But not surprisingly, many people are abusing, thus endangering, their new power. The idea of taking responsibility for one's words has not taken hold. It makes no sense to construct and maintain commercial websites that exclude most of humanity, or punish them when they try to join communal discussions. The Internet was never conceived as the sole preserve anyone as a the sole preserve of technologically skilled young white men. So far, it hasn't.
Communities naturally tend to exclude some people and make others feel welcome.
But the founders of this site never meant for Slashdot to be an exclusive club for programmers using a particular computer operating system. In an age where technology is increasingly becoming the dominant social, economic, cultural and political reality of our time, inclusion does matter. In the 21st Century, human beings will have to make unimaginably complex decisions about research, privacy, artificial intelligence, intellectual property issues, and more. Technology, and the variety of concerns springing from it, constitute the most pressing issues of contemporary life. Sites like Slashdot are a natural place, but these kinds of conversations are impossible here, short-circuited by angry kids often with anonymous pseuds.