Usenet and IRC used to be self-moderated. The mods in each group or channel would moderate their own userbase, ban people who were causing problems, step in if things were getting too heated. At a broader level net admins dealt with the spam problem system wide, coordinating in groups in the news.admin hierarchy or similar channels in IRC.
This worked fine for many years, but then the internet got big. Those volunteer moderators and administrators could no longer keep up with the flood of content. Usenet died (yes, it's still around, but it's dead as any kind of discussion forum) and IRC is a shell of its former self.
Right, which is solved by the pay to play limits. This would essentially cut the problem off immediately and it would be of benefit to everyone. If it actually cost people to "do bad stuff" (post spam, vitriol, etc), they're far less-likely to do it as the incentives drop off.
The dragon folks seem to be chasing is that Twitter should be free but perfect (which is a have your cake and eat it too problem). That will never happen and it only invites more unnecessary strife between sociopolitical and socioeconomic factions as they battle for narrative control.
Usenet and IRC used to be self-moderated. The mods in each group or channel would moderate their own userbase, ban people who were causing problems, step in if things were getting too heated. At a broader level net admins dealt with the spam problem system wide, coordinating in groups in the news.admin hierarchy or similar channels in IRC.
This worked fine for many years, but then the internet got big. Those volunteer moderators and administrators could no longer keep up with the flood of content. Usenet died (yes, it's still around, but it's dead as any kind of discussion forum) and IRC is a shell of its former self.