I have many times seen much "sturm und drang" in moderated forums of highly intelligent individuals, and I am not referring to Usenet here, not even moderated Usenet. In general, Usenet was and probably still is a jungle. (Internet newbies may not even be aware of Usenet. It really is/was the wild west of the 'net.) Personalities erupt in the most difficult and surprising ways sometimes, and moderators can easily burn out from the stress of attempting to maintain a fair posture. Then, there is also the very real potential for a really twisted individual to crop up. I've seen faked deaths of a user take whole forums for a whirl. Very ugly.

I hold the Clipmarks folks in high regard for develo...

I have many times seen much "sturm und drang" in moderated forums of highly intelligent individuals, and I am not referring to Usenet here, not even moderated Usenet. In general, Usenet was and probably still is a jungle. (Internet newbies may not even be aware of Usenet. It really is/was the wild west of the 'net.) Personalities erupt in the most difficult and surprising ways sometimes, and moderators can easily burn out from the stress of attempting to maintain a fair posture. Then, there is also the very real potential for a really twisted individual to crop up. I've seen faked deaths of a user take whole forums for a whirl. Very ugly.

I hold the Clipmarks folks in high regard for developing a very interesting and useful service, something very different from the others of the ilk which seem to attempt the same. I haven't spent much time to speak of reading the blog for CM, but my spidey sense says this: Moderation of the space might be very desirable in the short run, but I can't help but think that it could throttle the growth of user acceptance if users come to perceive it to be the social playground of the developers; something biased to their POV. (Great point on that one, REAL.) It would be very difficult for that to be avoided, I fear. Are you in fact developing a software tool, or is it a social space which your efforts are aimed at? I think focus is critical. There's nothing wrong with the social agenda perspective, if you are willing to forgo the potential loss of users who are potentially opposed to your POV.

I can't help but wonder, as I think of this, if you plan to market this tool in a manner not unlike a Bulletin Board system for private or dedicated use by individual interest groups, say clipmarks for asian tuner car fans on a tuner car site.

Rambling after a busy bar shift. Time to call it a night.