This old post from Anil Dash has been making the rounds again this week, and for good reason.
As it turns out, we have a way to prevent gangs of humans from acting like savage packs of animals. In fact, we’ve developed entire disciplines based around this goal over thousands of years. We just ignore most of the lessons that have been learned when we create our communities online. But, by simply learning from disciplines like urban planning, zoning regulations, crowd control, effective and humane policing, and the simple practices it takes to stage an effective public event, we can come up with a set of principles to prevent the overwhelming majority of the worst behaviors on the Internet.
— Anil Dash, If Your Website’s Full of Assholes, It’s Your Fault
It is still as true now as it was then, and given all the public abuse that’s been happening lately as a result of the MRA and GG crowd, it’s worth revisiting.