futurebird, chessdev, and Their Stupid Little Witch Hunt

[kardashev]

For those of you not in talk_politics, I've inadvertantly created something of a controversy about a week ago. It all started over my nickname "Irresponsible Niggerbot 9001". Seems a couple of wingnuts with too much time on their hands found my tag line to be deliberately offensive. Or ill-informed. Or insensitive. To be honest, they don't seem to be sure.

Comments

[kardashev]

I fail to see where htpcl got personal, least of all admitted it.

Please dont just throw allegations like that, and one thing that annoys me is when someone purposefully misinterpret my words, and i suppose he'd feel the same.

Well, he did get personal imho. And he misinterpreted my words first.

http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/479180.html?thread=34518988#t34518988

First, he asks me what my name means...even though he probably read the initial thread where I explained this to FB and chessy. Then, just like them he rejects out of hand any and all possible alternative meanings. Why ask if he's already made up his mind about my definition? Not only that, he pulls the same old "Well, dictionaries don't actually define words" nonsense. Seriously, this bunch will not give me the benefit of the doubt because in their definition of offensive, feelings matter more than motive or context.

Anyway, he said that before saying, "All of the above, I said not from the position of a moderator of a political community."

What did he say as a moderator? Well, he basically reiterated the whole, "I think you knew and were trolling" spiel they did. If he was being neutral by this, I am sorry for misrepresenting him.

Actually, I didn't think about it at all, if calling myself "niggerbot" would offend anybody. But why should I anyway? Why should I worry about the reactions of individuals who think that dictionaries don't list definitions of words? Why should I worry if a name that pokes fun at myself bothers strangers on the internet of all places? This isn't the real world, as futurebird tried to tell me in a PM. This is a place where people download porn and order cheap crap on e-bay. Porn and a place to buy our shoes.

In fact, I've been thinking...why should I bother talking with such illogical people at all? You're a nice guy and I know you want to end the drama. And since I don't see much point in debating anything with overly-emotional retards who can't use a dictionary and want a super-sanitized internet, I've got a solution. I'm leaving TP. Nothing personal against you. You've done the best that can possibly be done but once Eternal September starts to enter a forum not even the best mods can stop it.

Thanks for inviting me to your community a few months ago. It was fun. But right now, if people want TP to be as "safe" as these others do, then the same people who freak over a self-lampooning nickname are going to truly shit bricks when a real hot button issue comes up.

[abomvubuso]

I think you're reading too much into his words. As a non-mod, he gave you his opinion. And it was that the 3rd definition is too obscure, and when taken by face value, chances are it'll call outrage.

As a mod, he simply told you he's not going to interfere any further into this matter. I'm not sure which part of his wording you chose to interpret as being personal and to get offended about, but as much as i know him, he doesnt give a damn about personal things about anybody, so you shouldnt feel like being a special exception.

Now, as for me, well... I've already explained. I do give a damn about every single personal relation around myself. Different approaches, same goals, ya know :)

Of course, leaving TP is your choice. It saddens me because you've been a good contributor, but ultimately its your choice and i can do nothing about it. But be informed that wherever you go, you'll still keep finding the same kind of people, same attitudes and same approaches to similar things. The only thing with which we're trying to make TP different from other places, is the approach of the staff, and hopefully, this resulting in a slightly better quality of the discourse. So, yeah. You're welcome to try your luck elsewhere. I'll be missing you enormously. Actually, i already am :(

About real hot button issues - make them come. I promise i'll do my best to cope with that, as i've always done.

I'll be frank. I hope one day in the near future you'll re-think your decision. Until then, enjoy LJ, and most importantly: remember to not take the internet too seriously. After all, its just a place where people download porn and buy shoes :D

[kardashev]

I admit I might've been a little harsh with hctpl. But he's not the reason I'm leaving anyway. The buzz I keep hearing is "omg a fuckton of people are complaining about this." I'm not sure how many are complaining but I know this much...if I made a post about the word "nigger" and educated people on Definition 3 and how it's still being used in the old media what do you think would happen? chessdev and FB would scream bloody murder until the mods forcibly deleted the post and banned me. If that didn't happen, they'd leave and try to get as many others to go with them as they could. Especially FB. She seems to have made getting white people to agree with her about such things some kind of mission. in stupid_free, one of the people who even agreed with her still asked her if she was "new" and then told her that she's probably not going to influence actual white racists to suddenly see the light. She also told me in a PM that the internet is...I'm not joking either...a real place.

One of these days btw, she's going to scream loud enough that real internet trolls will notice. They'll easily get her "dox", (i.e. personal information)which is already publically available if one knows where to look. Then it will be harassing phone calls with pizzas and gay strippers being sent to her apartment at all hours. She's that clueless about protecting herself online.

I'm not going to make such a post and let you deal with the fallout from it.

But yeah, I feel a lot pressure to be "safe" there now. "Safe" equates to "boring", imho. I could stay and fight the pressure. But why? I'm not like futurebird. The internet is just a time waster for me. I post in TP for no other reason than that. I can still go into places like shitty_advice, be my unsafe self, and have a little fun. That place is so "unsafe" that you can even make rape jokes and people will just laugh along with you. If TP's userbase wants "safe" that badly, they can have it.

As for wherever I go, if I'm going to post controvercial political pieces I might as well post them on a place like HubPages.com. If the writing grabs enough people I can actually get paid for it. I think my first piece there might even be about the dreaded "n-word" and all the magical thinking a lot of people seem to have about it lol.

It saddens me because you've been a good contributor, but ultimately its your choice and i can do nothing about it.

Thanks, Kol. But really, if I cut loose in your community I'll ultimately cause you more grief than amusement. Besides, TP existed before I came along. It will be what it is whether I'm there or not.

I'll be missing you enormously. Actually, i already am :(

lol! Don't get all sad on me there, guy. I'm not leaving LJ. You'll still see things like my crappy artwork on this journal. Maybe you'll even see more of it. For every door that closes, another one opens.

[abomvubuso]

I actually think you SHOULD have done a post about the 3rd definition of the word, and see what comes out of it. Some may call blasphemy what i'm saying now, but yeah - i say go for it. Then make your conclusions, not before.

I admit i'd have read such a post with great interest. I'm sure you could shape it and present it in a manner that would facilitate constructive debate on the matter, rather than personal flaming.

Then you may have your evidence for your theory about people, or god forbid, you may get disproven! There's one way to learn about that.

You may never know unless you do it ;)

Damn, i'm such a tease...

Its a trace of my salesman instincts :D

The internet is just a time waster for me

Ah. Now we're getting closer to the real reason why you're leaving. You're just bored or pissed with the internet at large. Or with political conversations in more particular. Now thats something i could understand. We all need our periods of hiatus - like Ghoststrider and Kinvore. Eventually, if you decide to come back and see whats going on around, i'd be glad.

As for you "cutting loose" (whatever that means) causing me grief, you still havent learned that more work does NOT cause me grief but rather happiness, being the workaholic that i am? Hey, wake up! You're talking to Kollynn Rasmussen! :D

But you're right, after all. TP is not the entire LJ, and LJ is not the entire Internet, and Internet =/= life :)

[kardashev]

Then you may have your evidence for your theory about people, or god forbid, you may get disproven! There's one way to learn about that.

Sure. I might even do it on both HubPages and TP. But the catch is...Hubpages ToS seems to indicate they don't like their users doing that sort of thing. They don't seem to mind if other people link to and copy a Hub. In fact, they seem to hope it happens. but mirroring your own Hub someplace else is regarded as cheating.

Now we're getting closer to the real reason why you're leaving. You're just bored or pissed with the internet at large.

Not so much bored or pissed. I've been on the internet since about 1997 and I lost my "this is serious business" illusions about it in less than a year. I started internet trolling at that point. I did that off and on until last year. I quit that because in that length of time, I've pulled nearly every trolling stunt I felt comfortable with and wrang it dry of every last bit of novelty. During that long stint of trolling, I've seen literally every bizarre, attention-whoring, perverted, retarded, and even illegal behavior from my targets you can imagine. Do you think a guy would go on the internet and proclaim that he likes to have sex with balloons? What about an old blind man who asks people to make videos of themselves pooping in the bathroom? How about a guy who draws porn of Ms. Pac-Man? These are all real people and I've seen even worse.

Al Gore acted like the internet would be this wonderful thing when it started up. lol instead it became the biggest joke of the modern age in the minds of myself and a lot of others. There is an entire internet subculture built around the idea that the internet is just a time-waster. Not everybody in said culture is a troll. But if I went onto a site full of them, calling myself "Niggerbot" wouldn't earn me wrath. It'd draw a yawn, even from the black folks there. XD

Hmm, maybe I'll write more about the things I've seen on the internet from this point of view in this journal.

[mahnmut]

Sure, finding a reason and excuse to leave is quite easy. "Htpcl was personal OMG! I'm leaving!"

Just say you're pissed and you'd be understood better. Stating an obscure incident that you broadly interpret as a personal attack on you, while the guy was going out of his way to try find a peaceful solution to all that - well that's disingenuous. I'm saying it as a friend, because I feel you wouldn't take it seriously when said by a non-friend.

[kardashev]

"Htpcl was personal OMG! I'm leaving!"

If it was just him, I wouldn't be leaving. I've already heard Kol's thoughts on the matter and I think I might have been a little harsh on him.

And it's not me being pissed either. It's me thinking, "Wow. Is it worth my time to stay on an internet forum where people make a big deal about a nickname?"

Seriously, it's the internet, dude. A time waster. And there are plenty more entertaining time wasters than arguing over a nickname. TP was fun but like the rest of the internet it's not...as they say...serious business. It's not worth either fighting for a nickname or changing it.

Not only that, but there are places now that I can get paid to discourse on politics or anything else I want to if the writing grabs enough people. HubPages is one such place. I think there are some others if I'm not mistaken. Why not go there to talk about issues?

[mahnmut]

"where people make a big deal about a nickname?"

You mean two people. Plus two of the mods, sure.

Really, I thought you had thicker skin. You're gonna give up so easily? Come on, cackle cackle cackle......

:-)))))

Ooooh HubPages I love it! Good luck! And don't forget to send me 1% of your income :-))

Really dude. There are places to make fun, places to shit and places to use more than two of your brain cells. I spend time on all three types of places. (Sometimes I'm thinking my day is 25 hours long).

[kardashev]

You mean two people. Plus two of the mods, sure.

Well, is it just two people? I thought sure hctpl himself mentioned "quite a few".

You're gonna give up so easily?

Why not? It's only the internet. Not some kind of crusade. futurebird who views things that way. I'll save the stick-to-itiveness for real life things where determination actually counts.

I spend time on all three types of places. (Sometimes I'm thinking my day is 25 hours long).

Dude, I don't have that much time for the internet lol. I have to pick and choose how I waste my time here.

And so will you one day. Your wife will start getting nauseous every morning and you'll take her to a doctor. He'll refer her to an obgyn colleague who will do an ultrasound...which will reveal a tiny pregnancy sac. Once you have a kid, it'll severely curtail your internet time. Especially since you don't seem like you'd be one of those selfish dads who insists the wife do all the diaper changes and feedings. lol are you up to a bigger challenge than any internet forum can give you?

[mahnmut]

'Quite a few' would be offended. Nuance is a bitch.

'It's only the internet' - oh I've heard this before, including from myself. ;-)

As for your last part, Kol has 2 own kids and 3 more semi adopted, a wife, building a house, traveling a lot, moving from one job to the next one, and still he can spend time on these Netz and even take some time to moderate a comm. Am I gonna let them win this one? As Steve-O says: HA! :-D

[kardashev]

Well, Kol does have help moderating the comm. But me? I've got my hands full regardless. Maybe if my daughter gets a sibling they can keep each other busy and give me a bit of a break.

But right now, it's 8:15 PM here and I just managed to grab a few minutes of internet time. My wife is currently putting baby to sleep. and after that, we want to be alone with each other for awhile if you catch my drift. ;)

[mahnmut]

This reminds me. I'll soon be hearing baby screams around OMGZ!