IMHO, the issue isn’t that Spoutible’s CEO handled a controversy poorly. We all have off weekends, new sites have growing pains, shit happens.

The bigger issue is that he seems to have a self-contradictory vision for the site, that he has not fully grappled with. 1/🧵

On one hand, he seems to view Spoutible as a community in and of itself, where users get along and share values. His Spouts are friendly and casual, and he makes an effort to personally respond to users as much as possible. On normal days, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. 2/🧵

On the other, he has been open about wanting Spoutible to be a “Twitter killer.” The site UI is clearly designed with that in mind, and most of us who made accounts there did so hoping to bail from M*sk’s sinking ship.

But Twitter has almost 400 million active users. 3/🧵

Even a fraction of that population is simply too large to maintain the “happy small town where Bouzy’s the mayor” vibe Spoutible currently has. He will have to hire more staff, including large moderation teams, and make himself less accessible for his own sanity. 4/🧵

I’m sure he knows this, intellectually, but I don’t think he has really internalized it. I think that’s why he is so frustrated by the demands for clearer moderation policies.

A small forum of friends who know and trust each other doesn’t need exacting rules. 5/🧵

Conflicts are uncommon, and dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Strict rules only get in the way. Imagine having to keep to a list of guidelines written by some internet lawyer while trying to mediate an argument between your best friends! 6/🧵

But this ad-hoc approach breaks down when a site reaches a critical mass. When the values and experiences of users become more diverse. When decisions are being made by multiple moderators, who do not personally know each other or the CEO very well. 7/🧵

I don’t think Bouzy has anything against romance novels. Just the opposite: he reacted negatively because he resents the perceived implication that he can’t be trusted to distinguish “art containing sex scenes” from “porn” without having it spelled out for him. 8/🧵

He may also see demands for clear rules as malicious attempts to create loopholes. Imagine you invited someone to a party, asked them to “be cool,” and they then asked dozens of hypothetical questions about whether XYZ behavior is “cool.” You would probably uninvite them. 9/🧵

Bouzy just wants people to be cool.

But a site aspiring to millions of users cannot run indefinitely on a “trust me, we’re friends” policy. Unless he makes some tough decisions about what kind of site he wants Spoutible to be, versions of this drama will keep popping up. END🧵

At this risk of creating a QRT ouroboros, May’s thread offers good insights on why romance authors in particular tend to have anxiety about the “relax, we’re all reasonable here” school of moderation