On Anarchy 101 and other online anarchist communities.

Question

Hello there,

This is my first time in Anarchy 101 and I am not completely used to the system (pretty evident when you realize my title is not a proper question), but I had some questions for you.

First, how's anarchy 101 moderated? Who are the moderators? How are they decided? How horizontal is anarchy 101? (I guess having a voting system is as horizontal as you get, but I am also interested in the moderation bit!)

I am new to online anarchist communities and forums and was interested in knowing a bit more about them. I've read this two posts

http://anarchy101.org/8176/what-some-good-online-anarchist-communities-involved-with

http://anarchy101.org/2609/is-there-website-or-forums-for-anarchists

and found them really helpful, so thanks for that! But I wanted to differentiate between communities for anarchists or in which anarchists (and non-anarchist too maybe) debate about anarchism and anarchist online communities in that sense that they are organised following anarchist principles.

 

Do you know any of the second category not already listed in the posts I mentioned? They do not have to necessarily deal with anarchism but can be organised in an 'anarchic' way.

 

Thanks very much !

Answer 1

anarchy 101 is moderated by the people who started the site; i am one of them. it was not democratic in any way. it's horizontal to the extent that everyone can be voted down or up, all you have to do is register, but it's not horizontal in that the moderators have the capacity to do things that others can't do -- like delete posts, etc.

it's an interesting question--the one about what makes a project anarchist. i believe i reject that anarchist principles require everyone to have equal access to everything, but it's true that many people think that is what makes something anarchist/fair/etc.

Comments

thanks for the answer dot!

i guess access is also granted by experience and involvement - the more you get involved with a movement, the more access and influence/respect you obtain... have you felt that in your time in the forum too? I most certainly have in my experience with similar movements!

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I wouldn't really call this website a movement (or part of one), but to some extent, the more a person participates the more other's know what they bring to the discussion at hand (for better or worse). I've been participating here for a long time and I don't have any real "power" in contrast to the moderators, but then again, why would I need such on an online q&a forum?

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yea, i don't talk about movements, just circles of people and types of conversations.

it's true that sometimes with experience comes access, but sometimes with experience comes burnout and broken relationships too.

i also don't think i believe in online communities, maybe just because the word community has a heavy load to bear these days, or maybe because i'm old-fashioned. (if i can't smell a person, then they probably don't really exist. :) )

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i just wanted to comment that i like the idea that the runners of this site have of not promoting "equality" but rather lack of superiority, as in no one can actually say what anarchism "truly" is but anyone can state opinions as to what they think anarchy/anarchism means or represents symbolically. Sometimes I've gotten irritated with the restrictions of this forum (such as being obliged to talk about anarchy or anarchism, rather than the broader ideas that relate to it) but then again I'm not all that interested in running an internet forum myself at the moment, but it would be nice to be able to talk more broadly about life/existential issues with people who identify with more strongly with the type of anarchist thought discussed on this site:

PS: I have semi-successfully circumvented the rules to the extent it's supported to and responded by this community ;)

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So for those of you who do believe in the possibility of online communities, would you say there is any online community that is anarchic? I don't want to establish a rigid definition on what anarchic is, so anything that you consider fits your own definition of the word would be fine.

PS. I know the word community is loaded, but I think it's a useful word and some of its core meaning of a group with certain things in common is retained in its day to day use