Disclaimer: I'm new here. What do I know.

I've been missing a particular user who stopped talking a couple weeks ago. She (I think) requested a feature to make bad comments less visible, people didn't like it, and they piled on. These are people who probably pat themselves on the back for being the heart of the site. The user they shouted down didn't rage-quit. She just stopped talking, and it's a shame. Then I saw a similar group of users shout down two other good users who dared suggest that people who send death threats on the Internet may give up the expectation of anonymity. One of the people who was piled on rage-quit, and another has stopped talking.

But I'm not really interested in joining Hubski's chit-chat club. If I want to nurture friendships, I want those people to be able to pick me up at my local airport. I am here to look at interesting content. I do read the comments, and I think Hubski's moderation is original enough that it may turn out to be what I need to read Internet comments without despairing for humankind. It's a shame that some commenters here would rather get really aggressive over minute disagreements than just hush someone and move on.