Mark has posted a well posed practical summary. As a member of rendo for about 15 years, I have seen several interesting trends. One of the fundamental aspects of rendo is that it is a business which has a focus on being polite and pleasant. Other sites are more wide open and tolerate a "larger" community and accept a larger cross section of people. Deviantart has a much different community of people doing different things than rendo as an example.

From my point of view, rendo tends to hold a more mature position than the ranters which show up. By not removing what the ranters say, the more adult position is proven (for my part). Censorship amplifies discontent. Patience instead does win the day.

-Kix