Woah! Really interesting post, thanks a lot for sharing this! Thought me a few new things today. :)
.-= Swapnil´s most recent blog post ...OpenPeak’s Open Tablet 7. =-.
The tone and content of their comments aside, let's look at who that group of people is comprised of: fans of a website used to post fake updates about any person they want. And I'm sure that the posts these people left were not exactly polite and kind-hearted. I'm sure they likened the time my brothers updated my facebook status to say that I was waxing my back - meant in good fun? Yes, but nonetheless potentially damaging.
Clearly these people are not the type to consider the greater impact their actions may have on others. Or perhaps they are, and that's why they took it upon themselves to inform you and your readers to lighten up. In either case, taking into account what they were so steadfastly defending speaks volumes of their character in my opinion, which was only further established by the immaturity of many of their comments. Obviously this does not apply to all of them, as there were some who put more thought into their words.
You handled the situation very well, despite how easy it could have been to respond to the less thought-out comments. The fact that you are finding a positive in their community spirit from all of this speaks volumes of your character.
The beauty and power of social media (twitter, facebook, blogs) is in its ability to give voice to the masses. No longer held hostage by traditional media - if you weren't on television and didn't have your own newspaper or magazine column you were rarely heard - it's now everyone's turn to speak.
While some topics lend themselves to passionate prose, most people would be better served by carrying on an intelligent conversation instead of an endless diatribe of ranting. And when that ranting becomes abusive, the beauty of running your own blog is that such nonsense can be tamed.
Danny, you are truly amazing. Through the craziness that was the 50+ heated comments of that post, you saw the light. You saw the good that came out of all this.
As Andrew said, this showed throughout the entire time as you engaged those attacking in a non-offensive and understanding way.
No, I didn't agree with the way the supporters were attacking you nor did I agree with their overall opinions. But was there a sense of community there? Definitely.
Thanks for again opening my eyes :)
When I read your first post, the thing that stuck out at me was that you had basically "outed" the site, its creators, and posted their personal information on the web. I was originally a little offended by this, as I think were a few of your readers.
When I thought about it, though -- I don't think you did anything wrong. While the information was personal, it certainly wasn't private. We live in an age where the term "Google stalk" has an entry in the urban dictionary. If anything, I think people should expect to see more of this pro-active from users / customers on the behalf of companies or brands they believe in. If the information is free available, then its fair game. Is that necessarily fair? Not sure; but that's just how it is today. If you don't like that, then go out of your way to protect your data.
Your point about the brand damage that a site like this can generate should be taken very seriously considering what we've seen with #amazonfail and Domino's Pizza over the course of the past week. Just like you outed the fake twitter owner, YouTube users help Domino's Pizza identify the franchise where the offending videos were shot. In the end, isn't this a good thing?
Hey Danny,
I missed all the commotion on the original article but found this one and went back to read it all over. I have to commend you for outing the people behind that site. The world would be a better place if more people stood up for something they think is wrong, rather than just turning away and leaving it for the next guy.
As far as the comments go, all you can do is laugh it off and greet it with a smile, just like you did. It really can't be taken personally when all the negativity is left by anonymous people with fake names that don't link to their own sites. The same people who wanted to use a fake site like that hid behind fake names rather than standing up for something like you did in the article.
Well done. Keep it coming!
Marty
The tone and content of their comments aside, let's look at who that group of people is comprised of: fans of a website used to post fake updates about any person they want. And I'm sure that the posts these people left were not exactly polite and kind-hearted. I'm sure they likened the time my brothers updated my facebook status to say that I was waxing my back - meant in good fun? Yes, but nonetheless potentially damaging.
Clearly these people are not the type to consider the greater impact their actions may have on others. Or perhaps they are, and that's why they took it upon themselves to inform you and your readers to lighten up. In either case, taking into account what they were so steadfastly defending speaks volumes of their character in my opinion, which was only further established by the immaturity of many of their comments. Obviously this does not apply to all of them, as there were some who put more thought into their words.
You handled the situation very well, despite how easy it could have been to respond to the less thought-out comments. The fact that you are finding a positive in their community spirit from all of this speaks volumes of your character.
The beauty and power of social media (twitter, facebook, blogs) is in its ability to give voice to the masses. No longer held hostage by traditional media - if you weren't on television and didn't have your own newspaper or magazine column you were rarely heard - it's now everyone's turn to speak.
While some topics lend themselves to passionate prose, most people would be better served by carrying on an intelligent conversation instead of an endless diatribe of ranting. And when that ranting becomes abusive, the beauty of running your own blog is that such nonsense can be tamed.
Woahh that's a lot of vitriol for one man to deal with, hats off to you for finding a positive in all of it.
It is a shame that people are so fast to criticize and so slow to praise. And all the people out there who are so angered by your appearance, well we don't know what they look like as not one of them left an avatar. (Wouldn't it be great if we all dressed by rank and file like something out of Brave New World!)
Keep up the good work Danny, lets hope this community of pranksters develops a sense of proportion to go with its sense of humour(?) someday soon.
Cheers Simon,
Funnily enough, Brave New World was one of my favourite books during my English degree - Huxley is an extremely underrated author.
Have a good one! :)
Cheers Simon,
Funnily enough, Brave New World was one of my favourite books during my English degree - Huxley is an extremely underrated author.
Have a good one! :)
Cheers Simon,
Funnily enough, Brave New World was one of my favourite books during my English degree - Huxley is an extremely underrated author.
Have a good one! :)
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Danny, you are truly amazing. Through the craziness that was the 50+ heated comments of that post, you saw the light. You saw the good that came out of all this.
As Andrew said, this showed throughout the entire time as you engaged those attacking in a non-offensive and understanding way.
No, I didn't agree with the way the supporters were attacking you nor did I agree with their overall opinions. But was there a sense of community there? Definitely.
Thanks for again opening my eyes :)
Hey there Tim (and Drew),
Cheers. I don't think it would have furthered any discussion had I responded (except to the comments that needed one). Better left to let emotions and responses have an open forum and move on.
Cheers again guys - and yes, the community aspect was nice to see.
Your attitude during all of the personal attacks and juvenile behavior is to be commended. Lesser men would have engaged them and caused things to get worse. It says a lot about your character.
Your attitude during all of the personal attacks and juvenile behavior is to be commended. Lesser men would have engaged them and caused things to get worse. It says a lot about your character.
via uberVU
When I read your first post, the thing that stuck out at me was that you had basically "outed" the site, its creators, and posted their personal information on the web. I was originally a little offended by this, as I think were a few of your readers.
When I thought about it, though -- I don't think you did anything wrong. While the information was personal, it certainly wasn't private. We live in an age where the term "Google stalk" has an entry in the urban dictionary. If anything, I think people should expect to see more of this pro-active from users / customers on the behalf of companies or brands they believe in. If the information is free available, then its fair game. Is that necessarily fair? Not sure; but that's just how it is today. If you don't like that, then go out of your way to protect your data.
Your point about the brand damage that a site like this can generate should be taken very seriously considering what we've seen with #amazonfail and Domino's Pizza over the course of the past week. Just like you outed the fake twitter owner, YouTube users help Domino's Pizza identify the franchise where the offending videos were shot. In the end, isn't this a good thing?
Hi Abraham,
That was the key point reason for the post in the first place. Instead of being a bit of fun, there were very real issues that could have arisen from misuse. And once that happens, it can spread very quickly - as you point out with both Amazon and Domino's.
The information I offered was freely available - if I had gotten hold of private information and posted it, then I agree, I would have crossed several ethical and legal boundaries.
Perhaps there's a market for something like Fake-Twitter, but with the way information and misinformation spreads so quickly, how would you control the reach of it? Perhaps if it was in a closed space? Who knows? And how would you guarantee it was enclosed?
Branding is an expensive matter - sometimes parody isn't the right approach.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your view, appreciate it.
Good for you Danny. I too support the "any comment goes" policy on my blog and have thus far been able to live with that. I guess being on Digg for a few years just thickened my skin to the point of which I never even notice criticism that much anymore.
Good for you Danny. I too support the "any comment goes" policy on my blog and have thus far been able to live with that. I guess being on Digg for a few years just thickened my skin to the point of which I never even notice criticism that much anymore.
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Community spirit comes from the strangest places. It can even originate from anger and hate. Here Danny Brown explains one such example.
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Community spirit comes from the strangest places. It can even originate from anger and hate. Here Danny Brown explains one such example.
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Community spirit comes from the strangest places. It can even originate from anger and hate. Here Danny Brown explains one such example.
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Community Spirit and Blog Comments Redux
As a (partial) result, the site received an official takedown notice from Twitter and I received some of the most heated and angry comments ever from a post.
That’s cool. People have opinions and sometimes these opinions are strong, and the comment section is where these opinions are allowed to be expressed.
It’s one of the reasons that I have an open comment policy. Some people emailed me asking why I was allowing the comments to stay when a lot were personal and derogatory. Simple – I believe in free speech and the right to air grievances. Of course my post wasn’t going to be popular with everyone and the comments bore that out.
But, as I say, that’s people’s prerogative and I won’t stifle that. Where I will (and did) draw the line is when you attack my readers and others leaving comments. If you have a gripe with me, fine, take that out on me – I’m big enough and ugly enough to take the heat.
But the community that are sharing their views? If you attack them with vitriol and over-the-top abuse, I will delete your comment. I think that’s fair.
Speaking of community, that’s one thing that was a positive result of the post, no matter what “side” you were on.
Although it led to some pretty personal comments against me, the response from the Tumblr community in particular was actually pretty cool to see. These are the friends of one of the guys who came up with the whole Fake-Twitter idea.
When it became clear that “one of their own” was involved, they quickly got together and started posting humorous parodies of me on Tumblr, along with their comments on the post itself.
While I may not be a fan of the personal attack over reasoned argument, it can’t be denied that the community spirit that I believe in and encourage was present. For that, I congratulate them.
We may not always agree on everything; we may not always agree on most things. But one thing we can agree on is that community and support is the way forward – isn’t it?
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