Hello users of Hexbear, we wanted to inform you that we are going to be locking the_dunk_tank and dredge_tank communities. We have created two new communities /c/gossip and /c/counterpropaganda to serve a similar but clearly distinct purpose than the dunk/dredge tanks.

Not only is the dunk tank a term that has racist origins, but also many posts there were almost no effort and often times requiring later edits to show how they weren’t reactionary, not useful with regard to developing rhetoric and furthering dialectical analysis of that which we dunk upon.

To that end, we wish posts of reactionaries to be placed in !counterpropaganda@hexbear.net along with an accompanying explanation (as simple or complex as desired) with the intent of countering the reactionary propaganda in the post body, as of now comments are not subject to the same rhetorical rigor rule.

For the posts that are not "low-hanging fruit’ of notable people we ask that you use !gossip@hexbear.net .

These changes are mainly part of a continued effort to remove the racist and misogynistic elements from our community and grow.

Any moderators of the dunk tank or dredge tank that want to be a mod in the new communities let me know.

Any users with questions or comments please use this post, this change was made at the behest of the entire Hexbear mod and admin team. We will be looking for more moderators in an organized volunteer drive shortly, if you wish to submit an application you may send it to me via hexbear or matrix direct messages.

Use this post as a place for discussion to these changes. We will keep things as they are for 2 weeks and then reflect on the feedback, including this post: https://hexbear.net/post/3858346

As a personal addendum I am sorry if the closing of the tanks these changes removes a beloved space on the site and if you want to suggest a community to replace them you may do so at !commrequest@hexbear.net or submit a mod application to take a more active role in shaping the site.

Sitewide or community changes come from proposals put forth from the mod team, discussed, and voted on by the mod team.

Any users wanting to suggest a community to replace the tanks, may do so at !commrequest@hexbear.net current discussion is here https://hexbear.net/post/3858346 or submit a mod application to take a more active role in shaping the site.

You may also consider using !shitreactionariessay@lemmygrad.ml as a substitute for dunk/dredge tank posts as well

The mod statement can be found here: https://hexbear.net/comment/5613033

Application

What is your Hexbear username? Do you have any preferred pronouns? What are your thoughts on capitalism? What are your thoughts on imperialism? What are your thoughts on trans rights? What are your thoughts on racial justice? What do think about current and previous protests around the world? What are your thoughts on Veganism and Animal Liberation? Do you have any experience with other leftist online communities? What did those experiences teach you? What is your approach to moderation, and how do you work with teams? How do you deal with online drama and people who try to start things for the sake of it? What current comms would you be interested in moderating? Do you have any ideas for community engagement? What is your general time availability? (Time zone, amounts, common browsing times, etc)

    • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
      61·
      5 days ago

      there are a couple genderqueer people posting against it as well but being genderqueer does not prevent being wrong)

      You are all up and down these threads doing the lib thing of “possessing marginalized identity means you have an inherently higher developed take on things/sense of morality not having one means you dont” right up until one of us disagrees and now all of a sudden being queer doesnt let us in the special insight club

      if you have genuinely never seen the toxicity of these spaces than you should probably shut the fuck up

      lol that’s kind of toxic maybe we can rephrase that

      dunk culture on trans and vegan comms is good. i just don’t like the main comm because the things they dunk on is always inadvertently not what they claim to be

      Setting aside the obv “it’s ok when I do it” of this I do genuinely feel like to some extent you’ve read some things into some of these that may not be there. I’m sure there’s been instances where people have dunked in covert way “on not what they claim to be” but I just cannot see it as such a widespread issue it warranted more than an extra rule and a name change

    • combat_brandonism [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      41·
      5 days ago

      doubly so if you’re cis, which i cannot assume of you specifically

      you should catch a ban for the transphobia of this reply alone. pronouns are mandatory here for a reason

    • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      44·
      5 days ago

      Wow how wonderfully non-toxic. Also great to see how against dunking you are.

      You and I went thru this whole discussion, but now you’re gonna redo it from the get go because you’re still sore about it?
      Fantastic example of someone being welcoming or whatever the fuck the idea is supposed to be.

      privileged group that’s able to just coast on it for free validation

      Seems to be describing you, buddy, since you’re the person who gets away with making baseless accusations and then cry foul when you’re called out for it.

      doubly so if you’re cis

      Their pronouns are literally right there you fuck.

      So many non-cis users are also against this, but you are doing the liberal bs trick of hiding your shitty opinion behind a rhetorical shield of an imaginary queer person to make it acceptable somehow. Don’t use queer people as your shield, stand by your dumbass dipshit opinions yourself, asshole.

      Do some self-crit

    • HelluvaBottomCarter [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      33·
      5 days ago

      I’ve seen toxicity on places like reddit because reddit is a place where you’re not allowed to draw a connection between the state of the world and capitalism. You are allowed to blame it on individuals being too stupid or too poor. I’ve also seen the biggest dunk cultures in the trans and vegan communities here. And you know what? It’s good. Being poor or disenfranchised doesn’t give you license to be a bigot or a murderer. In fact, this is like the vegan struggle session where we were told that veganism for rich white people who make fun of poor indigenous peoples for basic survival.

      The toxicity thing doesn’t happen when people correctly draw conclusions that there is an organizational problem with society and while it’s not the fault of individual randos, they sure as shit don’t get to exist in a vacuum at the expense of vulnerable people.