Posts by Russell Brown

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  • Hard News: Parties, seriousness and the…,

    My only complaint - the way words get abused, but then I'm a pedant:). Infantilising????? really!

    You can question my authoritah, but do not question my word mojo:

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/infantilised
    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/infantilising

    Example from the New Yorker: "It creates a crisis that infantilizes them -- causes grown men to squabble like kids about trivial things."

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    BTW, I've just talked to Karen Gregory-Hunt for a story on online abuse she's doing for Radio NZ.

    Usual stuff: the problem's not technology, it's people; this isn't entirely new, but no one's licked the "not turning into Usenet" problem; what came out from under rocks in the Kathy Sierra case wasn't so pretty; and, yes, women are vulnerable in these situations in a way men aren't.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    But the problem and the available solutions are identical to those faced by anybody else who's the target of abuse online - often those holding controversial opinions. As such I don't see that raising the problem as a gender-specific issue is going to address any practical solution.

    But I don't think it's identical. The Kathy Sierra case, which started all this, went from escalating sexual threats and a nasty Photoshopped picture to some creep posting her home address. I was astonished that some apparently sensible people could regard her as the baddie (sorry, "attention whore") after that.

    I do think women online are more vulnerable than men. I can't recall a case of a male blogger being subject to that kind of sexual threat, but I can think of a few blogs where you'll see misogyny most days. So if some people want to mobilise and highlight that fact, I think it's a good thing.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    I once got an email so amazingly abusive it made me cry for three days. From a woman, who was employing me at the time.

    The most outrageously abusive email I've ever had was from Nick Wood, after I wrote a story based on a highly abusive Ihug staff memo someone leaked to me.

    It was so OTT it was hard to take seriously, although I did briefly worry that he'd do something silly with my internet.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    Out of interest, has anyone *ever* been physically attacked or even approached by anyone in NZ as a result of Internet discussion?

    I get bailed up by strangers fairly often, which is usually gratifying and cool.

    But I've also had a couple of people obtain my phone number by deceit and call and talk to family members when I'm out. I didn't like that.

    I seem to recall getting the strange hand-delivered letter once too.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    Christ that was a long post.

    It's the Curse of Tze Ming: long posts, and long threads with a notably high poster-to-lurker ratio. This is a good thing.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    __ It claims they believed there was fraud, but not enough to turn the result.__

    Does that mean we've agreed on something? I must be slipping.

    Possibly!

    But they were still pretty keen for third parties to advance the issue, and I don't think all the weirdness was yet apparent.

    I don't know if there was fraud (although I'd be surprised if there wasn't some illicit activity), to what degree or whether it actually turned the result. But the reason I wrote it up the way I did was to illustrate quite how bad the Ohio vote would look if it happened here. At the very best, it's indicative of serious incompetence and woefully inappropriate conduct on behalf of public officials.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    I don't get the idea of a symbolic online event to exclusively express solidarity with female bloggers who have been subjected to harassment etc, when there's plenty of bloggers who aren't female who're victims of the exact same behavior. Why arbitrarily restrict your solidarity?

    Because protests against, say, "all bad things" tend to lack focus. In the context of recent events, it's both logical and reasonable for a group of bloggers to express solidarity with women online.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    However the thread has been skewed in various directions, the Take Back the Blog blogswarm is a symbolic online event to express solidarity with female bloggers who have been subjected to harassment, intimidation and threats of violence ...

    I assume it's an adaptation of the "Take back the night" mobilisations against sexual violence. Nice idea.

    On the upside, it's always good to see Sonal; I second Anjum's props to Manakura for holding out as long as he did;

    Eh? I'm not sure Manakura was "holding out" against much. He's very well liked around here and was frequently complimented for his posts. He even won the Flying Nun box set! I'm sure there was a fatigue factor, in that there was a lot of content in his posts. but I don't think he faced any more attrition than anyone else.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yellow Peril: Are you gonna liberate us…,

    Ultimately, dude, this post wasn't about you; it was about us. I hope you can get over it.

    Hmmm ... "get over it" ...

    Tze Ming, Steven's initial post was sincere, and your answer -- "precious", "not about you", "sad", "perceived slight" -- was dismissive and somewhat bullying in tone. Muscular, perhaps.

    And I missed the part about the thread being "obviously dedicated to the women of PA being able to talk about their experiences of the internet." If you wrote it - and you used the phrase "white boys" three times - and someone wants to say something about it, I think they have the right to do so without being belittled.

    In answer to a question in your post, yes, PA does skew white and male, although not dramatically so. The biggest departure from the general population is in income (high) and professional qualifications.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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