about the decision, and how calling out an obvious douchebag, who's comparing the entirety of r/conspiracy to retards and insecure basement dwellers, should not be against the rules. If he wants to ban me for a mild put down seen on PG movies when others are generalizing an entire group of thinkers and using terms demeaning the mentally disabled, then he can have his subreddit.

Sorry, not sorry.

Yea, how vulgar of me. I'm very ashamed of myself /s. Actually, I told sws exactly how I thought about the decision, and how calling out an obvious douchebag, who's comparing the entirety of r/conspiracy to retards and insecure basement dwellers, should not be against the rules. If he wants to ban me for a mild put down seen on PG movies when others are generalizing an entire group of thinkers and using terms demeaning the mentally disabled, then he can have his subreddit.

Sorry, not sorry.

So important conversations are taking place elsewhere because people are butthurt? No thanks.

I replied to you via PM with the reason. I don't know if you want me airing your dirty laundry, so I'll leave it up to you if you want to share with the community why.

I removed the slur comments in question and issued a warning to that user as well as the person who made the generalization about conspiracy theorists.

We really appreciate your initial support for our subreddit and hope that you'd consider coming back if you're also willing to tone it down a little.

In the future, if someone makes these kinds of generalizations or uses these kinds of slurs instead of responding like this, downvote the comment, report it to the mod team, and ignore. We'll take care of it.