> Even in that one topic (tech, software, engineering) we still have these bizarre status quo opinions that you dare not buck.

This line might exist, but I have yet to see it. I have seen users on this forum advocate for eugenics and murdering CEOs, and not obliquely.

> But that was earlier than 2016. Might have to go back to 2012ish. Pre-2010 even.

It was around the time they banned /r/TheDonald. There was still a ton of good discussion going on there until that point. The new app also brought in a ton of casual users who didn’t fit with the site’s historical demographic of cerebral young men.

> Doubtful. Then instead of bans, it's just a bunch of weirdo tiny forums that have all de-federated from each other.

That’s the problem I haven’t figured out. In theory you could have a branching moderation authority that could be forked if the moderator starts abusing their power, but the issue is that most users won’t notice anything is wrong until years after the problem arises.

> No technical solution can exist to fix that sort of a problem.

Would you not consider a shift back to personal networking a technical solution to the problem?