Well spoken talk, but I thought it meandered a bit and Patrick had trouble narrowing his focus across the speech.
Not to say there weren't things to be taken away from the talk, and that it is a complex topic to explore in such a short amount of time, but the conclusion felt especially weak. I'd love it hateful rhetoric was taken down across the board throughout the internet, but while he introduced and showed examples of ways that sites and outlets are trying to change behavior (Disabling comments, facebook comments) offering little more then a personal vow and reminder to check our own behavior going forward seemed to be somewhat of a squandered opportunity to present a new or different idea.
Whether it be Reddit's Karma Voting system (which has numerous flaws as well), heavily moderated forums (ala Neogaf), or maybe some kind of time based scenario that limits comments based on time/community status etc. Creating a system that is both inclusive to all, while trying to hide or eliminate those adding nothing to the conversation is an incredibly difficult proposition. I suppose that being responsible for our own behavior is the first step, but beyond a restating of the Golden Rule, I wish something a bit more substantive would have come out of the talk.
Giving a big speech like that is no joke, and Patrick did a great job presenting his material while speaking clearly and concisely (even if I thought it was a bit light).
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