Glad to have you here. :D

Thanks! I'm quite excited about our community's future here as well. I think that the fact that a lot of folks are here with a similarly optimistic attitude helps too - because really it's our community's spirit that makes any place like this great.

You're absolutely right that there is the issue of propagandists or marketers, the issue of disinformation and misinformation. Our community is somewhat unique in this respect because of things like Operation Earnest Voice, and the projects like those which Cass Sunstein advocates for. I don't know if it's something that conspiracy sites will always have to deal with - I'm not a prophet - and it is something that they currently are challenged by once a certain level of traffic/attention begins to hit them.

I believe there is cause to be optimistic about the ability of the community to adapt and handle these sorts of disruptive influences. I believe that with the cultivation of effective rules and community guidelines, an emphasis on sorting information and requiring supporting evidence, a focus on community engagement and active participation, courtesy and respect, and education about the kinds of behaviors and habits that disruptive people employ, our community can be strengthened against such things - whether they are paid to disrupt, do it for casual amusement, or do is out of a sense of righteous duty.

I think too that having a culture that is proud of itself and has just cause to feel that way, having high morale, will help to strengthen against such things.

Strengthening the community against these disruptive elements is one of the three foundational goals I've set for myself as a moderator here. The other two being effective information organization and a culture of participation/engagement. They all sort of feed into each other. I think that with time and energy put into them we'll come up with some novel strategies. :)

Bonus rambling - feel free to ignore it!

So because I have a bad habit of writing really long things instead of being concise, here are some ideas I have currently, which I hope will be the first of many such strategies for resolving this challenge:

• encourage courtesy and respect - discourage flaming, personal attacks, trolling, bigotry

• encourage critical thinking and demanding sources for claims, encourage dissent and discussion

• generally study the writings on these sorts of disruptive strategies and actively educate the community about them

• be vigilant about not letting people cry shill at the drop of a hat, as that permits caricatures of our community to flourish where someone is called a shill simply for disagreeing.

• Focus on actions and behaviors, not unbridled paranoia. In my case, I was under suspicion of being an infiltrator as a moderator. I asked to be judged by my actions - if they are beneficial to the health of the community then so long as I am not doing some subtle harm it doesn't matter where my paycheck comes from. I could very well be a bad guy, but so long as the community is empowered to keep an eye on me and keep me in check, then it probably does not matter.

• Vigilance is needed to keep an eye out for disruptive behavior, and communication about these sorts of things should happen regularly. That's part of the reason why I made /v/conspiracymeta .

tl;dr: Yes, I think things can be done to deter it and reduce the harm it causes. I have some ideas and will be working toward them. : ]

I'm glad you approve! I hope you'll stick around. : ]

What is your take on Zionism?

Thanks. I'm glad you approve. : ]

Meta discussion is not restricted on /v/conspiracy . /v/conspiracymeta is not censorship, it's an optional tool for aggregating meta discussions for easier access.

I've been thinking that the rule about racism ought to be reworded to be less ambiguous. I took a quick glance at your profile where you state that you're antisemitic. You're welcome to hold whatever beliefs or opinions you prefer. We have decided as a community that we don't want racism or bigotry on this subverse, so any comments that mock people for their race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc. or that attack a group like that in aggregate, etc. are not wanted here.

I know there is the Jewish conspiracy theory, and that there are many who subscribe to the idea that Jewish people are all inherently evil and trying to rule the world. I do not personally agree with this, and I recognize that it's a conspiracy theory that may tie in to other conspiracies discussed here. So long as discussion on these sorts of conspiracy theories is phrased as objectively as possible, viewed in a sort of academic matter, then they may be ok... but it's a thin line to walk.

Critical commentary about Israel the country is fine. Critical commentary about the USA the country is fine. Attacking or mocking someone for being Israeli or being American or Swedish or anything else is not ok. Attacking someone for being a political leader of a country is probably fine. I'm not sure if this paints a clear enough picture or not.

If you want to express something that you think might be racist but aren't sure, and it's really really important to you, you could message a moderator and ask if they'd be willing to look it over first. Or you're welcome to create your own subverse specifically for discussing race-related conspiracy theories, or create a totally unmoderated conspiracy discussion subverse. If you do, let us know so that it could be considered by the community for a link in the sidebar.

The flat earth stuff is such obvious disinfo, pissing in the well. I can't believe it got any traction whatsoever, but it does expose just how powerful the shills have become.

Thanks! I hope you remember to take everything posted here (and anywhere else, but maybe especially here) with a grain of salt. Look for evidence and reliable sources. Remember limited hangouts and disinformation are a real thing, so remain skeptical.

Ditto. I used that script that overwrites all your comments, then changed my password to random numbers and letters so I can't be tempted back. Reddit is gonna have to be an example to the internet that we do not tolerate censorship.

Deleted mine two days ago. Welcome!

Happy to have you here. :D

I hope you guys keep it a good subverse. It's nice to see you're taking the communities ideas and wishes seriously.

I agree :)

Or is it a genuine interest in seeing to it that rule #2 effectively forbids discussion of THE conspiracy.

Thank you. It really means a lot to hear that. : ]

I'll continue to do what I can to contribute - and I'll continue to work on improving my teamwork skills, I know they have been somewhat lacking.