Most online communities start democratic but eventually become oligarchies. Reddit has upvotes but moderators have absolute power. Discord servers are basically digital dictatorships.

I've been wondering: Is it possible to build a truly democratic tech community?

Key challenges: - How do you prevent mob rule while maintaining democracy? - Should all voices be equal, or should expertise/contribution matter? - How do you handle spam/quality without authoritarian moderation?

Curious if anyone has seen successful examples, or has thoughts on what the key principles should be.

(Context: Currently researching governance models for a developer platform)