Much thanks, and a curtsey

ad hominemThis morning on Adrants, Steve Hall posted about That Boing Boing Thing, specifically the video I made a couple days ago with the same name, where I attempt to explain WTF!? exclusively in the words of MetaFilter commenters. I also try to speak in disemvowel. You will like. Is a humorous salve after the maliciousness* and ongoing, bizarre flippancy. Thank you, Adrants! Also, last night I was cruising FluffyFeets just for, erm, kicks, and came across… my feets! What a terrific compliment, thank you, too!

::blush::

* Update: the “maliciousness” link is now dead. It looks like not long after I linked to TNH’s Twitter post from July 2, she removed it. Good thing I screencapped it, and saved it here.

20 Comments - COMMENTARY is DESIRED

  1. that video really made my day! more disemvowelspeak please!
    also, great shirt, must have one, where from?
    (maybe we trade? get me one, and I’ll make you one that says “Vlt Bl”…emails me)

  2. I also think that Shabbir’s piece on media crisis management, and work in general, is excellent. Seriously, kudos to you, VB, for advancing this story with good humor, facts, and a velvet glove (as opposed to name-calling, unfounded accusations, paranoia, backsliding, belittlement, chainsaws, and boiling oil). I, too, initially resisted wading in too deep here, but the many essential issues raised over the last month have been too fascinating to ignore. Would that we held DC’s massive festering memory hole to the same scrutiny on every count.

  3. @Violet

    I’m telling you. Gawker controls us all. TNH is a puppet. But she’s started to doubt that she’s compelled by her own will. TNH is KEANU! *covers head*

    In all seriousness though, yeah, someone needs to up her Stelazine. The fact that someone would put that in print is astounding. Philip K Dick wasn’t that paranoid and crazed even when he was stuffed to the gills with amphetamines. The fact that she deleted it either shows further paranoia, or a temporary moment of clarity.

  4. Well done, Violet. This was a good, funny video and I love the t-shirt. Good on ya for continuing to take the high road on this.

  5. @ Shabbir, great piece. it also reminds me of the Twitter community management crisis with Ariel Waldman, where at one point Twitter even went so far to say that they are not a community site, using that as a defense. they also did not respond in a timely manner whatsoever, eventually resorting to personal attacks against Ariel. so, bring something up that makes a company uncomfortable, and get viciously, personally, publicly attacked — that’s the lesson? certainly, this seems true when women are the ones asking questions. if this is so, in this internet space where we’re all excited to evolve culture into something more diverse, fair, and Utopian, — then mankind truly has a hole in its heart.

    and @ Dustin — it’s the Gawker thing that really sticks in my head. for one, it makes *no* sense. why on earth would TNH think that? she must have been guessing — I wrote an evil Fleshbot post? (it also reveals her feelings about Gawker Media.) to me that kind of guessing says that she (like me) really does not know why this happened. which makes her calling me a liar even more egregious. personally, I’d never, ever stake my reputation on blind faith.

    that she deleted it is even more interesting.

  6. Shabbir, a long time ago in a galaxy far away I made an industrial film about James Burke, Johnson & Johnson and the Tylenol poisoning. How Burke/J&J responded to that crisis is a revered case study in corporate communication and crisis management. Don’t know why I thought of it when this story broke, but I did.

  7. TNH makes a good point. What if Gawker *IS* behind this.

    ALL OF IT.

    What if this is ALL just a construct of GAWKER?! Violet, Xeni, TNH, Boing Boing, everything that Boing Boing posts, everything that Violet does, Xeni’s peroxide. I bet if we checked, they would all have tiny coded “Owned & Operated by Gawker” labels hidden on them. And what if…just what IF…Paris Hilton was pulling the strings.

    God, it almost could make sense. At least about how stupid TNH has been acting.

  8. I didn’t want to be interested in this … it all seems kind of surreal. Private grievances manifesting publicly in any way is bad for everyone involved. I try to avoid reading about it because I don’t want to let my voyeuristic salivating gossip slut tendencies take over but it’s unavoidable. I keep coming back to see what the score is.

    I’m sorry you have to deal with it because crap like this on any scale always sucks. Why can’t this be settled the old-fashioned way … in the Thunderdome … with pillows … and high heels … and … *sigh*

    Anyway, I love the video. It’s a clever way to summarize the goings-on as well as people’s reactions to the way it’s being handled on the BB side. Your dramatic reading of the comments is fantastic.

  9. I seriously still can’t believe this whole ridiculousness is going on. Your video was hilarious, by the way! Love the shirt…

    Why can’t people just own up to and take responsibility for their shit?!? It’s called personal responsibility. It’s really not that hard…

    Hang in there. You’re fabulous!!

  10. So… is “unpublishing” (or rather, deleting) her own tweet a form of apology since Teresa no longer wants links to a tweet calling you a liar?

    There’s a million things I can say, but it seems like she really lets things get to her personally (by my observations of her responses), and whether you’re a moderator or community manager, you simply can’t last very long that way. It’s definitely difficult after reading thousands of comments, but there are more efficient ways to expend energy that are more positive for both her and others. It just makes me sad to read so much unnecessary negativity from a community moderator :(

  11. “My suspicion is that we’re under attack by Gawker Media.”

    Yes, they had Set you up the Blog, Make your time…

    I can’t read that screencap without an All Your BoingBoing meme taking over my mind.

  12. This was actually a very good post. Each of the links illustrate important points within the greater drama.

    1. Steve shows that people that already know and like you continue to do so, and we can assume the same for people that were already in the Boingers’ corner.

    2. Rather than the deft touch the situation requires, TNH continues to inflame the issue with lead-footed missteps.

    3. Xeni’s use of the ancient image macro shows how this whole thing is approaching old meme status.

    4. The foot thing . . . not so much.

Comments are closed.