The problem with open forums like Plastic, Free Republic, Slashdot, etc. (and blogs like this one) is that, although everybody has an equal opportunity to be heard, not everybody is equally worth hearing. And, yes, I do realize that some might place me in the “not worth being heard” category. Many of the forums have moderation schemes, where participants rate other users’ comments. Those schemes work to an extent, but all too often the ratings are based on whether the moderator agrees with the post rather than on how relevant or informative the post is. Slashdot instituted a system of meta-moderation, where people moderate the moderation. I guess it’s a process of successive refinement.
I do like that everybody gets a chance to say his piece. I just wish there was a reasonably easy way to separate the signal from the noise.