One of the things I like about this forum is the free spirited nature of it. Yes mods step in if things get out of hand, but largely things are allowed for the most part to at least explore the edges. I think it just mainly comes down to learning how to have diplomatic and civil conversations without getting overly emotional. Forums in genera can be difficult places to get a point across, it’s easy for things to get misconstrued. But I like Elektronauts, it’s my defacto online board, even though I don’t have any gear at the mo it’s still daily bread for me. But I like that it can still be a meme bin and place to make jokes and in general what I like is the broadness of conversation here, yes up to chin stroking muse but also all the way down to the gutter
In the past I often thought of the moderation here as being a bit heavy-handed, but if you’ve been around a while and seen how quickly some threads can devolve (especially when they become even slightly politically-heated), you’ll probably understand the need for it, in order to keep things from going to shit. And part of it is a bit pre-emptive, because by now the mods are tuned into the triggers and shifting sands. Sometimes I’ve felt they’ve fallen the wrong side of the line on that, but by its nature it’s not going to be perfect
If you’re not on here too often you won’t notice how often these cleanups happen, and you’ll arrive at what might seem like a little forum utopia. But a fair bit of work has been happening to keep it that way, and for some people the first they know about the strong moderation is the annoyance of having something they’ve written removed for some reason. But there is a bigger picture
To also give ourselves a bit of credit, I feel that to some extent the people who’ve been around a while do moderate ourselves pretty well (most of the time 
) by simply not engaging with unhelpful comments. People generally stop picking fights if there are no takers. Newer arrivals can take a while to lose the spikey shell you might need on other forums
TLDR: This place isn’t quite the utopia it seems, but it’s only as nice as it is IMO because of strong moderation
I also want to praise this forum and the work moderators do (actively, passively) here especially on topics unrelated to Elektron devices. I too have stayed around even if it’s been a year since I sold my Syntakt. For comparison, I didn’t stick a second around MPC or NI forums after selling related gear.
To me the Play+ discussion has served as a wake up call. It’s not about this or that device, this or that company. It’s about how I want to spend my time, attention, and words during my day, in my life. What kind of “information” I want to feed my brain with or avoid. I won’t judge people who behave those ways for a piece of music gear, but I won’t spend my time or nerve with them.
Practicing my own advice, I have muted some topics and I’ll think twice before commenting in a discussion here. I wasn’t going to say anything about that discussion going so badly but since there is a topic exactly about this… (thank you @anokah for opening it).
Also, if you are interested in how lack of gender diversity may affect this kind of events, I wrote this somewhere else yesterday.
Disclaimer: I’m a volunteer moderator at Polyend’s Backstage and I have no loyalty for any brand, buying and selling as part of my hobbyist fun. I’m convinced Elektronauts wouldn’t be the reference that it is without its volunteer moderators.
well it is difficult of course. That is what is understood as moderation changed over time (internet is not new to most). I remember days when moderators actually took part in discussions and therefore tend to read before judging. Nowadays there might be much more to moderate which leads to fall back to administration and just use the flags and act on them. Which cuts actuall discussion short, also sadly different opinions which are of value as well. I guess this will be cut short again with some flag.
that weren’t fightn’ words, that were just a letter I
This is the internet in general. No matter what the subject, there will always be toxicity and personal attacks. Even knitting forums have it.
As for Benn, it’s terrible that he gets threats. However it’s not surprising considering every idiot has access to the internet. There is no way to stop it, but we can as a community speak up against it like you are doing now.
Mods should not be the only ones taking action, we all can share the responsibility to keep each other in check.
In fairness the topic here about the Polyend Play did not have anyone threatening Benn. It was discussed and became toxic towards Benn though.
As for YouTubers, I feel it is YouTube’s responsibility to support creators who are facing though times. Some education on how to deal with it from their side would go a long way.
In Dutch we have a saying: “high trees catch a lot of wind”
Like you, I’ve been posting here for years and I generally agree. But I will admit that things have been better over the past 2/3 years on the whole. There was just a period prior to that which was quite jarring in terms of moderation in my opinion.
As for the whole Benn thing - he made a rod for his own back really but got to say that some of the shit that’s gone down is pure school playground stuff. Likewise with the Play+ announcement in general. You even see it with the Elektron silver edition thread which was just as bad with negativity directed at those who dared to scoff/criticse. Reminded me of folk greeting over who was better - Nintendo or Sega, 30 years ago…
I used to think my work was full of shit when peddling various “how to work together better” stuff but the hours spent discussion how we can all be better if we have “adult to adult” conversations has rung very true when considering a handful of threads on the forum!
Sometimes there seems to be an misconception that moderators do not allow criticism or negative feelings and that those who have different opinions are censored.
But this is not what the moderation is about: It’s about how you express your opinion and which language you choose how to express it, especially if targeted at other people directly. As English is not the primary language for a lot of elektronauts and cultural backgrounds do play a role on how language is interpreted, it’s a good thing to keep things more civil than “needed”.
This makes this forum a unique island in the overwhelming sea of people-bashing what is the internet today.
I hope it will stay like this for a long time! 
Thank you wholeheartidly for all the kind words.
This “trend” is in fact a reaction.
When someone finds something not good, they tend to talk about it endlessly.
Not everyone: some people can take a step up, clearly say the bad and the good, @loopop like. There are people here that manage to do this, it’s real good. It’s analysis, relatively objective, makes the place better. And you won’t even see this as a “negative comment”. Not sure it even qualifies as an opinion, often.
In the other hand, I’ve seen people taking some kind of pleasure to show some negativity and coming back to it again and again.
It’s kind of trolling, except the person does this in more or less in good faith.
When they are singled out, they play the victim, and we have soon a large off-topic discussion where liberty of expression is sometimes referred to in a way or another.
When you have a critical mass of “dislikers” it can become borderline harrasment. It’s not cool for the other users, not good for the sanity of the people that take part to a flame war aka polarized debate
but also can be very wrong when a person is the target of such a movement/mob.
Granted, I’ve been a culprit with Uli B.
Now I just mute every B thread, try to stay away from the subject.
What I can say will mostly be my opinion, not fact.
So yeah, we don’t need negative opinions here I think. I mean, inflammatory sentences.
Constructive criticism, yes.
But dragging this place down by kind of trolling, no, please no.
We have seen this so many times, hence the reaction to negativity.
Unless it’s a thread meant for it, I’d say. And people don’t forget their humor.
@rtme gets it in 2 sentences (thx dear):
As a fellow c***t, this hits home. As Lennon said, Things are getting better, but the exorcist is a series, not a one off film.
I was just thinking about this the other day… Whatever Elektron spends maintaining this forum, it’s worth it in soft power, just having the company name attached to it.
Seriously, this is the best gear enthusiast / electronic music production community on the internet. Sure, it’s not perfect, and it’s not like places such as KVR are a complete toxic disaster. But the contrast is honestly stark.
I first discovered Elektronauts before I had any Elektron gear, and only even vaguely knew of the company. I was quickly taken aback by how respectful everyone seemed to be, how people could ask “dumb questions” and yet others would post good-faith, thoughtful responses. I was so used to seeing forums where tearing down was the default, and here it was building up.
I think my first posts here were in an Ableton thread or something, but the community ethos drew me in. A couple of years later, not only am I the happy owner of some Elektron gear, but I’m happy to be able to shoot the breeze with a fun crowd of smart, thoughtful synth nerds.
I also appreciate.
In value. I appreciate in value.
I might’ve missed that, but could you link/quote where was Benn doxed, harassed or whatever? there was a ‘shill’, which is an academically correct definition, and that’s about it.
the forum is fine, the mods (in my own experience) keep the steam under control (flagging system works), and the Polyend thread discussed events and ideas first and foremost, not people.
I appreciate the work the mods do to make this a nice place, and the degree of weirdness and off topicness from the regulars. Otherwise I wouldn’t stick around.
Benn was not doxed or threatened here. I’ve been quite active in the thread and although it at times became a bit harsh, I felt like most users were fine and did their best to let out their frustration in a reasonable and constructive way.
Most heat came from frustrated users that got replies like “cars, fridges and phones also get upgraded each year” or “you don’t have to upgrade, move on”. Which although true, such answers lack empathy and thus the person that is frustrated feels less heard and then becomes more vocal.
Just a simple “I understand where you’re coming from” before making a point goes a long way in establishing healthy and positive communication. I sometimes catch myself forgetting this, but try to apply where I can.
In general I don’t find Elektronauts toxic at all. It has its moments, but I prefer it over being in an echo chamber where discussion is avoided.
Perhaps it’s also a cultural and social climate from which we are all from. Like how your parents engaged with each other when you were small influences how you engage with your partner.
In general I very much enjoy Elektronauts for its enthusiasm and sharp commentary when needed. Also for always being on top of the news and the meme threads held alive by @shigginpit
I might be wrong, but this community feels more European in its tone of voice to me than other places. Which as a European I find very pleasant because US tone of voice communities and myself don’t really workout.
There are obviously also things that I don’t like (YouTubers that only post when they have a new video out) that occur in every community, but the mute button works really well.
As a US user, this is one of the reasons I love this place. It’s nice to see other cultural perspectives than mine being represented as a plurality, rather than a minority. It’s also quite nice to be in an online space where I actually recognize usernames and remember kind of who I’m interacting with - it really helps the sense of community. I know that some long time users have expressed the sentiment that this place has changed for the worse over the last few years (partially attributing that to a bunch of newer users like myself joining), but this is actually my favorite space on the internet.
And the mods are definitely a big part of why it’s so good. Seriously, y’all do an incredible job.
what a great write up pal. that’s exactly how I feel about it too, on every point.
ps: going slightly off topic maybe, but what’s the “US tone of voice” for you?