Comments on: Holy Fatosphere Shitstorm, Batman

By: ladylady

ladylady — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:15:47 +0000

i dont understand this “newbies arent allowed an opinion” nonsense. all anyone is asking of you is to educate yourself on the subject BEFORE you say something ass-y. and if you do say something ass-y (we all do sometimes) dont get defensive and stick your fingers in your ears when someone points it out.

oh and for god’s sake could you guys stop with the tone argument. blah blah blah. the reason you’re getting so much negative reaction from the community is because WE HAVE HAD THESE CONVERSATIONS A MILLION TIMES BEFORE! google it.

educate yourself.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:38:43 +0000

Thanks for posting this. Your writing is respectful and thoughtful and you assume that everyone involved basically meant well. I like that about you and it seems that lots of other people agree.

I read lots of FA blogs, but in a lurky fashion. Yours is the only one I ever comment on. The Fatosphere seems to be littered with landmines. Just one badly expressed sentiment and the doom rains down upon you.

By: heidi

heidi — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:56:29 +0000

crookedfinger – I don’t think there is much of a difference. There is one, I suppose, but it’s a fine line (as my husband so eloquently pointed out in the comments on the next post!) I like Marianne, so am giving her the benefit of the doubt, but I think much of the resultant brouhaha is because other people feel as you do.

Zenoodle – The issue of readership is interesting and worth pondering…I don’t have an answer for you on how it is affecting this discussion but certainly agree that it might well be doing so.

NoCelery – Hear, hear.

By: JoGeek

JoGeek — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:23:40 +0000

Well Said!

By: No Celery Please

No Celery Please — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:04:23 +0000

I have been reading along in all these. I think that from now on, when I read these very deep and controversial blogs, I am going to respond with the following:

“I like cake”

Simple, to the point, and likely to get me in no end of trouble

By: Zenoodle

Zenoodle — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:12:09 +0000

It just struck me after I read hsofia’s comments (which I totally agree with and now as a result half wish I hadn’t posted anywhere in response to Bianca’s OP) that this issue of readership size has one obvious effect — it means when there is an ‘epic thread’ it is going to be proportionately more epic in the sense of numbers of comments. Some of the recent SP threads have been enormous — sooo many comments! And if you manage to keep on top of reading them, and follow the conversations, it’s quite a lot of work — I showed my mum the Schroedinger’s Rapist one for example, and she enjoyed reading it but flagged after 300-ish comments from 1200. That’s a lot of discussion to miss! If it’s harder to read and digest all the comments and conversation, it’s easier to miss something and it’s easier not to see all of the back and forth in the debate that was there (and the fact this lead to repeat conversations in the comments was as I understood it, part of the reason the comments on it got closed).

So in a quasi-physical way, the ’size’ of the commenting readership does make a very real difference. That’s not to say the newer blogs or those with smaller readership are less important, but it does help to explain why the more established and/or ‘bigger’ readershipped blogs have more gravitational pull for new readers and stuff… While I can certainly see that must be frustrating for other blogs in many ways, I can’t understand all the snipey ‘queen’ comments flying around. Once someone is ‘in’ the Fatosphere, surely one of the first things they do is explore that RSS feed, and find other linked blogs through it? And click on the commenter names of those who have blog links… So the one(s) with the big gravitational pull aren’t necessarily hindering other blog voices from being heard in *quite* the way that has sometimes been made out. At risk of being a bit ‘WATBB’ (what about the big blogz?), it is also maybe worth bearing in mind that with 20 zillion comments, the shape of a conversation sparked by a post, and indeed and qualifications made by the OP in that subsequent discussion, can be swept over or even missed to some degree… Aren’t some of these issues maybe affecting how this particular ‘blow up’ is panning out?

By: crookedfinger

crookedfinger — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:33:58 +0000

I fail to see how there’s a difference between *calling someone a douchebag* and *saying “don’t be a douchebag!” while illustrating your idea of douchebaggery by using a post from the person you’re supposedly not calling a douchebag.*

By: heidi

heidi — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:16:29 +0000

Well, I think if you read the comments at the various posts I linked to, Gina, you’ll find you’re not the only one, although I know Marianne doesn’t feel like she went over the top. Personally, I think “douchebag” is, well, a douchey thing to say about anybody, but that’s just my opinion and for the most part I very much respect Marianne and the other FA-oldsters.

There are really mixed views of this, as evidenced by the debate that’s been raging about it today!

By: Gina

Gina — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:07:34 +0000

I do want to point out that “Don’t be a douchebag” is rather different from “Bianca is a douchebag.” I used her post as an example of hella what not to do and I totally stand by that – I’m not of the kumbaya-holding-hands-with-everyone-all-the-time school of FA. We’re going to clash internally, rather a lot sometimes. Being fat all of us together…. It doesn’t actually make us peeps except in one way. It’s an important way and it’s not like I’m lobbying to have Bianca, I don’t know, disbarred from FA? I don’t even know how one would do that. *laugh*

Am I the only one who found Marianne’s post arrogant and dismissive?

By: hsofia

hsofia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:49:44 +0000

Bianca
If SP or SP posts have only been mentioned or referred to in seven posts at ZC, then I stand corrected.