Post by Benji Duncan on Jan 10, 2008 22:58:11 GMT -5
gene said:
I think I know what you mean about the "extreme" thing having to do with this website. Entertainment is very sensationalist these days (explaining the popularity of "reality" shows) and about extracting maximum emotion, and this website seems to follow suit with the times, especially with the topics brought up in its forum. It has a desparate look, like, "Don't look away! I'll talk about something controversial! Promise! Just, please, keep paying attention to me!"...It's actually a shrewd move, playing to what the majority wants like this and all. But it has occured to me that, as a guy in the minority that would rather learn things than feel things through entertainment, I may not be that great a fit here. Then, I thought maybe my style of dialog offers a balancing effect to the forum, and it not being all one group-think thing may not be so bad. So I'm sticking around as an experiment with this line of thinking that diversity is good. (But, forgive me if I'm not the first guy to step up to topic threads with names like "Do you favor the Ku Klux Klan killing babies with heroin?", and stuff like that...)
admin said:
Gene for an artist you have a pretty thin skin. It isn't going to do you any favors. You took the whole statement about "extremes" totally wrong. I was merely explaining how my own tastes in things tend to lean to a type A personality because I have a type A personality, at least when it comes to my tastes. I was not saying what you rudely implied- that I do things in relation to this website to try to shock or alure people into activity. This implies that I am being insincere when I state my opinions on things. I call things the way I see them. I post topics that interest me. These things tend to float to a type A line of thinking because that's what I am. If you tend to float to a type B personality there is nothing preventing you or any other type B's from contributing their opinions in droves or posting threads in the forum about any thing they wish. I post about things that interest me. I carry conversation in a direction that interests me. The only reason the website may be dominated by type A personality content is because I am at this point the chief contributor to the website. I welcome all opinions and perspectives in the forum and any northern michigan content in the site.
There is nothing preventing anyone else from writing reviews on music, contributing content or posting topics in the forum. There is also nothing forcing anyone else to participate in discussions in the forum they may not be interested in. I made this website for everyone. If you want this website to have different content then contribute different content. This website is a service to a community for the community to use any way they wish based upon what they're willing to share and contribute and if I am the only person taking advantage of that service that is not my fault.
If a local made a comic other than Unamerican Comics I would feature it. or anything for that matter. I do not discriminate what I show based upon my own tastes. But since I'm contributing my stuff, damnit, I'm going to contribute things I like. If you wished to take advantage of this service you or anyone else could easily dominate this site with the content you prefer. The website is going to show whatever people contribute.
It's like you're saying I am not open to suggestion when you are making no suggestions. If you want something different in this website that you think people with similar tastes to yourself may like then suggest something.
gene said:
I did imply that controversy was being embraced for the purpose of high ratings, here. It could very well be that you like to shake things up with controversy just by your natural make-up, and it's no "actor's stretch" for you to do that at all. Yeah, I think it's very possible that you sincerely mean what you say, despite website cause/effect going on. (In fact, you may be not be calculated at all, and even "sincere" to the point of being completely UNAWARE of the effect it has on the website!...) I guess you're right on that; Sorry. I did imply that controversy was being embraced for the purpose of high ratings, here. It could very well be that you like to shake things up with controversy just by your natural make-up, and it's no "actor's stretch" for you to do that at all. Yeah, I think it's very possible that you sincerely mean what you say, despite website cause/effect going on. (In fact, you may be not be calculated at all, and even "sincere" to the point of being completely UNAWARE of the effect it has on the website!...) I guess you're right on that; Sorry.
It's pretty handy that your personality is naturally comfortable with stirring up the pot, since, by coincidence, this presently also makes for great entertainment according to many. You're "in step" with the times; It works out pretty nice like that... (And it's definitely better than being BORING, which I, myself, could be accused of being!...)
But careful, there, though. As they say: Play with fire a lot and you're bound to get burned... What I specifically mean is that a style of intentional controversy and picking apart people's posts sentence by sentence and correcting them may be noble in its persuit of ultimate truth and all, but it ain't very tactful, and sometimes just flat not very nice, to be sure. Yeah, I know you love it and it makes you feel alive and all that, but try to understand not everyone is like you in this way.
It's silly, but people can ally themselves so closely with their ideas that attacking the idea is exactly equal to attacking them personally. Yeah, I think it's dumb, too, but even so, it's been proven to me to be true quite a few times in real life. Dancing the edge in this territory makes problems like this come up a lot; No mystery there. With "action" comes "danger", but, I "get" that that's part of the whole appeal...
To ellaborate on that "unaware" part above: You seem to have a big role in the website (but its exact relationship I'm not quite sure of). You may not be aware of this, but you are in SALES! Being controversial and being in sales are kind of at odds with each other. If you were to see this connection, I bet you'd come to the realization that it might be wise to tone it down a bit. I suspect you don't know yet what this has to do with that, though, but I trust you are eventaully going to get there. I'm not saying be a totally wimpy sell-out or anything, but, I'm kinda saying something sorta LIKE it... If not for the purpose of likability, then for the purpose of, well, MONEY...
To segue away from talking about you to talking about me, we are different people, as I say. I'd be uncomfortable with correcting folks a lot and being real "ready to tangle" with my dialog. I'm not saying what you do is wrong, and I'm not saying I'm wrong, what I'm saying is that it's just different. And, I respect that just fine.
Gene, I made this website for people who are alive. This is not walmart or mcdonald's, this is a place for living people. Will that make me money? What the fuck do I care? I do know that no one in this community is making a website like this one that will feature 100th as much northern michigan content as I'm going to feature. I also know that at the present this site is only a tenth of what it's going to be when I finish the entire thing, that it's still in the triple digits as far as it's google rank, and that I have a two year plan until this website is everything I plan it to be, so it's quite early to judge it.
I take your comments personally because they are personal comments. I will not act like a sterile person to please people and if the sterile have a problem with my lack of sterility, fuck em. Everyone in this website is encouraged to the n'th degree to be themselves. To post their opinions on things. To share things they enjoy. They can be as sterile as they want in yahoo or myspace. Here people are going to be alive.
