Friendlysock on What Lobsters Is and Isn't Trimmed Pastebin

I’ll give some thoughts on the matter. These are all just my opinion, and with that warning out of the way I’ll skip my normal niceties in tone and wording. These thoughts are about what Lobsters is to me, what I’ve learned in general, and how I think moderation should be shaped.
What Lobsters Is

Lobsters is a wonderful discussion forum for people working in computer- and electronics-related fields to discuss ideas relevant to our industry practices and culture. It is a place to teach and learn, and a place to compare notes on how to do things.

In bullet form, Lobsters is a place:

    …to learn about new programming and engineering techniques and ideas
    …to learn about weird software and hardware hacks in the old sense of the term
    …to learn about software and hardware history
    …for professionals to compare war stories and employment information
    …for somewhat established members to show other members their cool hacks and software projects (projects != products)
    …to reflect on the philosophy and culture of engineering and programming and how that relates to our professions
    …to debate/argue with other members on any of the above and to be able to do so civilly

For me, those are the core things Lobsters is.
What Lobsters is not

The thing’s Lobsters is not is even more important.

Lobsters is not a place:

    …for advertising and shilling new products and services from non-members or new members
    …for posting things whose value derives from novelty (read: news in most forms)
    …for posting political or politically-minded articles
    …for posting things whose value derives from outrage (read: most stories of unfairness or inequality)
    …for rabble-rousing and social calls-to-action
    …for making empty comments and stupid/low-effort jokes
    …for insulting and making ad-hominem attacks against other members

Those are all things that have caused other communities to go to the dogs. HN, Reddit, Youtube comments–all are better places to get that information. News and product marketing tend to clog aggregators and disrupt things, and political stuff leads to unmoderatable echochambers.