Journal Journal: The (Hopefully) Great Slashdot Blackout-Discussion continues 61
Last Chance to See! The final opportunity to discuss this before the lights go out
The Original Accept No Substitutes!
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I'm hoping here to dispose of some misconceptions and answer a few questions I've seen asked and been asked. I will probably cause a whole new set of questions and a new set of misconceptions, here. Such is life. I should preface this by saying that I speak only for myself--others have different reasons and different desires, and they can speak with their own voice.
Why do you hate Slashdot?
I don't hate Slashdot. I've said it before, I love the community. If I thought this would destroy Slashdot, I wouldn't have started it.
Then why boycott Slashdot?
First, it's not a boycott. A boycott implies a continued non-use of services until a goal or demand is met. This is, as I called it, a "blackout" of a temporary (and short) duration.
I felt that the best way to demonstrate the importance of comment posters was to become part of the "other 97%".
82% read 10 or fewer pages a day. 15% read 30 or less. 3% read more than 30 a day.
That 97%, while providing page views and eyeballs, mostly do not contribute to the site. The other 3% are the ones that do "cost" more in DB and bandwidth resources, but they are also the ones that provide 99% of the content here. That content gets spidered by Google (that leads to search engine hits), builds a stolid community (that leads to press attention), and feeds the churning machine of story submitters and review writers building and bringing more comments and visitors daily.
But I (income) - C (costs) = P (profits)...
If you believe you can reduce a socio-economic dynamic such as Slashdot into a simple profit and loss statement, there are hundreds of surviving dotcoms who would pay big money to see that equation.
If it were that simple, Slashdot could remove comments altogether and be more profitable. The problem with that scenario is that Slashdot would fade away soon after.
How do you know that?
I don't. It's my contention that is the case. That's part of what I wish to show with the blackout.
So how will you know if you succeed? What is your standard of "I won!"?
That's a hard question. I will never know what the internals of Slashdot are doing or thinking. They could be printing out my amateurish screeds and using them as toilet paper.
If it is never said again that "half the visitors don't care" about comments, that would be a win. The fact that half of the visitors to Slashdot don't click-through to read comments is irrelevant--without those comments, Slashdot wouldn't have that other 50% visiting at all.
Mostly, I will see if the attitude I perceived in the past continues into the future. If so, I'll know that my small protest was lame and ineffectual. If it seems to have generated some positive attitude changes, I'll consider it a win.
I guess you think Malda hates comment posters?
No. Malda and the other "editors" read and reply to comments quite often, considering their busy schedules. They obviously care about them: do they fully appreciate their value, however? The impression I get is that the comment sections are a gift bestowed upon the laity from the High Priests of Slash. My contention is that the reverse is more true.
However, sometimes I wonder.
Frankly we doubt that 3% will really pay us at all. Notice the venom posted in this discussion: this comes largely from that very 3%. Its ironic that those who profess to hate us the most also load the most pages
;)
You hate Malda, huh?
No. I don't know him. The handful of emails I've traded with him over the years have been cordial.
I don't like their appropriation of the title of "editor" for themselves, I admit freely. That is why I usually scare-quote "editor" when speaking of the Slashdot team. If they are editors, I'm a duck.
So you want Malda to be filtered through a PR zombie?
No. I quite enjoy being talked to like a regular person and not a consumer. It is refreshing.
The flip side to that coin is, if you're going to be honest in your feelings, don't be surprised to find your feelings challenged. Copping a wounded attitude because everybody doesn't agree with you is kind of silly.
Do you just want free subscriptions to Slashdot?
No thanks, I have a subscription already.
Then are you looking for an apology?
The mental image I have of Malda doesn't allow for him to apologize. At least, not a real one--"I'm sorry you're such a dork. Get over yourself! There, I apologized!"
In addition, I'm not an apology-type guy. Some people may have been happy that Bill Clinton apologized for slavery, but I think it's stupid. Words are important, but apologies are words without meaning.
Really, this isn't about assigning blame--it's about fixing a problem. I believe that the Slashdot crew have a misplaced notion of the importance and true cost of comments. They don't hate or dislike them, they simply misunderstand their purpose.
I had a similar experience on E2--I did a writeup for a node that I happened across. I did not go through the "Writing a perfect node" procedure--I saw a hole and filled it. For my efforts, one of the E2 "editors" lambasted me for not jumping through their hoops. I responded that to jump on the heads of casual noders is probably not a good plan. They (casual noders) are not the bulk of the E2 community, but they are an important part of the "ecosystem" there. He responded with a "love it or leave it" statement.
There is a choice to be made--is the core community important or not? If not, then spare us the trolls, flooders and PWPs and dump the comments. If so, then walk and talk like you know it.
Boy, your ego is sensitive.
Perhaps. We can talk about my ego some other time, though. That is (at best) a side issue.
If you don't like it, why don't you just leave? Or start your own community?
The same reason I don't leave the US to start another country if I don't like what's going on here--it's easier to try to change the system than to start anew (most of the time).
And who's to say that another community won't gain my audience, rather than Slashdot? Perhaps, if Slashdot continues on its path and doesn't improve relations to its community, I will go. And perhaps others will as well. Not in a bunch, mind you, but in dribs and drabs, until only the trolls and crapflooders are left. As more people feel marginalized, they will contribute less and less, feeling that since "half the visitors don't care", they may as well not give their opinions or ideas a voice.
At that point, Slash will have excellent triggers for detecting crapflooders and bots, scripts and lamers; and somebody will take that and use it to build a more stable (and more attuned) community.
I'd rather that not happen, myself.
So you maintain that comments and comment posters have value? Why don't you go sell it, then?
Corn has great value. But not to another corn farmer. The comments are a product of the value-producing community. I suppose you could equate the community with the land, and comments as the crop. It's a bit of a weak analogy, but let's run with it.
The land is filled with potential value--but in and of itself, it is worth little. The comment community, which makes up the heart of Slashdot, isn't worth much if they aren't producing. What they produce, you can't shop around to other web sites--they have their own land and corn stalks already, thank you.
(I thought about extending the analogy to the community equating to corn farmers, but then I figured somebody would say, "But corn farmers wear overalls and drive tractors! Your analogy stinks!", or something equally pointless. So I'll just leave my pointless analogy where it stands.)
I still don't get it. Why are you doing this, and what do you want?
I've done my best to explain. Read what I've written again and then once more. If you still don't get my position, just ignore me. If you do get it and disagree, don't participate. If you get it and agree, remember to stop posting on Apr. 21-27th. Don't post comments, don't submit stories; just visit the front page for the links. Become as the other 97-percentile.
And, if you send me $1000 via PayPal today, I'll send you a real prayer cloth that I used to ritually clean the sacred scrotum. Put your hands on the screen, and let me heal you! Hallelujah!
I still think you're an idiot.
Enjoy yourself.
Oh, and fuck you, you prick.
Knock yourself out.
vi or emacs?
Emacs, you peasant.
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Last Chance to See! The final opportunity to discuss this before the lights go out
The Original Accept No Substitutes!
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