When conduct is left to be controlled by the societal pressure of the community, that societal pressure will conform to whatever the norms of the community are. If the norms of the community are ganging up on people and scapegoating them, that is the societal pressure that will control the conduct. I have seen many people, who don't conform to what some members find pleasing, not because their behavior was inappropriate, or because they were breaking the rules, but because people just found it unappealing (one example would be the poet who has been so abused by so many people), or for other reasons having more to do with esthetics than anything else, be literally hounded off the site altogether.

This is not a lack of rules or moderation. What it is, is two sets of rules - one written and acknowledged set of rules, and an invisible set of rules that are never posted or articulated, but are enforced with even more rigor than the written rules, and moderation by mob rule. This is clearly not working.

The solution to this problem is not necessarily more rules. The solution is to enforce the rules that already exist fairly and consistently. The solution is to not allow the mob run the show.