The debate.org site rules should be more strictly enforced.

1) Room for improvementJust because something HAS room for improvement it doesnt mean that we have to go to absurd lengths to actually improve it...... And the areas of where DDO could improve do not relate to higher or lower enforcement of the ToS, the site would become infinitely better off if instead of more strictly enforcing the rules in the ToS it decided to cut down on the number of forfeited debates or put cap limits on how many polls someone could make in a day..... Yes DDO has room for improvement, but much of that potential lies in dealing with the clutter of crappy debates in the voting section and spam in the polls, not cutting down on bad conduct in the forums.....". I think the amount of bad behavior on DDO would be acceptable if it were on Facebook or other non-debate opinion sites sites. But because DDO is a debate site, it should be dedicated to civilized discussion rather than rants."DDO at this point is more of a discussion + socialization site than a debate site, with a large percentage of activity on the site being in the forums than actual debates.... But if we agree that DDO IS primarily a debate site, that doesnt mean that as a debate site is has to be held to a higher standard than other non-debate sites, thats just an arbitrary condition you are imposing. Nothing about debate sites requires it to have inherently higher standards than non-debate sites. "The “Weekly Stupid” characterizes specific arguments as stupid. Site rules prohibit insulting a person's arguments."I would like to offer this argument for reason as why the site rules SHOULDNT be more strictly enforced.... Even if you personally dont like the show, a lot of other people still do and prefer the show to at the very least not be banned since it is entertaining even if it is insulting at times.....“is Dann a tool or a moron?”........... Forum post, “.. you are a sleazy moron” What are you, caplox? If you were to enforce the rules so much more to the point that calling someone else a moron is a ban-worthy offence then there wouldnt be ANYONE LEFT on DDO. Some of the smartest and most intelligent people on DDO regularly call stupid opinions as 'stupid' or 'moronic', and they should have the right to also. DDO is conducted in a way where when someone's profanity does become a problem, then moderators can address these instances on a case by case instance, rather then just flat out banning the person for cursing or saying something insulting a single time..... Facts themselves can be considered insults too. If someone has a tremendous misunderstanding of economics, and someone were to say 'you have a tremendous misunderstanding of economics', that can be considered an insult even though it is true. If the site rules were to be more strictly enforced to the point that basic insults are banned, then you could actually be banning people simply for telling the truth...."A google search using “site: debate.org fvcking” produces 229 hits in the past year." Given that there are 365 days in a year, then 299 hits from last year computes to an average of literally less than 1 instance per day, which isnt even CLOSE to an amount that would warrant such an absurd raise in the enforcement of the rules..... "Similar searches show sh!t used 440 times in the past year, Which is still an average of only slightly over 1 per day...... Which again isnt nearly enough to warrant raising the enforcement of the ToS to such an absurd level." and f*ck 172 times."1) Thats actually an average of 1 instance every 2 days, which is even lower then of the other two. 2) Half of those probably belong to me, and now that ive given up cursing that number is only going to plummet. "The obvious letter-substitution profanities could be detected automatically and deleted or replaced."Only one of those words you gave is said on this site at a rate of more than 1 occurrence per day though, and that is more then reasonable enough to be deemed acceptable compared to the sleaze you see on other debate sites......"As moderation of bad language is tightened, dedicated trolls use more non-profane insults."That also sounds like evidence for why the rules shouldnt be more strictly enforced.... If you ban a certain set of bad words, then people will just jump to the next available bad word or substitute a letter to get around the curse filter and continue being insulting..... Therefore its useless to try to better the conduct seen on the forums since members can simply jump to another insulting word or use some other means of bypassing the curse filter. "more user-moderators could be recruited, and user-moderated threads could be instituted."But what is gained for such an enormous cost? If you give dozens of members the potential power to become mods then that only opens the door to having good members unfairly banned, people with mod powers can become immune to other mods, they could censor people they dont like and opinions that they dont agree with, etc..... All just so that people are a little less insulting to each other? That doesnt balance out at ALL. 2) Stricter moderation will attract and keep better usersYou know what else will attract and keep better users? Cutting down on the crap that is cluttering the debate and voting sections while reforming the polls section to cut down on spam..... And im willing to bet that good members on this site right now would much rather have some of those updates installed instead of immensely enforcing site rules to an absurd degree....."The less ranting allowed, the fewer users who rant rather than debate will be attracted to the site. "Theres no evidence that suggests that ranting on DDO attracts other ranting people to join the site. Everyone here wound up at DDO for varying reasons, and that includes good and problem ones alike. "If they are neutered by aggressive moderation, they are likely to leave more quickly"No they wouldnt, they would simply resort to spamming, which is equally as annoying as slinging insults. "There is a large potential DDO audience of high school debaters. The more ranting, the less likely that teachers will steer students to the site."There is again no evidence that teachers are not recommending the site to students because of ranting they see on DDO. "The frequency of profanity as measured by google hits has dropped in the past year. At the same time, membership and page visits on the site have grown substantially. "So then if the trend that is desired is already being achieved, then why go to such absurd lengths to try to extend this? 3. More strict moderation will 'improve' debate skills"Okay, but if so, why can't you explain the faults in the flat earth claims?"You still have the liberty to do that though, its not insult or argument only, you can more than explain the faults in the claims while still ridiculing the other sides arguments as ridiculous......"My point is that once the cop-out of dismissing arguments with an insult is not allowed, then one is left to figure out what is specifically wrong with the logic and then refuting it"Not really..... If insults are not allowed then that could just push people to give up on DDO and go somewhere else where they can more freely denounce idiotic ideas like the Earth being flat. By eliminating insulting, youre not just leaving people the option to refute the argument, youre still leaving them with the option to take the door and leave, which many people would. "the skill of efficiently defeating stupid arguments logically is valuable. It will be useful every week, perhaps every day, of one's life."But you cant force people to become more efficient in doing that, you can only give them the chance to hone their skills under their own will in an environment that isnt constricting, like what we have right NOW. The simple truth is that DDO does not gain much by outlawing insults on DDO, and at the same time it has WAAAAAY more to lose by doing so.