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What would it be like if TV Tropes operated as a direct democracy?

edited 2012-09-20 05:36:08 in Webspace
Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

I just had a curious thought-experiment.  This would never happen in real life because it would be way problematic to implement for just an entertainment website, but...y'know, what if.


What would TV Tropes be like if:



  • all site change proposals--from renames and cuts to creations/guttings of namespaces to things like changing "Anime & Manga" to "Manga & Anime" to the creation of special effort councils such as P5--are voted up/down by users, with proposals passing by simple (1/2) majority vote of those who vote (except for rules changes, which require a 3/4 majority vote)

  • all users with accounts at least two weeks (or some other reasonable timeframe) old and in good standing have one vote each


Assume that:



  • there is site infrastructure to tally and track all policy proposals and votes by each user.

  • the TVT administration is okay with this.

«13

Comments

  • Most people are not good at running a website.  Therefore, they shouldn't be allowed to run a website.

  • >site gets renamed into hentaitropes, nothing but loli rape for miles around


    >SA thread users get vindicated by history


    >rise in sales of fedoras


    >JimProfit still bitches about moderators, even on a site that is run by its userbase

  • Definitely not gay.

    I can totally see most of the creepy pedo-stuff being returned.


    On the upside, TVT would probably become an even bigger spergfest.

  • It would be run entirely by anime fans.



    Don't look at me like that. You /know/ it to be true.
  • They're somethin' else.

    Yeah, nonsense character myopia specific names and creepy shit about underage women's fashion in japan would be all the rage.

  • Give us fire! Give us ruin! Give us our glory!

    Yeah, nonsense character myopia specific names and creepy shit about underage women's fashion in japan would be all the rage.


    Yes, this.


    Though at the very least "No Negativity" might not have happened.


  • creepy



    stopped reading there

  • edited 2012-09-20 10:12:19
    Has friends besides tanks now

    Hmm. Well, as often as I've ragged on TVTropes before, I don't honestly believe that the majority is really that creepy themselves--my problem was with the few terrible people that were merely enabled to keep being terrible, sometimes even by the administration--but at the very least, anime tropes would dominate, by far. That's about as far as I can comment, though, and it's basically true anyway, isn't it?

  • edited 2012-09-20 10:35:28
    Definitely not gay.

    Well the more optimistic take would be that the majority realize that the bunch of creepers are creepers and they kick them out.


    Anime tropes would still dominate regardless of the outcome.



    my problem was with the few terrible people that were merely enabled to keep being terrible, sometimes even by the administration



    That's why I left the site. People seem to forget that the first victims of the creepy tropers were the other tropers who just wanted to hang, and the administration was too blind to take care of that.

  • Psk, it's not the kinks or tastes in media that are creepy, it's the attitude towards them. Choosing between a person who faps to but keeps it under wraps plus treats it as just a fantasy and someone who watches something relatively unproblematic but emulates the show and secretly aspires to live what is portrayed(say, being like Joe from Friends), I'd rather have the former as a bro.


    Well, not that it matters much, seeing as IJBM is pretty much free of that type of person...


    7bRbg.jpg


    Hahaha, just kidding. I'm such a Deadpan Snarker with my Fedora of Asskicking, Cool Shades, Badass Longcoat and Katanas Are Just Better.

  • All I an really think of is that anime would have even more of a presence and the no negativity rule might not exist. 

  • Kichigai birthday!!
    ^^ It's Joey you fucking casual, kill you'reself
  • Definitely not gay.

    a person who faps to but keeps it under wraps plus treats it as just a fantasy 



    is not the type of person who goes about talking about it in public to people.


    And since we aren't psychic, it's pretty safe to assume that the creepers I'm referring to are not those kinds of people.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Really, I don't think a change in administration could do much for the site. Its basic premise is, IMO, fundamentally very flawed, especially in relation to how people perceive it.
  • edited 2012-09-20 11:52:26
    Definitely not gay.

    Its basic premise is, IMO, fundamentally very flawed



    I disagree. I think that the idea of tropes isn't flawed in itself: it sure is hella fun, anyways. It's just that people seem to think it's a writing resource.



    Really, I don't think a change in administration could do much for the site.



    It would at least eliminate the stupid antinegativity thing.



    Hahaha, just kidding. I'm such a Deadpan Snarker with my Fedora of Asskicking, Cool Shades, Badass Longcoat and Katanas Are Just Better.



    Well, I'm a Hot Blooded Determinator with Anime Hair and a BFG who can cast Anti Magic and use a Kamehame Hadoken.

  • edited 2012-09-20 11:53:36
    You can change. You can.

    ^ That and also, I feel that the big issue is simply that TvT attracted lots of obtuse people who are too set on their ways and on the way of things being the way they like them, which leads to why the whole site was bullshit on the first place.



    I disagree. I think that the idea of tropes isn't flawed in itself: it sure is hella fun, anyways. It's just that people seem to think it's a writing resource.



    The big thing is that in TvT, everything is eventually a trope. Hell, they have one for "Blue eyes", IIRC.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    > it sure is hella fun, anyways. It's just that people seem to think it's a writing resource



    True, but that's why I said "especially in relation to how people perceive it." It can never be any more than a little time waster, but that doesn't seem to be what people want out of it.



    >stupid antinegativity thing.



    I have no objection to a no negativity rule. What bothers me is that there's also a no gushing rule, but attempts to enforce it tend to be vetoed by the administration.
  • edited 2012-09-20 12:00:19
    Definitely not gay.

    TvT attracted lots of obtuse people who are too set on their ways and on the way of things being the way they like them, which leads to why the whole site was bullshit on the first place.



    Come on, it's far from the first or the only site to do this. Almost every "nerd" site has this problem. It's just that the administration was completely, hilariously incompetent and ill-equipped to handle these people.



    What bothers me is that there's also a no gushing rule, but attempts to enforce it tend to be vetoed by the administration.



    I think it's because Eddie wants everything to be positive. Sad, I know.



    The big thing is that in TvT, everything is eventually a trope.



    That's the thing. TVT is at its core a cataloging service for just about everything. That's its intended purpose. One of the biggest problems was that people saw it as more than that. 

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    I do think an administrative change would make the site less bad, but nothing short of a fundamental change in the human thought process could make it good. IMO, it really just needs to die, or at least fade into obscurity.
  • Definitely not gay.

    but nothing short of a fundamental change in the human thought process could make it good. 



    You are right in that TVT ends up producing a lot of bad writers, but you can't expect every troper to be the perfect example of what a troper is supposed to be. 



    it really just needs to die, or at least fade into obscurity.



    That's...a rather harsh way of putting it.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    but you can't expect every troper to be the perfect example of what a troper is supposed to be. 



    A troper is "supposed to be" a guy who makes and reads lists. That's all the site is.



    That's...a rather harsh way of putting it.



    The site has no function except to list stuff, and even that will never be used right because nobody wants to use it right.

  • edited 2012-09-20 12:11:46
    Definitely not gay.

    The site has no function except to list stuff


    A troper is "supposed to be" a guy who makes and reads lists. That's all the site is.



    Yeah.


    That's...it.


    That's all tropers are supposed to be.


    But that's the thing.


    It's a fun, if meaningless, hobby. One of numerous, in fact. Its premise is rather simple, yes, but the beauty is in the mindless nerdy fun it provides. I mean it was started by a buncha Buffy fans for gods sake.



    and even that will never be used right because nobody wants to use it right.



    There are, in fact, people dedicated to making tropes and maintaining existing tropes: it's just that said people are overshadowed by the creepers and morons.


    The beauty in the site is that it's a place where a game about a little kid fighting a magical Arab/pig demon and saving a magical ninja/pirate princess can have all of the themes and characters examined, even if said examination is really general and inaccurate. It's fun.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    The thing is, though, the people who just maintain the lists aren't anywhere near the majority of the userbase, and they never will be, so they will never have any control over the site.


    Heck, under this democratic system, most of them would probably get banned.

  • Definitely not gay.

    The thing is, though, the people who just maintain the lists aren't anywhere near the majority of the userbase, and they never will be, so they will never have any control over the site.



    Yeah, that's true. The few dedicated tropers are overshadowed and outnumbered by the BDSM guro loli fetishist/anarchist tropers. 


    Hell, I actually agree with you in that in its present state TVT will wither. I'm just saying that I don't find this happy at all.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    the BDSM guro loli fetishist/anarchist tropers. 



    Honestly, there aren't as many of them as there are people who think the site is an analysis tool or, worse, part of the creative process.



    I'm just saying that I don't find this happy at all.



    Fair enough.

  • if u do convins fashist akwaint hiz faec w pavment neway jus 2 b sur

    anarchist tropers ex-tropers



    Not every single one of us is Savage Heathen, you know. 

  • Definitely not gay.
    Not every single one of us is Savage Heathen, you know. 

    I just posted the most over-the-top thing that came to my mind. 



    there are people who think the site is an analysis tool or, worse, part of the creative process.



    Yeah, they're also a big problem. One even a non-sucky administration can't fix.


    I still don't think there's a single problem to TVT's demise. As with most things, there were probably a host of things that could've been fixed had the situation and people been different (and, as you mentioned, some that couldn't).


    But given a sane administration, TVT wouldn't be experiencing the steady decline it is experiencing now. Sure, there'd still be tropers who just don't get the premise and tropers who are utter buffoons like SH or blaze bullet, but a good administration would have found a way to lessen the former and ban the majority of the latter.

  • if u do convins fashist akwaint hiz faec w pavment neway jus 2 b sur

    I just posted the most over-the-top thing that came to my mind.



    It's not really that over-the-top, extreme and outlandish political system that many think it to be. While I'm not exactly a full-blown anarchist (more of a libertarian Marxist), it's actually a fairly appealing political system once you put aside your prejudices. While I don't have any interest in this thread, I don't wish to derail it, and will just recommend you to read something by Bakunin or Chomsky.

  • Definitely not gay.

    I didn't intend to offend anyone, sorry.

  • if u do convins fashist akwaint hiz faec w pavment neway jus 2 b sur

    Don't worry, all is forgiven.

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