I've read with interest your diary and since my reply is somewhat extended I've decided to post it below.
For the casual reader I'll note that you and I have been in frequent disagreement about site rules and policy dating back to the issue of 1 dairy a day. On the other hand, they are what they are and I abide by them in your house always.
At least the ones that are written down.
The primary problem with this site is so much of what old timey users like me consider the rulz are buried in obscure and hard to find comments (I'll complain about the pathetic search engine later) and are frequently contradicted by other obscure and hard to find comments that may or may not represent site policy depending on who they are from or the context around them.
Leadership must come from you or your designated representatives. It must be explicit and fair and transparent and easily referenced.
And it must be enforced equally.
Let us indeed take for example hide rating. You and I both know that it's not to be used for disagreement and in actual fact is ineffective at best for any purposes except hiding offensive material and highlighting the poster for review. It has the additional effect of eroding a member's mojo, but I'm not opposed to the concept of having the community of Trusted Users police it's own ranks.
It is high time however to stop pretending banishments are anything but Administrative since there simply aren't enough not to grant each instance an individual review.
My Modest Proposal
In fact, it's the actions of those 'Trusted' Users who act in packs convinced that some how, some way their 'Trolls' can suppress opinions and drive users away that are the source of so many complaints.
I doubt very much that it's possible to educate this enough, so I'm suggesting a solution in software.
Unlimited Hide Rates!
Hide rate for disagreement! Go for it folks! Burn out your eye balls every time anyone says something wrong on the Intertubz! Organize all you like to publicly shun people! Bust your mouse clicking on the round buttons, as many times as you like, in every diary!
4:1 hides a comment. It erodes the mojo of the recipient. It draws you both to the attention of the Administration.
It can't possibly ban members.
I'm on the record publicly for private debate by a committee of Administrators because even at my sites it's not a decision I take lightly or want to make alone. I've found that many people have a reluctance to be part of a redundancy board and their wishes should be respected.
I'm in favor, actually, of a considerable amount of penalties for rule breaking and envy your control over rating privileges. Abuse them and lose them would be my suggestion though, since they would now be merely symbolic, who really cares anyway except in terms of annoyance?
I'm also on the record favoring 'temporary' punishments, but Persian Chess boards grow quickly.
I have other proposals, but they're even more modest.
Update:
Here is that table everyone wants to see with year over year comparisons of the last 5 years using jotter's statistics for diaries, active users (diary, diary recommend, or comment) and new users.
Sample week is last week Sunday to Saturday with equivalent weeks from the other years.
If you are not seeing at best stagnation since 2007 we are not looking at the same numbers-
2011 2010
Date Diaries Active New Date Diaries Active New
Su 14 207 2972 78 15 154 2904 238
Mo 15 287 3890 96 16 211 3410 284
Tu 16 252 3541 81 17 211 3331 266
We 17 249 3492 54 18 201 3465 175
Th 18 263 3532 108 19 211 3686 75
Fr 19 270 3361 85 20 179 3049 61
Sa 20 153 2464 77 21 142 2606 46
1681 23252 579 1309 22451 1145
2009 2008
Date Diaries Active New Date Diaries Active New
Su 16 297 4048 113 17 269 4408 8
Mo 17 398 5094 126 18 407 5248 123
Tu 18 392 5455 136 19 434 6028 133
We 19 377 5222 116 20 508 5566 170
Th 20 334 5160 115 21 519 5543 135
Fr 21 330 4945 101 22 527 5570 120
Sa 22 236 3709 68 23 400 5292 84
2364 33633 775 3064 37655 773
2007
Date Diaries Active New
Su 19 217 2940 139
Mo 20 238 3324 165
Tu 21 259 3742 148
We 22 339 3825 112
Th 23 281 3306 105
Fr 24 281 3334 100
Sa 25 192 2673 79
1807 23144 848