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| Dammit, I am so freaking chill! |
. There are a lot of reasons to celebrate the terrific stuff that has gone on here.Let us not overreact - which was certainly my first impulse as well.
For those who are writing me and telling me they're leaving, just give it a bit of time to shake out. I'd hate to lose anyone over - really - just a handful of actions, reactions, and comments.
I will do what I can to sort it all out by next week.
Cheers,
Fab
I applaud your efforts, Fab.
ReplyDeleteWhatever your decision, I know you'll do what you feel is right.
Thanks, Fab! I hope we can keep it going.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, am not feeling hysterical or soul searching in the least-- at least concerning this site, which is an entertaining way to pass five minutes but does not define the essence of my being. So keep it up-- the squeaky wheels can go get a Livejournal or something if they need to experience perpetual Sturm und Drang.
ReplyDeleteWay to be chill, penguin!
ReplyDeleteDid you run around in circles in your office waving your arms and yelling "Holy shit holy shit holy shit?"
ReplyDeleteBecause that's what I did.
And then my real-life four-footed Black Dog peed on the floor in fright.
Makes sense to me. I'd hate to see this place go, because I appreciate it personally, and because I think the conversations it facilitates are valuable. And also, while I fully understand Leslie's -- and others' -- need to take a break from the negativity, I'd hate to give a few negative actions by a few people that much power. I'm generally willing to roll my eyes and ignore the bridge-substructure symbionts' antics, in the time-honored tradition for dealing with 2-year-olds and older humans who are acting like 2-year-olds. But I realize that I have a fairly thick skin, and I'm sure the damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't aspect of dealing with the email would get to me, too, if I had to deal with it. Maybe you should declare a hiatus from reading the incoming email for a week or two, Fab, and see how *that* goes? Whatever you decide, thank you for even trying to deal with the mess rather than just pulling the plug, as you'd have every right and reason to do.
ReplyDeleteBD, I'm disillusioned. I was hoping you took your moniker from Led Zeppelin.
ReplyDeleteOr at least from Dread Zeppelin.
Remember, my eyes are pretty bad; I have difficulty making out your avatar...
That said, I was rather shocked to come back from a weekend campout and find the place self-destructing.
@BlackDog: you mean your canine companion hasn't become inured to such antics yet? My cat had become quite blase by the time of her death (which was not, at least as far as I could tell, stress-induced).
ReplyDeleteI'm down with taking a deep breath; it's good for all involved. And we can't let this site die...then Anonymous will have won! Much thanks to everyone who has helped keep this blog going over the last 9 months -- I truly appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteLet's keep this place going. It's one of my daily must-reads, and I'd miss it terribly were it to disappear into the cyber-ether.
ReplyDeleteOh...and introvert.prof...thanks for the link. I looooove DZ.
@CC: Yeah...no. She's a pee-er, it's just her nature. Before company comes over ("I'm so excited! So excited! So excited! I love evvvverrrryyyyone!") we have to walk her around the block a few times to make sure her bladder is empty.
ReplyDelete@Introvert...It's actually from Winston Churchill. But I concur, the Led Zepplin version is better. (I like Black Dog, but I've always been a bigger fan of Whole Lotta Love.)
As usual I have no idea what the kerfuffle is about, other than some people sending douchebag messages to Leslie, but I do think that if you want to leave the blog, just leave quietly instead of making a huge drama queen scene about flouncing out. Just go, drop a polite, brief note to the mod if you're a correspondent, otherwise, just leave and don't come back, if that's your game plan. This is just a blog, not a Jiffy Lube where you got bad service and need to write an angry letter to the franchise manager stating exactly why you will never again get your car serviced at a Jiffy Lube. (I mention this as someone who has been ripped apart and insulted personally, but stuck around anyway, and things did settle down; I still get plenty of criticism, but it's less about how stupid, naive, and heartless I am and more about the topic at hand. I generally choose not to read it, if I sense things are going south. Not reading this blog is an option which is always available to anyone, regardless of whether they are a registered user or not).
ReplyDeleteThe conflicting forces that caused this crisis appear to be the following:
ReplyDelete1) A fraction of the community does not wish to see moderation of the comments (deletions or threads cut off). They do not mind the insults and prefer to decide what and what not to read (this faction could be called the tough boys or the NFL crowd). They want less moderation.
2) The other pole is a section of the community that believes that nasty and vile comments suppress the exchange of ideas. That we, as academics, should be able to communicate without lewd and insulting language. They want a blog where they can come and comment without fear of being insulted. They encourage a strong moderator.
I have been a proponent of less moderation, however, several people who have been excellent contributors (i.e. Brady) left or changed their nicks after distasteful exchanges. So clearly no moderation will not improve the quality of the site.
However, the desire for more moderation lead to more emails to the moderator with "suggestions" on how the site should run. The continued pressure by the behind-the-scenes majority, combined with nasty emails from the unhappy minority, appears to have forced our moderator to resign.
this faction could be called the tough boys or the NFL crowd
ReplyDeleteJacobus Stultus! I knew you hadn't really gone anywhere.
Here are some other things:
ReplyDelete1) If you're tough like Patty--who is not a boy-- you can just stick around and prove you're a good soul. I admire her for doing so, because we were pretty hard on her.
2) If you're in a sensitive place like I was, you can delete your ID and come back, or simply take a break like Bipolar Beth did.
3) If it's a bad fit, as they say in admissions, you can just go somewhere else or start your own blog. So
4) When is it ever necessary to harass a moderator? Who has so little of a life?
I totally agree with separating out the moderation and the e-mail function. The e-mail person should just delete everything but requests to be a correspondent, which should come in the subject line ("Request Correspondent FrogandToad, frogtoady@aol.com" or "Request Stop Correspondance etc.) so the e-mail person doesn't have to read the body of them mail. The moderator should delete things that violate policy, period, no questions asked, but with a light touch. Like it or leave it.
The. End.
Wow. Sturm und drang, indeed.
ReplyDeleteI love this place; it is my place to go when my very own and not very speshul 'flakes threaten to pin me in my cabin in their avalanching drifts.
I need this site. So do many of you.
I hope we can figure this out; I like WhatLadder's notion in the other thread--emails handled by someone other than the mod.
Leslie K, I have enjoyed the tenor you always took in moderating around here. Thank you for it and your sound service throughout.
Fab--all my best to you as you help figure out what's next.
All is well. CM continues normally, at least as normal as it ever was.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to us all!
ReplyDelete"at least as normal as it ever was" -- since that's about all I can say in my own favor, I'll take it.
ReplyDeleteUrgh, if this place evaporated I'd have to find something else to do during my (perpetually ignored) office hours. C'mon, CM. Don't force me to take up Farmville.
ReplyDeleteI recall this being an issue with RYS as well--since we have open comments now, wouldn't it make more sense to not have a public email address? Doesn't most of the content come from regular correspondents?
Thanks for the recap, honest_prof, and aww, Froggy, you've touched my heart. I am glad I have managed to prove that I actually am rooting for all of you and don't hold a grudge even against people who I formerly believed crossed the line with their mean-spirited remarks about me. That was then, this is now; and holding a grudge just takes up too much energy. I have seen others similarly abused: sexist insults or derogatory remarks of a sexual nature. I, too, find it unacceptable, and I end up avoiding that thread of discussion because the debate degenerates so steeply, it's just too disheartening.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, sometimes one of you is having a tough time and there is much rallying of support and many kind and compassionate messages; that's got to be encouraging for the person getting screwed over or otherwise having difficulties, to know that a bunch of strangers actually do care about their colleagues, even if they've never met. It would be sad if that aspect of CM disappeared, as I do feel it's one of the best features of this blog.
Also, some of you are hilarious and always give me a laugh, so that's also much appreciated.
Nevertheless, I do sometimes have to take a break; if I see a lot of posts from adjuncts who I know are working a lot harder than I do for much less pay, it's just too depressing, or if the comments get too mean-spirited, or things are otherwise just too bleak, I have to take a break. But I always think about the poor foot soldiers teaching liberal arts at three different schools and using public transportation and being forced onto committees in which their ideas are trampled over and they are generally treated like second-class citizens... this blog might be the only thing that gives them even a little hope, or at least a distraction, so for that reason alone, I'm glad it's going to be around for a little while longer.