Gawker
This post is about comments. Consider that your invitation to tell me I have it all wrong. To be honest, I don't know that much about the commenting scene. I'm not above making anonymous judgments or being bored at work, I just never understand the motivation of blog commenters. Is it winning a commie? Being quoted in the New York Times public editor's column? I get that being anonymous makes people more free to revert to their Lord of The Flies side, but why is everyone always so rude? And is that rudeness destroying society?
One guy, Edward Wasserman, a professor of journalism ethics, thinks the rudeness of certain commenters detracts from the overall discussion:
The extreme license given individuals to vent, dissemble, excoriate and indulge their hates verbally, winds up destroying the expressive freedom that other people, less bold and less opinionated, need. ... The overall result is a less expansive, less robust sphere of expression &mdash and sound, worthwhile thoughts aren't shared.
If someone isn't bold enough to express his or her opinion anonymously in an online forum out of fear of meanie commenters, that person is a wimp. Sorry, it had to be said.
Wasserman goes on to say there should be rules. Even at Gawker, there are rules: the unfunny are executed. But what about major news organizations? How should they police the smarter than you, more insanely random than you, boring and bored? And frankly, are these people even worth policing/ Do most Times readers care about the vocal group of commenters?
And so, I open it up to you, the commenters. Why are you here? Why are you so nasty? What should be done with you?
Comments
No comment.
@KarenUhOh: Thread over.
Chicks. I'm unbalanced. Spanked.
@KarenUhOh: beaten to the punch.
I'm here for the free beer. Wait. What?
Because I have no vision beyond pageviews. Plug: www.485i.com
You're like the little sister who does the "I'm not touching you I'm not touching you" thing while hovering her hand an inch above your face until we finally break and smack your hand and then you go and get us in trouble with mom.
I am, of course, referencing Julia Allison posts, which creating enough anger to fuel a army of Juggalos through an entire weekend camping trip.
First!
Can we delete the rest of the comments after KarenUhOh's and just close this topic?
+ Watch video
Puns! I love puns!
I want to make this world a better place.
@Kakapo: Foreal
Holy shit. Why am I here? Existential crisis!!!!
I'm here because I'm bored at work, and my server blocks YouTube. Sorry.
because commenting here gets me laid. NO ACTUALLY REALLY.
@KimGordonsPanties: Stop lying. And you're not even funny, dude. You're here because you're an asshole who thinks he's smarter than everyone else, but isn't.
I work from home, so this is my sad, pathetic little attempt to pretend that I have some kind of virtual office, complete with all the things that entails - friends, colleagues, steady paychecks.
Oh, and where else can I type things like "Fuck" and "Anal Sex" without getting banned?
Mind if I spill the beans? More people will read comments on a popular blog than the same words written on an unknown blog.
And this place, although ever so infrequently the tiniest bit less than perfect, at least does some sort of job keeping the riff-raff out.
Speaking of which, could someone show the oilyface young man the door?
[gawker.com]
I'm here to promote truth, justice, and the American way.
Boobies.
@the supergoddess: [makes "call me" gesture with thumb and pinky]
I comment to gain the attention of the actual bloggers! HERE I AM! LOVE ME!
I want to spread my special brand of Glitter over the internet, and bitchslap bigots.
Hmm. Maybe I should sign up at Free Republic.
I, for one, am as blunt in person as I am here... but I don't think that's the issue. The whole point here is the one-liner (see above). Expansive discussion of an issue seldom happens here and when someone does go out on a limb, that is usually when the nastiness starts- rather quip than address. This problem goes beyond blogs, but the format is very conducive to it.
I'm here for the light snacks, the conversation, the casual atmosphere, the need for shelter in the Internet storm, the leptons, Open Caption, souvenir pens, Kukulkan.
@Nic Fit: We love you.
I'm here because I taped Larry Lester's butt cheeks together. I'm so nasty because my old man is like this mindless machine that I can't even relate to anymore. "Nard, you've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family....Win. Win! WIN!!!" I should be pitied.
I blog therefore I am.
Because you're always CRYING! No wait....that's why I drink.
Just let the answer be whatever you want so that there can be more posts about the Kristen Davis sex tape.
This is the first day that I've really commented in a while, and your question definitely struck me. Why the fuck am I here?
@PimpMyCouch: Ditto
I'm here to get a boyfriend. What? No good?
Balkn, where are you?
oh, and you've got it all wrong.
Because why not?
Wasserman is hopelessly lost.
"To say there should be rules, that communicants should be admonished to strive for honesty and civility and respect, is not to justify elitism. It's not even to prescribe the rules. But it's to acknowledge that rules are needed, and to kick off the process of writing them."
There will never be generally accepted rules of civility established in online forums of any kind. Each internet community has its own "house style," so to speak. As much as the Internet is connected, it is really a series of interconnected localities. Each locality speaks its own language. Trying to impose, or even ask for, general guidelines that apply to all of these different communities is a fool's errand.
We, the commenting masses, are not beholden to any sort of journalistic standards. Nor should we be. We are not journalists. We are the audience. We just happen to be a very expressive audience.
Rules are not needed, never will be needed, and cannot be written.
Because
Because as
Because as a
METABLOG
@8Millionth: OMG I am so now following oilyface. She/he could be the new NewtoJezebel.
Because as a society
1. What fiveinchtaint said.
2. N/A - I try to be civil to all.
3. I should be celebrated in song and epic poetry.
@Conbons.
Are we that nasty? I mean, somehow qualitatively nastier than, oh, the whole editorial tone of this blog?
@8Millionth: Agreed on the riffraff. For whatever reason, the commenters here, however mean sometimes, are generally pretty smart and pretty funny and pretty good at yelling at each other and then making up in the same thread. Also, there usually aren't 600 comments on a post within half a day, which means you can say something, have a reasonable chance of someone else reading it, and have a reasonable chance of seeing their reply.
Sorry! I'm so earnest today after the Obama.
Better question: why do bloggers post things like this that serve no purpose other than to incite a commenting fury, thus increasing pageviews and comment count for said blogger?
@Conbon: OMG
@Furious George: The best way to "civilize" an online community is to treat it civilly and ask for civility in return. Civility cannot be imposed; it has to be practiced, asked for, and in return, given.
@lefty: nuh uh. you call me. I don't call boys, which actually? is how all this "me getting laid via gawker" business got started in the first place. [gawker.com] (I still miss choire)
@Conbon: Yeah, that too.
@Nic Fit: Maybe, if they didn't all go away after a few months.
@Hot Tranny Mess: Mission Accomplished!
we're mad because we don't get paid to do this... but deep down, really want to be, no matter how much indifference we feign.
To gain the love and validation my mother never gave me.
@Hot Tranny Mess: Yes.
@Furious George: FUCK YOU.
@Nard38: I'm here coz this is what happens when you spill paint in the garage in the Spiegelman household.
Because I hope to someday be quoted in an article like the one written for the Times, like the way KarenUhOh was recently quoted in AM New York commenting on Spitzer. Because everyone knows the ultimate authority on any issue is a faceless internet commenter...and wikipedia.
BECAUSE LOOK WHERE IT GETS YOU.
[tips over into open grand piano, bursts into flames]
@hypocriteoath: I get paid to do this.
This is called "conversation." We do it online because we can't fucking afford to live in Manhattan anymore and most of the people we run into these days have S'mores between their ears.
I do it because it's really difficult and expensive to set up your own blog and write all your thoughts and opinions there.
Oh, it's not? Really? Bye!
I think Wasserman should stop reading "City Room."
@moff: PWNED!!!1111!!!one
Instant gratification of having my words seen in print in a public forum is my number one reason for commenting. And I'm one of those nice commenters, I think for the most part. But I'm still lookin' out for Numero Uno down here below the posts. And I've met some nice friends here and gone on to be friends with them in real life! And that's fun!!!