(no subject)

[nemorathwald]

Ferrett Steinmetz deleted his Livejournal because the commenting there got so ugly. Several of you are upset about that. Can we agree it was a needless over-reaction? He could have just screened comments or locked comments.

This is the same guy who, the last time the drama llama came around, decided to stay home from ConFusion and Penguicon. This remedy had the effect of punishing the only people who weren't dicks to him. Nobody who was mad at him went to those events. He is establishing a history of responses to being yelled at on his LJ, in which he punishes and rewards precisely the wrong people.

And that is where we ought to leave it-- no more Ferrett blog. The dicks "win", but you know what they say about winning on the internet. Oh well. There's no shortage of entertainment on the web, and we don't need another emo variety. It is inconceivable that, for instance, John Scalzi would ever do this, because he's classy. Ferrett would, because his relationship to his readers is entirely too personal, like a scorned lover.

Unfortunately, that is not where we're leaving it. The problem is, it's working. He's got you blogging in his favor, because he chose a method that rewarded his enemies but targeted you, those who actually like him, to be the ones who pay.

Comments

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Other than this post, I seem to have missed the drama...

[http://users.livejournal.com/jer_/]

Some of us are upset about the wielding of words like "privilege" as weapons, as well. I couldn't agree more with your post, generally speaking, though.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you make several excellent points there, Matt, I agree.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

My opinions are colored by the OSBP debacle, but Ferrett vs. Random Internet Extremists is kind of like the Iran-Iraq War. Neither side are the good guys, and it would be kind of funny to watch except that innocents are getting hurt.

[uplinktruck.livejournal.com]

Wrong.

The Ferret deleted the offending post and posted an apology. That makes him a good guy. He stood up, said "my bad" and fixed it.

Those that attacked even the apology are nothing more the thugs and self appointed cyber-judges dead set on passing judgment and punishment. They did so under the politically correct banner of protecting the victims. Even now in comments on other blogs they justify their attacks that way. They are the bad guys.

You and I argue on many topics, but in the end we still learn things from each other. (Yes I am trainable.)

This bunch of cyber-fascists killed the mocking bird.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Both Ferrett and what I'll collectively term Internet Extremists live to stir up trouble by posting the way they do. I completely agree that in this case it sounds like he did the right thing, got pounded for it, and then shot himself in the ass. But that doesn't make him a "good guy" across the board, it just means that he tried to do the right thing this time.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

BTW I'm traveling and have only an iPhone to use for LJ, so typing is a big pain. I won't respond as often as usual.

[ilgreven.livejournal.com]

...and that time was around this time. He is a depression-sufferer (specifically SAD, where late spring-early summer is his season). He's not going to be rational and say, "Oh what will my fans and friends think?" He's going to say, "OMG MAKE THE PAIN AND THE HURT GO AWAY!" He's resisted the impulse far more than he's given in, but that makes it all the more...dramatic...when he does give in.