Please Turn Off the Comments Section on Joe's Blog!

[LaCroix]

Gotta agree with everyone else here. It's Joe's blog, he can do whatever he wants to do with it.

[The Signal]

Yup, and it doesnt hurt you, just dont read the comments, you have no obligation to read what the comments say. I also agree with the "Joe gets a laugh out of them" idea. I tend not to comment in them, I did in RSF's one today, but that was a one off, but I wouldnt put anything negative in a post, after all, these people are giving upo a little of their time for us

EDIT: Sorry, no not ANTHING negative, but at least keep it mild, like "I wasnt a uge fan of the scene where..." rather than "I thought the scene where.... was pointless and brought the episode down, what where you thinking?"
Or: "I didnt enjoyed {insert name/s here} performence in {insert episode/s title/s here}" rather than "I hate {insert name here} he/she is the worst thing to happen to the show, ever."

[ToasterOnFire]

The comments are awfully negative, aren't they? I have to constantly remind myself that most of the stargate fandom isn't that nasty.

I really dislike the character bashing and actor bashing not to mention the bashing of certain fangroups. However, I'm even more disappointed with the recent influx of anonymous posters who have started naming and bashing individuals. Jeez.

Still, in the end it's Joe's blog and Joe's decision with the comments. Ignoring bad comments is the best solution we have right now. Or maybe I should start posting incredibly positive things to try and balance things out.

[Piratejenna]

The comments are awfully negative, aren't they? I have to constantly remind myself that most of the stargate fandom isn't that nasty.

I really dislike the character bashing and actor bashing not to mention the bashing of certain fangroups. However, I'm even more disappointed with the recent influx of anonymous posters who have started naming and bashing individuals. Jeez.

Still, in the end it's Joe's blog and Joe's decision with the comments. Ignoring bad comments is the best solution we have right now. Or maybe I should start posting incredibly positive things to try and balance things out.

My initial reaction was the same as yours - it's ugly , it gives a bad impression of fans, and I'd rather it wasn't there. But in a strange kind of way I've come to the conclusion that the unmoderated comments tell us something useful. There IS an ugly and extreme element to fandom out there on the fringes, and maybe it's good to remind ourselves of that occasionally. Partly it's a reminder about where civilized boundaries are, and also it's a reminder not to enable the crazies by letting them get away with hate campaigns and other unpleasantness.

There's a weird kind of Truth in the blog comments - people are showing their true colors. Some fans come across as sane and respectful, even without a Mod leaning over them. Others devolve into 'Frothing-at-the-Mouth Loony-Tunes With an Added Helping of Crazy'. One thing's for sure - the Crazies are not helping their various causes. So what if someone spends the night writing anonymous rants about how Mitchell/Vala/Sam/Daniel (Insert your favorite hate-figure here) is the worst thing to ever cross a TV screen? Doesn't mean TPTB are going to change the direction of the show to accomodate them! If someone insists, (repeatedly, and in great detail) that their lives will be forever incomplete if a particular 'Ship is not consummated on-screen, do you really think the Writers are going to give them what they want? If anything, that kind of dementia just alienates people.

If the writers want to know what fans think, they're not going to look at Joe's Blog Comments. They'll be taking soundings from a whole range of sources, and paying particular attention to voices that are reasonable, because those are probably the people who are paying attention to the show. The Crazies are just stuck in a loop, compelled to pursue their own agenda to the point where their view of the show (if they're even watching any more) bears no resemblance to what appears on screen. The Blog comments may act as a filter. If people sound rude and crazy to you and me, they sound rude and crazy to TPTB as well. If you were writing the show, would you try to keep those kind of fans happy? Or would you dismiss them as being irrelevant? I worked on TV shows back in the pre-Internet days, and I can tell you, Hate Mail went straight into the rubbish bin (apart from the really inventive pornographic stuff which got circulated round the canteen as a prime source of entertainment...) My guess is Hate Talk is treated in pretty much the same way by TPTB.

My only real concern is that some of the people posting are clearly mentally unbalanced, and I sometimes wonder if giving them an audience makes them worse. On the other hand, maybe it acts as a release and prevents them doing more extreme things. I think sane normal fans do have a bit of a responsibility - to continue to be the sane, normal voices out there, in the hope that it acts as a reality check for those that are over the line.
It's a tough Job, but somebody's got to do it!

[ShadowMaat]

If I were writing the show? I absolutely wouldn't pander to the psychos. However, this is TPTB we're talking about.

Kidding. Sort of.

I'll agree with the mentally unbalanced stuff, though. Some fans come across as borderline (or over the line) sociopaths. Which is bad enough (and scary enough) when it's directed at fictional characters, but when they aim their ire at real people and do their best to slander them and attack them at the basest levels... that's the lowest of the low, if you ask me. And to hide it all behind the cloak of anonymity. If you don't have the balls to put your name to something, why bother posting at all?

[Deevil]

But you do have to admit one thing - some of the commentary is good for a laugh. My favourite comments are "the majority of fans hate (insert character/object/thing here)". Because for someone to say that, they must *know* intimatly what the majority of fans want.

It's all kinds of deranged, but I have to admit I have feed the trolls on occasion. Late nights, allergy meds et all kinda makes it seems like a good idea - really. Even when I know better.

[jonno]

Yeah, i agree that they are horrible - in fact i was so angered by them it promoted me to start my second of only 4 threads on the forum (here: http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?t=17642)

The consensus generally was that it was horrible, but that Joe could take it, and just to ignore the more trollish comments. Some people just can't stay civil when criticising, and that generally most people on gateworld forum itself was fine.

Here was my 2nd, more optomistic post in the thread:

hear hear. After the response in this thread, i'm glad to say my confidence is being restored in Gateworld. It seems most of the GW population is the same as ever.
Thank God (or Apophis if you prefer)

[PG15]

Maybe we can have a thread here on Gateworld for his blogs, instead of comments. It'll serve the same purpose, but no crazies...hopefully.

[Zelda]

The blog may be Joe's but the comment section has become the private domain of the same factions that appear with predictable regularity and proceed to trash each other, Joe, and everyone else. A legitimate post in reply to the topics in the blog is quickly buried in layers of muck. It's not interesting or funny, it's just sad. Perhaps Joe should disable the comments/reply section or the "anonymous" option. Too bad. As usual, a hand full of disgruntled nut jobs have to ruin the fun for everyone.

[Lightsabre]

The blog may be Joe's but the comment section has become the private domain of the same factions that appear with predictable regularity and proceed to trash each other, Joe, and everyone else. A legitimate post in reply to the topics in the blog is quickly buried in layers of muck. It's not interesting or funny, it's just sad. Perhaps Joe should disable the comments/reply section or the "anonymous" option. Too bad. As usual, a hand full of disgruntled nut jobs have to ruin the fun for everyone.

I'll agree to taht. I can still remember when I saw my own arguements listed as a reason for Joe to check out a certain thread.
It's simply the same people who attack and shout down others on here who take it to hte comments to try and do the same thing to Joe.
I rarely read the comments as I find 95% of them disgusting.

[GateAngel]

http://news.com.com/Create%20an%20e-...3-6022491.html

According to the above article it is now a federal offense in the United States to send or post emails that annoy someone without revealing your true identity.

The blog comments may belong to Joe and he may be Canadian, but the server that hosts it is in the USA, the site owner is American and the company that owns Stargate and controls it's content is a US company.

Is allowing Joe to continue to have the Anonymous option for blog comments going to cause legal problems for GateWorld and for Sony/MGM/Scifi?

Fans who want the blog comments turned off may get their wish?

I think this is also going to have an impact on the Gateworld rep system as well. Since according to this it is now a federal offense to send harmful or 'annoying' messages to someone without signing your real name and somehow I don't think the US Goverment is going to accept something like 'gatefan101' as a real or legal name

[Skydiver]

http://news.com.com/Create%20an%20e-...3-6022491.html

According to the above article it is now a federal offense in the United States to send or post emails that annoy someone without revealing your true identity.

The blog comments may belong to Joe and he may be Canadian, but the server that hosts it is in the USA, the site owner is American and the company that owns Stargate and controls it's content is a US company.

Is allowing Joe to continue to have the Anonymous option for blog comments going to cause legal problems for GateWorld and for Sony/MGM/Scifi?

Fans who want the blog comments turned off may get their wish?

I think this is also going to have an impact on the Gateworld rep system as well. Since according to this it is now a federal offense to send harmful or 'annoying' messages to someone without signing your real name and somehow I don't think the US Goverment is going to accept something like 'gatefan101' as a real or legal name

that is actually very disturbing because it is little more than censorship...just guised with another name.

annoy is a relative term and not quantitatively defined therefore, since it is subjective, the definition of the word can be altered to fit anyone's motives (which, knowing how our world works means that whomever has the most money or connectins can use this to get thier way and silence anyone they feel like silencing)

like the article said, someone needs to brush up on thier constitution

[GateAngel]

that is actually very disturbing because it is little more than censorship...just guised with another name.

annoy is a relative term and not quantitatively defined therefore, since it is subjective, the definition of the word can be altered to fit anyone's motives (which, knowing how our world works means that whomever has the most money or connectins can use this to get thier way and silence anyone they feel like silencing)

like the article said, someone needs to brush up on thier constitution

I agree with you 100% on this. I'm not for or against Joe having the option to allow anonymous comments for his blog, just worried about the impact something like this is going to have on fans being able to post without fear of retribution for it.

[Skydiver]

actually it has a more far reaching issue than fans posting in a blog.

like the example that they used, i could have a boss who's a sexist pig and i could e-mail someone, reporting him...and he could silence my e-mail or have me arrested for 'annoying' him.

an employer could even, theoretically, use this to get back at any employees even at home on thier own equipment.

it could even be grounds to get a warrant for a wire tap on a person to see if they post more 'annoying' e-mails or such.

it is basically a 'spy all you like' card if someone has the initiative and money to use it. anyone can alledge that they are 'annoyed' and use that as the basis for a warrant to spy on people and the only protection that a person would have is the integrity of a judge. and if the spy-er is motivated enough, they'll just keep working thier way down the line until they find a judge who will see things thier way

someone could find a newspaper article 'annoying' and use this to silence it, or a web site could be deemed 'annoying' and this could be used to force someone to take it down. even though the law mentions e-mail, well it's a short trip to say that 'that article is inspiring people to send e-mails that annoy me, take it down'

[GateAngel]

someone could find a newspaper article 'annoying' and use this to silence it, or a web site could be deemed 'annoying' and this could be used to force someone to take it down. even though the law mentions e-mail, well it's a short trip to say that 'that article is inspiring people to send e-mails that annoy me, take it down'

Imagine how many of us send comments to people who write articles about SG-1 that have content we don't agree with. If we do it just using an email ID and not a real name, they can have us arrested for annoying them.

Sheesh talk about wanting to shut down your computer and walk away!