Lord of the Flies Redux

[constance]

Ever since I first discovered the Salon letters sections following each and every article they publish, I've been following them with at least as much interest as I have the actual stories. Why, I hear you asking, is this? I like seeing people's insights, sure; often, a commenter can bring a perspective to a story that I never considered during reading. And too, it's interesting to see commenters and writers engage in dialogue, which happens frequently there and is not really something I've ever witnessed before outside fandom. But. This is embarrassing to admit, but one of the huge reasons I read is to see in exactly which way the comment threads will eventually dissolve into flamewars which, to quote a friend, make "fandom wank look tame." Because they always do.

Until today, that is. Today, Salon instituted a new protocol for commenting: you can't do it any longer unless you register using a valid email account, and while it's true that this won't stop particularly determined commenters from trolling or flaming, my God, you can already see the difference in the threads. I find it amazing that the inception of a (very mild) new accountability standard changes the dynamic of the discourse. And to be honest, I find it a little disconcerting as well. Are we such raging Ids that the first suggestion of the possibility of anonymity or consequence-free interaction means that we fall to tearing each other apart? That the first intervention of authority sends us scurrying back to the shadowy corners? Is it only the policing of others which keeps us from behaving like the worst possible evil-twin versions of ourselves?

Probably it is best that you not answer those questions.

:::

Speaking of moral dilemmas, though, and to lower this post to my journal's more usual standards: What world wrestling with these life-or-death issues would be complete without an immoderately expensive Good vs. Evil foosball table? (click on the English link, and then on the big numeral 20, to see).

Okay, it's not so much that I feel that this is a must-have, although it is perfectly fabulous, isn't it? It is that I am having a time imagining teams for my very own Good vs. Evil Foosball table would be. The possibilities are endless; I could think about them all day. Though OF COURSE I have not done so. No no! I am really spending my time thinking about Weighty Matters. Yes, indeed I am.

So, er, who'd be on your foosball table?

Comments

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Dude, what could be more weighty that Good and Evil? I see that my homegirl has already made the squad, so not much more for me to add.

As for Salon, I think the real catalyst was the whole Kathy Sierra flap. It's sorta scary, really. But the letters I read there are mostly just the ones for Cary Tennis. I love the way he can view all life problems through the lens of myth.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Hee! I definitely thought of you as soon as I saw that your homegirl had made the cut!

I think that the Kathy Sierra story (and the comment thread that followed, of course) was indeed largely responsible (as was the poor Cary Tennis advisee who was outed in front of the whole internet, did you see that?) for the new Salon policy. But man, the hate some of those authors (Cary Tennis, whom I personally adore, is one of them) inspire! It'll be kind of nice if people think before posting gratuitous hate messages of any sort, whether they're saying truly frightening things to women or just telling the article's author exactly how much the article and the author suck (and I am going to put a gratuitous parenthetical comment into this sentence because it looks sort of lonely in this comment without one).

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

I love that foosball table!!! Why oh why couldn't it be a reasonable price?

Who would be on my teams? Oh, that would take a lot of thought. Um. I need to think on this. Maybe it should be a meme.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

The answer is obvious! We have to get Laurel to work with the polymer clay. We could sculpt anybody! I'll volunteer to paint the jerseys.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Hey, she's have an awesome career ahead of her, I think -- and man, she wouldn't even have to charge 15K to make a profit!

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I think it definitely should be a meme. I'll be waiting to see your entry! :D

[djin7.livejournal.com]

Dude, I love LOVE foosball. Hard to find a good table nowadays, tho. *sigh*

/random

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I like it too -- it's one of those things in life I like playing even though I'm terrible, although I always feel a good deal of sympathy for the people I'm playing against. >:D

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

Are we such raging Ids that the first suggestion of the possibility of anonymity or consequence-free interaction means that we fall to tearing each other apart? Good question! I lurk at Comment Is Free (http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/index.html) and they've gone through the same traumas with offensive trolling. Women and Muslim writers were the main targets - so Muslim women came in for the worst abuse of all. As well as having to register I think there's now a limit on how many times you can post per hour and lots of people have been banned.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I was reading the comments regarding the new policy, and I don't think anyone at all disapproved of the process. Some people did suggest steps such as those Comment Is Free have taken, but I gather from the editors' response that they're going to take the process one step at at a time. I like this idea, and I have to say that so far the comment threads are so much more polite and on-topic as to be almost unrecognizable: so far so good.

I hope things don't need to go any further, really. :/