

Can the Wonks Beat the Trolls on Government Sites? - curej
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/can-the-wonks-beat-the-trolls-on-government-sites/?src=twr

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tptacek
I'm again not sure what the win is with the government running sites like
this, versus, you know, making sure the Internet keeps running so that private
citizens can set up their own sites.

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cosinepi
Participatory democracry perhaps? What if sites like these became the
democracry? What if your vote on sites like these actually decided policy
rather than simply informing your representatives about how you think? Then
the government itself becomes an unnecessary middle man and the algorithm
becomes the government.

 _"It may not sound like a revolution if government officials simply listen
more to members of the public, but it’s not really that revolutionary if the
opinions are then ignored by the bureaucrats. Ms. Noveck is clear that none of
her efforts is meant to create a sort of direct democracy.

There is a reason you want people with expertise working in the jobs we have,
she said. But she said that the new online tools will nonetheless put pressure
on officials to take public opinion into account."_

I don't see why we should stop short of direct democracy? If the technology
allows it, why not?

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embeddedradical
direct democracy = mob rule. if we had direct democracy in the united states,
sept 12th: we would have nuked someone. if iraq had direct democracy after the
american invasion, surely, a good part of the population would have been
killed.

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firebug
Because of the digital divide, people with easy access to the internet and the
proper education to use it are also unequally represented in an e-democracy.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-democracy>

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TallGuyShort
There's a hundred threads that have made me think this - but may I take a post
to thank both PG and all the members of this site for successfully creating
the environment we have here at HN. We very rarely have arguments that are not
handled rationally and maturely. As that article states - that is a very
difficult feat, and one of great value.

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cosinepi
It's a work in progress.

A voting system is extremely effective in preventing trolling here but only
because PG put time into instilling the principles he wanted in the community
through constant repetition, like training a dog. That required a lot of time
on his part initially. Now imagine multiplying that by, say, 30 small sites
that you are administering. So, I think it's not that the problem has been
solved. PG may need to step in from time to time if the community 'forgets'
the principles he started it with - such as when there is a big influx of new
users.

