Smo's profile
Member since: 13 April 2004Smo has posted 0 links and 64 comments to WHEDONesque.
Nickname:
SmoEmail:
URL:
http://www.last.fm/user/SmoLocation:
Saskatoon, SK, Canada
I avoided creating an account for the longest time, but I've hung around here since the site's inception (literally--I followed the links from MeFi). The, uh, "shepherding" that goes on in threads tends to keep my away from the comments section, but I do comment from time to time.
A link to my last.fm profile is above, if you're interested.
UPDATE (03/23/07): This thread is shameful. Since I came across it after it died out--and because I think there are decent reasons to keep "meta" discussions out of comment threads, but not profile pages--I'll register my disgust here. Sycophancy is not a virtue. It's dishonest. Eradicating dissent--not just minimizing it for good reasons, but eradicating it--is not acceptable. It only encourages sycophancy--and, therefore, dishonesty--as well as homogeneity. This site has always had a great deal of both, which is one reason I rarely comment, but this example is particularly egregious. It's egregious because it's so obviously the case that if Joss hadn't commented, vmars would have stayed. How do I know this? Dig into my comment history. vmars was banned because his/her views didn't agree with Joss'. That fact reflects badly on the moderators of this site and the site as a whole.
The moderators claim that disagreement is tolerated and encouraged on Whedonesque. This is either dishonest or delusional. Disagreement is tolerated when the stakes are so low that no one cares about whether people do, in fact, disagree. When people care about the topic, disagreement is discouraged and suppressed. This, obviously, places no value whatsoever on disagreement and debate. The values people hold are tested and confirmed when those values matter, not when they don't. The moderators have demonstrated that debate is not something that they value. But, without that, the comments sections of this site are no more than cheerleading practices. Which, I suppose, is ironic, but also terribly boring.
I don't know if anyone will read this, let alone the people who need to read it, but I felt the need to write it. I wouldn't be surprised to see my account deleted should anyone come across it--which, of course, would prove my point--but I don't care all that much. Either the moderators ought to drop the pretense about supporting debate and tolerating disagreement or they ought to support it. The latter would be my recommendation; but the former, at least, would have the benefit of being honest.
UPDATE (03/28/07): Apparently some did read what I wrote. One person emailed her agreement with my general point, but also pointed out vmars acting like an ass eslewhere, of which I was unaware. I won't defend vmars' immaturity. But, frankly, it's beside the point, as my helpful emailer noted.
