i guess what i'm really struggling with here is whether or not the size of a community's population is directly correlated with that community's ability to create change; or to expand in terms of culture and collective relation, rather than simply population size. the bigger neogaf gets, the more posts it can potentially receive. the more posts a thread receives directly after being created, the more likely it is that said posts will be reactionary bullshit. the more reactionary bullshit that goes unpunished, the more the entire community becomes enthralled with what is considered acceptable and what is not.
and so the culture is ingrained not by the actual will of the community, but what has been proven to be acceptable by authority in the past. look no further than the influx of gifs posted in response to a controversial post or thread depicting a moderator in the act of banning, or the similar barrage of congratulatory shallow posts in response to the banning taking place.. all rallying around some sort of omnipresent precedent that not only encourages trolling and shit posts, but continues to feed a community of posters ready and willing to perpetuate it.
