The word “community” goes a long way in answering that question imo.
If we look to the mods take care of everything, we’re a group of content consumers, not a community.
And then we have to deal with the community collectively adopting shitty or evil ideas and enforcing them, shutting down victims or anyone who opposes them. So who checks the community? Who protects the individual?
Does the individual need such protection?
Am I supposed to be spoon-fed only those ideas that some nameless, faceless entity deems appropriate for me to receive? Do I need someone to hold my hand and guide me around the fediverse, like a toddler in a grocery store?
If a community collectively adopts shitty or evil ideas, why would I want to continue to associate with that community? Why would I not simply leave that particular community, and focus instead on the dozens of others of which I am already a member?
Who better to protect the individual than the individual themself?
Exactly!
I left Reddit because I felt it was toxic and I really didn’t like the direction the platform was going. If a community here on Lemmy goes bad, I can leave for another. It’s not hard.
Moderation, IMO, should largely focus on removing trolls and reminding people to be civil. That’s really about it. It’s not their job to police a community, it’s merely their job to respond to consistent complaints from users. I.e. it’s your job to report people and posts, and mods should only step in if there are multiple complaints for the same thing.
