In writing these last few posts, I had no idea that what would happen would happen. Granted, I am very much allowed to voice my opinion and I still stand by them. I really do think that being able to write on this blog has given me some kind of voice that I didn’t have before, even if I do come off as an ignorant pissant. I don’t want my own site to be littered with opinions nobody really wants to hear when they want graphics. Because face it, we always skip the paragraphs where we’re talking about our lives to figure out what new icons have been added.
However, I would like to apologize for the heat that I may have caused. I take full responsibility for my actions and this is where I draw my personal line. Other blogs have surfaced with less than friendly responses to what I’ve said, and what I had exactly feared has come of this. I am not going to participate any further in any negativity of any kind. I have done my best to keep my blogs free of any “bashing,” “bad mouthing,” or anything of the kind.
I can’t really say I have feelings about any of it, because I can see it from an optimistic view- now that people are fired up, angry, offended, talking trash, disagreeing, and arguing once again, we don’t have to call this community dead any more. for some, that’s what they wanted in the first place. people are at least coming out, readily available to disagree with me, and that’s better than what we were doing not that long ago. And let’s face it, we all have the freedom of speech and nobody’s going to sue anyone for saying a danged thing. I’m not going to stop anyone from doing or saying anything, because it’s only the internet.
So I’m taking this time out to apologize to anyone I may have offended, and for the chain of events that I’m sure will come of everything I have said, and I want to especially apologize to Skye, who is not only juggling her personal life, but now this. I didn’t mean to bring it on you, and I don’t mean to leave it on you, but this is where I finish. I refuse to feed the flames of the negativity that I caused any longer.
In more risk of sounding like an even bigger ignoramus, I ask that no one abuse or target my host, or anyone else on this site, or even this site as a whole. If you want to take shots at anyone, take shots at me, not the community I belong to or the people that surround me. I said what I said, and I should take what’s coming to me. Please, don’t drag any of this business onto our personal blogs, or sites, and last of all, do not bring other people into this that need not be involved.
But at the end of the day, we all have to ask ourselves…why so serious?
August 1st, 2008 at 6:13 am
I feel this blog does have good intentions…but you just used the FaeDubh and Obama comparison a bit carelessly. Especially with what you just said right now: “it is only the internet.” I mean…if the internet can be ’shrugged off’ just like that, how can you compare it (and this blog) to Obama, right? Obama and what he’s running for is a very serious and big matter that cannot be dismissed like so.
Of course, I’m not saying your concerns for the web design community should not be taken seriously, either. But the seriousness between FaeDubh and Obama are on considerably different levels. So, at least for me, that’s what ruffled me up a little. Maybe you hadn’t meant it to be taken so literally, in that sense, but that’s how I took to it.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:34 am
Christine, I feel that THAT - what you said about how this blog shouldn’t have been compared to Obama and his efforts - is what is meant by the whole “why [take it] so serious[ly]?” line. True, what FD and Obama stand for are completely different issues with different levels of seriousness, but even so, I reckon they both “run” for the “good of” others. Again, a comparison - hopefully I won’t need to explain what I meant; but by all means, ask if needed.
Okay, so maybe making sure everyone gets to hear each other’s opinions on whether grunge-splatters are better than vectoring may not be as important as ensuring the US *finally* adheres to the Kyoto protocol. But the whole FD = Obama’s just prolly an innocent metaphor - and perhaps Obama may not have been the best “comparison” to use, but can you think of anything else more suitable off the top of your head to replace that?
If you’re ruffled because you thought (like some others) that the previous post was glorifying FD’s merits too much, AND that saying FD = Obama meant that, then that’s another story. But getting ruffled about the whole comparison thing, just because of the sheer difference in seriousness between the two? Hmm.
I might be wrong; it’s a lil’ confusing to explain - but even more confusing when it’s hard to actually tell what one’s irked about.
Anywho, WRT the other stuff in THIS post…honestly, everyone reads things a lil’ differently than others. Probably explains why even though Angel meant one thing, others saw it as another. e.g. - I say “A”, but someone reads it as “B”. I’ve said it already, but we misinterpret people IRL; no doubt we’re gonna misinterpret online text at times too. So there.
And Angel’s right - got a problem? Talk it out with the one PERSON (or maybe more, in some cases) who was/is/were/are directly involved with it. Dragging others into it, whether mentioning names, criticising them too, yada yada is gonna cause a whole load more of unecessary shiz.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:15 am
Christine: This is just one small comment compared to your entire comment but I do believe it was just an innocent comparison. I know that as a stand-alone title, it is obvious why people took it the wrong way. But I’m pretty sure that Angel never meant it that way.
Why? The sheer fact of history. I read all of Angel’s blog entries here and on her personal blog and she’s known for catchy titles. She does it to draw people into the post. While this one came off wrong because of all of the connotations that come with Obama himself, her others have never drawn a backlash. Obviously batman really doesn’t run yahoo, for just one (out of many) example.
Like I said, I understand why people took it the wrong way. But I’m fairly certain that Angel did not intend the comment in that way.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:51 am
When a bunch of people come together and run a site, everyone is responsible for what each member contributes–unless they explicitly state otherwise. (After all, staff members don’t need to have their articles “approved”.) However, I get the vibe that not all of the Faedubh staff necessarily agrees with everything another staff member says, but that’s because I’ve been following the site for a while. You can’t expect someone who visits occasionally to figure that out; it should come as no surprise that AB holds the whole site responsible (especially if no one from the staff voiced any sort of objection). And why shouldn’t they when the post in question was praising the blog as a whole.
As for why so serious? I do believe that it was your party (and I’m using this loosely to involve those who share your feelings) that was reliving the scars/pains/hurt and crying about how broken the community is. For some of us, none of this means anything.
I find it so typical that when someone challenges an article/blog entry, the author would brush it off as just an opinion thinking it relieves them of all responsibilities. If this blog is important as you said it is, stand up for it, defend your claims. (And this goes for all the articles on this blog. Rarely does the original post contribute to any of the discussion in the comments.) Making this dramatic apology makes the situation seem more personal than it really is.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:54 am
Re: Obama comment.
Politics and religion are touchy subjects. Angel should have expected a backlash.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
In a sort of sense, I agree about why being so serious. Although people misinterpret things often. Even if the post itself has innocent intentions. I haven’t commented on the Obama post, but let me say this: It’s an interesting comparison. But maybe the comparison is too large? Obama affects a really huge community while FD is focusing on a rather small one. Plus, it’s not a major campaign that’ll affect a whole country. The sizes are different, but the intentions of change may be the same. Even if it starts out with a small group. It can grow.
Haha, I probably misinterpreted the post myself, and most likely repeated what everyone else had said, but that’s what I think.
And of course, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions~ Some just takes it more seriously than others xD
Although I don’t agree that your blog *HAVE* to stay away from bashing and bad mouthing. I mean, it’s YOUR blog, you should be entitled to write what YOU want. That’s what blogs are for, aren’t they?
August 1st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
@Veve: I would think that BECAUSE staff members don’t need their posts approved, it would be obvious that not necessarilly every staff member agrees with the posts. It also states on the about page that our posts cover a variety of views. So, while not a deliberate “posts do not always reflect the views of other staffers,” it is stated.
As for if I agree with Angel’s post or not, I do. No, I do not think that we are a magnificent, amazing blog full of saints here to save the world. No, I do not think we are literally Obama (and as I’ve said, doubt Angel meant that literally). I do however agree that this blog serves as an outlet for views that I don’t feel as comfortable posting and discussing about elsewhere. I like that I can come here and discuss something on my mind and get feedback and start discussion (even if it is limited to a few commenters, it’s better than nothing). I believe that is the point of the blog in question.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Although I doubt Angel really intended any harm with the Obama post, as Veve mentioned, Religion and Politics are touchy subjects. I do agree in one sense with Christine saying how she used the comparison a bit carelessly because, catchy title or not, this kind of thing, to me, did not seem appropriate for Faedubh. To Ari, could she have not used something cheesy like “a breath of fresh air”? As corny as they may be, it would have gotten the point across in probably a more out of character to Angel’s other post from what I’ve seen. Overall, there were certainly ways to not pull politics into this and still make it witty without resulting in this kind of stir-up (especially if she can come out with titles using Batman, which was awesome by the way).
In regards to this post, I almost feel like this is something you should have posted on AB to clarify some of the issues there. In many ways, you could almost say that this post might aggravate people even more than the previous one because it feels like you’re brushing your other posts off in a sense. Making such a statement in the Obama post gave one impression and with this follow up emphasizing particularly “it’s only the internet” can leave an even more bitter aftertaste. If you’re going to use such a serious topic like politics, then, why are you even asking why so serious?
August 1st, 2008 at 8:20 pm
[But getting ruffled about the whole comparison thing, just because of the sheer difference in seriousness between the two? Hmm.] — Yes, that, AND the implication it can/does bring of “glorifying FD’s merits too much.” Sorry if I didn’t clarify myself on that, or said too little of it.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
@Skye: It is implied, not stated, and not a strong implication at that. It seems like a skip in logic when you need to be in agreement (or whatever your criteria is) with the guest but not with your staff considering it is the norm that the guest differs in opinions whereas the staff shares the same views.
“In regards to this post, I almost feel like this is something you should have posted on AB to clarify some of the issues there. In many ways, you could almost say that this post might aggravate people even more than the previous one because it feels like you’re brushing your other posts off in a sense. Making such a statement in the Obama post gave one impression and with this follow up emphasizing particularly “it’s only the internet” can leave an even more bitter aftertaste. If you’re going to use such a serious topic like politics, then, why are you even asking why so serious?”
You’ve put it so eloquently.