Hello users of Hexbear, we wanted to inform you that we are going to be locking the_dunk_tank and dredge_tank communities. We have created two new communities /c/gossip and /c/counterpropaganda to serve a similar but clearly distinct purpose than the dunk/dredge tanks.
Not only is the dunk tank a term that has racist origins, but also many posts there were almost no effort and often times requiring later edits to show how they weren’t reactionary, not useful with regard to developing rhetoric and furthering dialectical analysis of that which we dunk upon.
To that end, we wish posts of reactionaries to be placed in [email protected] along with an accompanying explanation (as simple or complex as desired) with the intent of countering the reactionary propaganda in the post body, as of now comments are not subject to the same rhetorical rigor rule.
For the posts that are not "low-hanging fruit’ of notable people we ask that you use [email protected] .
These changes are mainly part of a continued effort to remove the racist and misogynistic elements from our community and grow.
Any moderators of the dunk tank or dredge tank that want to be a mod in the new communities let me know.
Any users with questions or comments please use this post, this change was made at the behest of the entire Hexbear mod and admin team. We will be looking for more moderators in an organized volunteer drive shortly, if you wish to submit an application you may send it to me via hexbear or matrix direct messages.
Use this post as a place for discussion to these changes. We will keep things as they are for 2 weeks and then reflect on the feedback, including this post: https://hexbear.net/post/3858346
As a personal addendum I am sorry if the closing of the tanks these changes removes a beloved space on the site and if you want to suggest a community to replace them you may do so at [email protected] or submit a mod application to take a more active role in shaping the site.
Sitewide or community changes come from proposals put forth from the mod team, discussed, and voted on by the mod team.
Any users wanting to suggest a community to replace the tanks, may do so at [email protected] current discussion is here https://hexbear.net/post/3858346 or submit a mod application to take a more active role in shaping the site.
You may also consider using [email protected] as a substitute for dunk/dredge tank posts as well
The mod statement can be found here: https://hexbear.net/comment/5613033
Application
What is your Hexbear username? Do you have any preferred pronouns? What are your thoughts on capitalism? What are your thoughts on imperialism? What are your thoughts on trans rights? What are your thoughts on racial justice? What do think about current and previous protests around the world? What are your thoughts on Veganism and Animal Liberation? Do you have any experience with other leftist online communities? What did those experiences teach you? What is your approach to moderation, and how do you work with teams? How do you deal with online drama and people who try to start things for the sake of it? What current comms would you be interested in moderating? Do you have any ideas for community engagement? What is your general time availability? (Time zone, amounts, common browsing times, etc)
You know, you’re right. Having a space where, for once, you can be the smarmy asshole, is good. When you get outside these spaces and into the more reactionary places, that’s turned on its head, but when you’re talking to normal people, dunking can be an effective way to communicate, and it can make them consider your perspective because of how sharp your retorts are and how confident they sound, which is precisely how the inverse reinforces anti-left sentiment.
When someone is talking about the “homeless problem” and you can confidently say “Yeah, we should just liquidate them all into biomatter I guess, right?” it short-circuits the conversation. If you were to go on some long-winded explanation about the nature of privet property and it’s consequences, you open yourself up to debate, and in a group, where you can’t spend the time to “look up the facts” you’ll just lose every time, and “looking up the facts” makes you look like someone who “can’t just let it go”.
What I’m saying is, and what you’re saying is, The Dredge Tank is the Wet Stone that sharpens the Rhetorical Knife.
That is part of it, but another part of it is that by engaging with something on an intellectual level you are signalling that it is on some level intellectual. Doing that with stupid shit will have adverse effects.
and it’s still remembered to this day, precisely because it takes Bennys stupid argument as seriously as it deserves to be taken.
Consider all the people who debate Ben Shapiro fucking up, whereas H. Bomber Guy does a 2 second gag
Oh yeah, I understand. The Dredge Tank offered a space to develop that reflex. If all you have are intellectual responses to dog shit opinions, you’ll be stuck in debate lord hell for your whole life. The best part about reading The Dredge Tank was seeing just how funny, sharp, pointed, or rage filled peoples reactions were. The names of those subs, the basketball roots of Dunk Tank specifically, and Dredge (which is just a good word) really drove home how little respect the posted reactionary takes deserved.