[Seattle-editorial] creepy comments aimed at authors

[BFGalbraith]

Kirsten Anderberg,

I understand your concerns here.  They are extremely
valid.  There is no question that the negetive
comments made about you online, in my mind at least,
on our site, should be deleted.

At the editorial meeting before last, 4 people showed
up.  At the last editorial meeting, 3 people showed
up.  I know of one tech person that is keeping the
website going on the "backside" of the site.  That
means there's about 4 people who are even involved in
the conversation about keeping the Seattle IMC website
going.

It's not like we have 3 people times 40 hours per week
to deal with this situation.  It's more like 3 times 3
or four hours a week to deal with this.  It's largely
a question of weather or not we even have the manpower
to wage a successful battle against the trolls, even
just a small one to protect your latest article.


Let me ask you all, editorial team, what alternatives
do we have for dealing with this level of abuse to our
best writers?


> It is creepy how most of my articles just attract
> personal slams on me,
> about who I am, or am perceived to be, and so rarely
> is intelligent
> comment made with respect to the subject of my
> articles on your site. On
> INfoshop, I get torn apart at times, but the
> comments are predominantly
> intelligent and cause for further discussion on the
> topic matter. The
> discussion on infoshop re the rogue midwifery was
> brilliant yet the
> comment on Seattle IMC is just stupid and mean. Same
> with the harassment
> order one. Useless comments. Flaming. Mean shit.
> Condescending useless
> shit. I loved how someone from the PDA tried to
> cloud the issues on
> comments re free speech at market issue, calling me
> "high drama" yet
> avoiding the entire issue which is - WHERE IS THE
> FREE SPEECH SPOT?!
> 
> I seem to be attracting alot of the same character
> bashing rather than
> actual comments to the articles on Portland IMC too.
> 
> I am not sure what to make of that. Part of me wants
> to not put my
> articles in a place where they attract a bunch of
> mud slinging re my
> personal character, i.e., a site or place where
> either comments are
> moderated, or the article is simply presented, and
> there is no place for
> comments. Not that I do not enjoy open discussion of
> the topics I write
> about, but more often than not it seems I am
> attracting people who are
> just putting me down and arguing over things that
> have nothing to do with
> the articles...but instead my personal integrity,
> when the people talking
> do not even know me. 
> 
> Is there any way to clean up the nasty commenting
> that is irrelevant and
> regularly occuring? Or is that considered hierarchal
> authoritarian
> behavior to desire to control mudslinging on
> authors? Simply because I
> have the nerve to write my opinions down and publish
> them, I am not sure
> that means my entire life is an open book, I am
> allowed no privacy, and I
> now wear a target sign for any asshole who wants to
> swing at me online! I
> think this rampant bad comment behavior is lowering
> the integrity of indy
> media, honestly. If the comments are predominantly,
> "pee-you, you stink"
> type crap, what is the purpose of comments? It is
> too laborious to
> babysit idiots with keyboards. And if it means no
> good writers will apply
> to IMC's, hmm...it is something to think about.
> 
> I am still trying to figure out how much privacy I
> should be allowed as a
> writer. I have suffered some GROSS invasions of
> privacy in the last month
> online. We writers have some human and civil rights
> too... It may be of
> worth for the seattle imc editorial group to talk
> about ways to make the
> site more friendly to writers who write for you...I
> know you are already
> trying to work with writers to make things better,
> and are overwhelmed
> with not enough help, and I applaud your efforts,
> and know it is a
> thankless dirty job, but I have to also say I am
> pretty much feeling like
> when I am posted on Seattle IMC, it often makes me a
> target for dirty
> comments on me personally, and abuse...and nothing
> more. It makes me sad,
> honestly. I know you are trying, as I said. I am
> trying too...but I am so
> sick of people shitting all over me online just for
> trying to write and
> publish a decent article...I guess maybe if you do
> not want that, you go
> to other places to publish, like the Weekly or P-I.
> I like the idea of
> indy media, but not the constant and random abuse
> the writers seem to
> have to endure from the reader comments...On
> Infoshop, the abusive shit
> is taken off pretty quickly by Chuck himself so I am
> learning to live
> with the comments on Infoshop, cuz if they are just
> belittling me, and
> not addressing the article, he takes the comment off
> and takes no shit
> about it, so the comments do not end up living with
> the article in
> archives. 
> 
> But the shit slung at me that is irrelevant to the
> articles on Portland
> and Seattle imc's tend to stay on the articles, and
> it is really hard to
> keep wanting to send out an article, knowing I am
> just going to get
> called names, and talked about personally for them.
> Again, I do not mind
> intelligent discussion on the topics, but that is
> not the bulk of IMC
> comments to my articles of late, the bulk are stupid
> comments, rude
> comments, mean comments...I cannot tell if this got
> exponentially worse
> after Ben stole my site and I had to say something,
> maybe this is him or
> his cronies following me and belittling me every
> article I write on
> imc's, but it seems pretty icky, since all I am
> trying to do is give good
> article content, not proclaim to be a saint, a
> teacher, or anything, just
> a story teller and writer! Yet I am feeling lessa nd
> less inspired to
> write for IMC's as a posting is a target sign around
> my neck in ways...
> 
> We will see how it all plays out, I am still hanging
> in here, but I am
> hesitant at best...I may just start publishing a
> monthly or biweekly zine
> with all my articles and people can ask to reprint
> them, but I will avoid
> all the shredding via comments online...
> people sending me private hatemail is different than
> hate mail being
> attached to all my articles in the comments
> sections!
> 
> Thinking outloud,
> Kirsten Anderberg


=====
-Benjamin 

"BFGalbraith"- bfgalbraith at users.sourceforge.net 
(H&S Project Manager- http://hack-and-slash.sourceforge.net)
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