Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: Fairy-Tale Autopsies

335 Responses

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  • BenWilson, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,

    That's exactly the image that always comes to mind when I read you...blowing smoke off a pistol...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Jacqui Dunn, in reply to Jo S,

    lurkers being arguably a lot less annoying in general than trolls or tinks

    And very much more invisible, except to themselves. EDIT: Speaking as a long-time lurker before I ever dared to post. And occasionally, when there's a fascinating ping-pong conversation between two or three, and one doesn't want to interrupt.

    Deepest, darkest Avondale… • Since Jul 2010 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • wendyf,

    And *I* thought trolls were very unpleasant people that lived under bridges.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 88 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Emma Hart,

    It's gone.

    Thanks. The Interwebz; it's a jungle out there. Note to self: read to the bottom of the page, dumbass!

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews, in reply to wendyf,

    And *I* thought trolls were very unpleasant people that lived under bridges.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Jo S,

    It depends on how cool you are, obviously. Please post your CV and we will judge you, quietly but with great intensity.

    Oh no, the thought of trying to rewrite my CV for maximum impact is driving me to the heights of grand panic ...

    (or is inciting an incipient slide back into the safe depths of lurkerdom)

    is it autumn yet? • Since May 2007 • 80 posts Report Reply

  • Alan P, in reply to Greg Dawson,

    Slash weapons? That would be a Les Paul and a Marshall wouldn't it?
    ... sorry, couldn't resist.

    Auckland • Since Jun 2009 • 35 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Jo S,

    On a slightly different tack – are there different levels for “lurkers”?
    Which I probably nearly count as, being an extremely infrequent poster.

    I guess there is, but what's so bad about lurking on (say) tech threads that are interesting, but actually contributing is so far above my level of competence the sun only appears for ten minutes a day? :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    I once called someone out for trollish behaviour elsewhere for changing the subject in a heated debate by throwing in two other unrelated subjects likely to be even more heated. Perhaps that's on the border between stirring and trolling, but it didn't feel like a good faith tactic, even though he believed all of those contentious positions. In any case he took extreme offence to it for an unexpected reason: in his particular region of the US, people living below (ie south of) a certain bridge were referred to pejoratively as trolls, and according to him, calling someone a troll was justification for physical assault in recent court decisions. The international participants in that one were a bit boggled by the incident.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    In any case he took extreme offence to it for an unexpected reason

    Tough luck for him. This is the net, he's gonna get called it a lot.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    That was the general consensus. It didn't help that he was an enormous arse as well. I reacted the way I did because I was being protective of the community - he was behaving like a pitbull in a room of kittens, and I wanted him to take his page long rants about his ex-wife and how he got kicked out of college somewhere else. That's not quite the same as trolling, but it was damn annoying.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • wendyf, in reply to philipmatthews,

    Thanks for that, though Jon Cryer seems a pleasant enough chap. Another misunderstood minority I guess - I wonder if he had anything to do with Labour's list.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 88 posts Report Reply

  • Rob S, in reply to Jo S,

    Far too many posts on your cv-
    Perhaps a sporadic?
    As for Craig R?

    Since Apr 2010 • 136 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,

    Gee, I felt like I should strategically dip my hat below one eye while I read this post.

    Nice. Warren Beatty styles.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Jo S,

    I'm fascinated by our lurkers. The number of people who follow discussions here is clearly smaller than the total number of readers, which is somewhere between 17,000 and 40,000 a month (I mean seriously, fuck knows).

    But still, maybe 10,000 reading some discussions. So many! Who are all these people? It's like the visible part of the universe versus the dark matter.

    FWIW, Nielsen says a higher proportion of Public Address readers are active contributors to blog discussions and online forums than those of any other website it tracks -- 53%, from memory.

    Nielsen also says our readers are highly educated, high earning, high internet users who buy things online. You'd think we might able to sell some advertising.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    @ Darryl. Your scarf it was apricot?

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Russell Brown,

    which is somewhere between 17,000 and 40,000 a month (I mean seriously, fuck knows).

    Ah, lies, damn lies and web statistics. I remember the stunned mullet look on the boss who wanted to know how many people had read his missive online. "What do you mean you don't know for sure? We bought that statistics package for you!" "Yes, that's how I know it's at least x and probably not more than y"

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I don't know about anyone else, but I read here for ages before I started commenting. For a long time I was completely intimidated, and never thought I had anything to contribute to the discussion. That, and my famed reticence.

    I tend to think that's a good thing. I knew the community ages before I started talking to it.

    In other news, ally delivers quite the troll snackdown here

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Dowden, in reply to Russell Brown,

    It's a timing = relevence thing. I generally read PAS after work in the late evening, like now: so it's 1:30am in NZ... A witty response is a bit wasted (and so am I, g'night)

    Question though: What proportion of lurkers are OS?

    Canberra • Since Dec 2007 • 38 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Dearden, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Who are all these people? It's like the visible part of the universe versus the dark matter.

    Ummm, that would be me.

    To be honest, as a Kiwi living elsewhere, I read the discussions to keep up with what's going on in the country and what people are discussing (and also because you're reliably entertaining and thought-provoking), but I often don't have much to say because I'm missing some of the context (and also, Like Paul, because I read it 12 hours after you write it)..

    Birmingham, UK • Since Jul 2008 • 9 posts Report Reply

  • Tamsin6, in reply to Paul Dowden,

    Ditto on the delayed response thing. I sometimes follow at work, but most of the links are inaccessible (blocked) so by the time I catch up at home it is toooooooooo laaaaaaate.

    London • Since Dec 2007 • 133 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart, in reply to Paul Dowden,

    It's a timing = relevence thing. I generally read PAS after work in the late evening, like now: so it's 1:30am in NZ... A witty response is a bit wasted (and so am I, g'night)

    Being able to keep up with PAS threads in a timely manner is disturbingly high on my list of reasons I want to move back to NZ when I'm done with this PhD thingy. (So, you know. Somewhere between four years from now and eternity.)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    troll snackdown

    LOLZ. What's their favourite food?

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    What proportion of lurkers are OS?

    What's body size got to do with it?
    ;- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I love lurkers. Their very existence makes me feel a little bit safer, like we have a whole bunch of guardian angels. Since everyone is a specialist in something, most of them will experience a time where they think "I know a lot about that, perhaps I should kick this discussion in the right direction".

    It would be nice to know their number somehow, even within an order of magnitude. How to reconcile Russell's guess at 10,000 who read discussions with Nielson suggesting that 53% of readers contribute - surely there aren't 5,300 contributors?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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