Gather-ship

I have discovered a trend here on Gather. I call it "Gather-ship" (which is basically the Gather version of censorship). While it is the right of group owners of niche groups to moderate the content submitted by Gatherites to best reflect the niche being served by the group, sometimes there are some rather zealous group owners who start to moderate previously unmoderated groups to keep out opinions that are contrary to their own world-views.

There is nothing wrong with legitimate moderation of groups. I own a few groups which I moderate with caution. For example, I've had content submitted to my Endangered Species group that was, er, somewhat out of the range of topic. As serious as the violence against Muslim women is, it is a subject that does not fit within the narrow range of such animals as the Black Rhino and the Bengal Tiger. Also, pet dog articles that are tagged "not an endangered species" do not pass muster.

Compare that to the groups I discuss in a different artlcle I've published on Gather. Since I've gone into depth there about a certain type of Gather-ship, I will go on to another Gatherite's problems with Gather-ship.

Steph B. has written an article against what she calls a "Bzz Agent" and that person's flagging her personal opinion as "inappropriate." There seems to be a personal vendetta against this article, since it keeps getting flagged by the same person, as is related in another related article.

Neither of the last two versions of Gather-ship seem to be validated--both overzealous group owners and vengeful flaggers operate as a law unto themselves. I do understand about making sure that group owners have the right to make sure that, say, an article submitted to the PETA group does not espouse the merits of which type of buckshot is best for duck hunting. That is plainily obvious, and I would support their right to prevent such articles from being published that goes against the originally intended spirit of a group.

However, blanket groups that are touted as being a place to bring together all sorts of diverse members of a population with something in common should remain open to various opinions. A group leader who, months later, has a change of heart based upon his/her own interpretation of a common reference and sends an email saying that, based upon this understanding, all future articles will have to go through that person and--if you disagree--that you are free to leave the group if you don't like the new rules smacks of mendacity.

And to flag as "inappropriate" articles that have nothing at all to do with erotic content is just plain stupid. It's like the boy who cried wolf. Pretty soon, no one is going to believe that person anymore. I know I sure wouldn't. That is as it should be, but under Gather-ship, it isn't so. Under Gather-ship, it is just fine and dandy as long as the one crying wolf pays some of the bills.

I will take a stand against inappropriate Gather-ship. As my favorite songwriter once claimed, "I'm gonna sit right down and take a stand." I sit at my computer and take stands on various topics. This is my stand on Gather-ship: Just say Woah!