Hello, fellow Steem-Os. Today I would like to talk about "digital space," and setting boundaries therein.
I recently posted a debate that was held on my YouTube channel, Voluntary Japan, regarding the safety of vaccines and the moral legitimacy (or lack thereof) of state-mandated vaccination.
Those of you that already are familiar with my blog can probably safely assume my general position in the debate. I argued in the negative, defending the position that vaccines/current vaccination practices are NOT SAFE and that vaccines can never be legitimately forced on individuals, from a moral standpoint.
All this notwithstanding, at least three fellow Steemians misunderstood my position (not a big deal or a problem), reading only the headline: Vaccine Debate: VACCINES ARE SAFE AND PEOPLE ARE MORALLY OBLIGATED TO TAKE THEM, and construing said headline to mean that I am "pro-vaccine." These individuals are, like myself, opposed to the corruption in the medical industry and wish to expose the fraud and child abuse that are happening in the name of "vaccination."
Unfortunately, these individuals also emphatically voiced their disagreement (totally fine and acceptable, of course), and then proceeded to spam the comment thread (like, really, incessantly saying I am "in bed" with vaccine manufacturers on other users' unrelated comments, and calling these users my "cronies"), and making false claims about myself and my followers (this spamming is not fine, in my personal opinion). One of these users also flagged the post.
The point of this post is not the safety of vaccines, or agreement and disagreement, but how to deal with serial spammers. Is the only recourse to digital annoyances a flag? The "mute" option doesn't really keep these individuals from the digital space of the comment thread on my post.
As I don't find mere disagreement a valid reason to flag someone, and as I have tried numerous times now to set the record straight, I am left wondering about the merit of an open platform where digital space is basically a free-for-all and the only recourse after a dialogue attempting to rectify the situation is a downvote (flag). Actually, I am not opposed to this system. I like it. I am left wondering, though, if a block option would also benefit the platform.
What do you think? Would an option to block other users (not just mute them) from commenting on one's posts be beneficial to the free and open nature, and overall success, of the platform, or would it be a detriment?
Please let me know what you think. You can view the spammed (in my opinion) post here.
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)