For the second week in a row, Mads has been mentioned in the Misc for the controversial comments that readers have posted lately.
A section of this week's staff editorial reads:
"The fighting continued on a campus blog, where news that the [VSA] had passed the Kick Coke resolution quickly degenerated into a series of hateful charges, among them disparaging references to “a bunch of activist slime” and “Communist assholes,” referring to the organizers of the Kick Coke campaign. Although these attacks were posted anonymously, specific students were targeted and ridiculed by name."
True, some commenters did get out of hand. But then: "Clearly mass anonymous e-mails and anonymous blogs are an ineffective way to engage in political discussion."
Is the Misc dissing the commenters or Mads? It's unfortunate that some comments went so far, but we think it's good that students are so vocal and we're glad we can provide an opportunity for them to be so.
45 comments:
Feisty, Mads!
It seems pretty clear that it's aimed at the commenters. Perhaps you could disable the "anonymous" feature in comments?
yeah, i mean i agree. some of the comments really did get out of hand.
... I completely agree with that Editorial.
reading the comments on mads has made me feel awful about the student body at vassar!
dear mads,
i think it is very hypocritical that you so blatantly support your commenters right to call one another "slime, racist, idiot" but then go ahead and delete 160 innocent comments about mama and papa. was I not controversial enough for you?
mads, i don't think it was a diss so much as a statement of fact. this ISN'T real "political discussion"; it's mainly a way to talk shit on the internet, and the comments reflect it. MOST, not some, of the comments "went so far."
They be hating Madz. Don't let da shiz phaze you son.
i miss mama and papa and sista and brotha and gretchen and hotchie and potchin and kitty and zombie and elizabeth and mr. zonkers and gwyneth
MAds, from what you have quoted it seems like the Misc has only taken the worst of what was said by keep coke crowd and not the worst of what was said by the kick coke people. Biased journalism is a definitely "ineffective way to engage in political discussion."
yeah me too! that person was so funny. i'm so sick of reading real comments, bring back the family!
I agree with the Misc. Most of the comments are hate speech, not "political discussion," which lines up pretty well with what the Misc is saying.
I completely agree with the Misc's Editorial. As far as your blog entry, "Misc takes On Mads Commenters," I feel like you are a bit too quick to attack the Misc. They have no "beef" with your blog; rather, they are concerned the fact that people are saying such disrespectful things about members of this community. I think your trying to make an issue out of something that is not really there.
i think individuals on both the kick and keep coke sides were writing in ways that were rude and generally unproductive for dialogue. i'm with the misc as well.
i'm with the misc on this one.
There is something to be said about the merits of anonymous commenting. Even if it does reveal an ugly side it is doing the community a service. No one benefits from a naive view that we are one big happy family. There are lot of subtle things people do at Vassar that reflect how they secretly feel. Sure you could take way the ability to give them anonymous voice here but what does that solve. It just paints a rosy picture.
but wouldn't it be a whole lot more productive if people would express their views on such complex matters in a more comprehensive format? a two sentence angry anonymous comment is not political/social discussion. it's pithy and it doesn't get us anywhere. venting anger is really not very useful for progress.
I agree with you but we don't live in an ideal world.
-9:47
you people are all pussies.
Why do these stinky bitches have to whine so much?
If you don't like the comments, DON'T READ THEM.
Not all of them were hate speech. The ones that were were pretty darn funny I think
You are whiners, and like I said, stinky.
For all our respectful and loving friends out there who CARE about the family (mama, papa, sissy, brother) as well as Gretchen, Fishy, Kitty, Laurie, Hotchie, Rachel
all their struggles and trials, loves losses and the like...
its all here:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7163367874466018179&postID=3048658278848875087&page=1
finally, the family is back. we can read about kitty and EVERYONE again
Mads being critiqued? Blasphemy.
Write a Letter to the Editor about it if you feel so strongly.
Mads, you clearly have issues with criticism. you admittedly have a wide audience and inform many students but you also play host to an extremely irresponsible and hateful dialogue. in fact, it's not even a dialogue. all of it is unproductive, and almost all of it is simply hate speech. to then try to bitch at the misc for reporting/critiquing this--- that's just wrong. you need to acknowledge that your little anonymous blog is not the place for substantial discussion. that discussion should, and does, take place in the opinions pages of the misc and in vsa council, both of which are open to any student who is brave enough to attach their name to their ideas.
-A member of Vsa council, who is not brave enough to attach my name, since obviously you would just post shit about me so that i don't get re-elected next year.
I don't really think Mads was bitching at the Misc for getting criticism. What, Mads is not allowed to acknowdge the Misc writing about it? That's bullshit.
"we think it's good that students are so vocal and we're glad we can provide an opportunity for them to be so."
Yes! We love you Mads.
i think the comments on your blog have been despicable. as moderator, it is your job to delete comments that are so horrendously offensive.
you know what. lets not gang up on mads. he is not to blame for the shit you, yes you who are reading this, dished out that was the real reason for the criticism in the Misc.
and @1.49, while i completely agree that the comments were terrible and offensive, i'm also glad they weren't deleted. sometimes it is good to know the brutal reality we live with. i for one was glad to see that it took so little to get students at vassar so charged up against each other. it put things in perspective for how things work hear. i respect you mads. for keeping vassar real. (terrible, but real nonetheless)
*here
Oh, god. 6:18 and 6:22. Really?
What I've noticed in these comments is either "IT'S JUST COKE, LOSING IT IS NOT AS BAD AS ... DARFUR!" or "You all are showing how selfish and conservative you are."
No. No. Really?
Basically 6:18, you're saying that anything that MIGHT help ANYONE ANYWHERE should just be accepted. First because it might "make the world a slightly better place." Second because GIVING UP COKE IS NOT AS BAD AS BEING KILLED OR MAIMED!
I've seen over 100 comments that simply miss the point.
I'm a liberal. I don't drink coke.
But it says something when MICA handing out free coke and a statement for keeping coke, makes the most sense of anyone. I never thought I'd see that happen. But it has.
Really?
lets give mads some nice stuff
a candy
a fish sampler
a banjo
a door
duh, anonymous blogs on the internet are a very effective means of useful and productive communication- it allows students who are pussies to say fucked up things to each other because none of them have the fucking balls to do it in real life.
WHITE PEOPLE MATTER TOO YA KNOW!
lol @ 12:44, the opinions page of the misc is HARDLY an effective forum for political discussion, and the vsa council is hardly as public as it makes itself out to be, in my opinion.
yeah, being able to comment anonymously allows people to show their true colors-- but come on guys, if you didn't realize these harsh sentiments existed on our campus, then you're pretty fucking naive.
-not a pussy, i guess.
12:29, just because you're too much of an asshole to make use of effective forums doesn't mean that they're not effective.
seriously, wouldn't we all be a lot better if we had this debate over kick coke or whatever shit mads talk about in a single room with our student government leaders? my new year's resolution: stop wasting my time on this blog and if i have a complaint, i'll make my voice heard in a legitimate manner.
Well said, 12:57!
12:57, good luck with your resolution. i'm too much of an asshole to be as active as plan to be, apparently, but i'm sure you'll accomplish great feats.
i bet you'll read this comment within the next hour. leaving self-righteous comments about not wasting time on a blog is just silly, dude. and, you know, kind of hypocritical.
well um...when the day comes that administrators stop referencing this blog, only then will it cease to be a necessary tenant of campus discussion
administrators only make reference to the amount of hate speech that occurs on this blog and others like it (read: cappy's convocation speech last spring).
Administrators also read to get an idea of what you students are up to.
well mads isn't creating the hate speech...it's just making public record of it
I definitely prefer KNOWING there are racists on campus to thinking maybe there aren't. So keep up the anonymous commenting!
madsvassar is a despicable attempt at free speech. for so many reasons, anonymous commenting is not an effective means of discourse. the same person can write comments repeatedly; the comments represent only some opinions on campus; mads allows comments that promote hate rather than accountability for ideas. this whole blog is an embarrassment because it claims to be a reflection of student life, when it fact it represents only a small, vocal number of angry students.
Hey John, what's your favorite kind of dog?
but what about white people? dont our opinions matter?
Definitely time to disable anonymous comments.
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