The Kathy Sierra situation
Before you do anything, go to Kathy Sierra's blog and read this.
Here are comments from Frank Paynter (who started MeanKids) and Chris Locke (who was also involved, and is the renowned author of Cluetrain Manifesto).
At work, my boss has been encouraging me to learn more about the online marketing industry, who the movers and shakers are, how everything works, etc. Imagine my surprise when I read about how they had set up a site that catered raw, unrestrained response. For me, as a web geek, I know as well as anyone how sometimes things can go too far online, and as Jarek said in one of his many classes at Centennial- 'give them enough rope, and they will hang themselves with it'.
Which is why I'm having trouble measuring this situation.
As far as I can tell, MeanKids (and its later incarnation) was an extreme version of how these people interact in general. I never noticed before, but now I notice little bits and pieces of it spread across the net. These internet marketing types hold nothing back. They're not afraid to say what they have to say, no matter what language they use. (I still consider myself to have a tenuous grasp on all of this, so my perspective could be skewed).
Free speech is free speech, but in the online world, there are moderators for a reason- these are the people that keep us in check, and force us to take a step back once in a while, and really measure a situation. One example that springs to mind, is the board for Rifftrax.com. There was an announcement about Mike doing a movie riff with Lowtax Kyanka, and a few people were definitely not pleased. One thread got a little nasty, so they locked it down. Some protested, but it forced everyone to wait until the track came out, and then everyone realized Lowtax was a pretty good guy, and all felt stupid about posting what they did. One person asked why the mods didn't just let the thread 'run its course', the answer is easy- because although sometimes those situations will remedy themselves, often they'll get worse.
This, I believe, is what happened with Kathy Sierra.
It disturbs me. It disturbs me as a writer, as a thinker, as a new media artist, as a female. That grown human beings who know this space better than anyone could let something sink so far. Don't get me wrong, even I have a thick skin for criticism, but this whole story is just sad.
Here are comments from Frank Paynter (who started MeanKids) and Chris Locke (who was also involved, and is the renowned author of Cluetrain Manifesto).
At work, my boss has been encouraging me to learn more about the online marketing industry, who the movers and shakers are, how everything works, etc. Imagine my surprise when I read about how they had set up a site that catered raw, unrestrained response. For me, as a web geek, I know as well as anyone how sometimes things can go too far online, and as Jarek said in one of his many classes at Centennial- 'give them enough rope, and they will hang themselves with it'.
Which is why I'm having trouble measuring this situation.
As far as I can tell, MeanKids (and its later incarnation) was an extreme version of how these people interact in general. I never noticed before, but now I notice little bits and pieces of it spread across the net. These internet marketing types hold nothing back. They're not afraid to say what they have to say, no matter what language they use. (I still consider myself to have a tenuous grasp on all of this, so my perspective could be skewed).
Free speech is free speech, but in the online world, there are moderators for a reason- these are the people that keep us in check, and force us to take a step back once in a while, and really measure a situation. One example that springs to mind, is the board for Rifftrax.com. There was an announcement about Mike doing a movie riff with Lowtax Kyanka, and a few people were definitely not pleased. One thread got a little nasty, so they locked it down. Some protested, but it forced everyone to wait until the track came out, and then everyone realized Lowtax was a pretty good guy, and all felt stupid about posting what they did. One person asked why the mods didn't just let the thread 'run its course', the answer is easy- because although sometimes those situations will remedy themselves, often they'll get worse.
This, I believe, is what happened with Kathy Sierra.
It disturbs me. It disturbs me as a writer, as a thinker, as a new media artist, as a female. That grown human beings who know this space better than anyone could let something sink so far. Don't get me wrong, even I have a thick skin for criticism, but this whole story is just sad.
posted by Phinux at 8:15 AM
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