Well Folks, it was bound to happen. I have been banned from the blogosphere. Well, a portion of it anyway. When I started blogging a couple months ago, I made sure to be very careful not to say or do anything that could be considered hate speech. I did write about sensitive topics in a provocative manner, but certainly not with any malice. Apparently I was not banned for anything resembling hate speech, but for violating a rule known as “spamming.” Now to me, spamming is when one floods the internet with the same thing over and over for the purpose of disruption. Apparently, my lack of knowledge about the process was seen as an act of war. While normally I would spare the name of the offended entity, in this case I feel comfortable mentioning that is the Jewish Journal only because a couple of the articles I posted dealt with intolerance in the Jewish community towards fellow Jews.
The process started amicably enough. I posted four unrelated articles. One dealt with the French election, another about kosher food, and another one about rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. A few minutes later I noticed that the article dealing with Snoop Doggy Dogg had been deleted. I then received the following email from the “webmaster”:
“Hey Eric! Shalom! I killed your Snoop post ’cause it was way off topic, and moved your Sarkozy post to the French elections thread. Otherwise, rock on!”
He seemed friendly enough. In my mind my Snoop Doggy Dogg article was topical because it dealt with the whole Al Sharpton Gangsta Rap crusade that emanated in the wake of the Don Imus scandal. Also, I did not know that two completely different articles about the French election had to be under the same heading. No matter. I sent an email to the webmaster asking for clarification.
“I was wondering why the Snoop Doggy Dogg post was deleted. It was about Al Sharpton suddenly waging war on Gangsta rap. Anyway, I am new to the blogosphere, so please answer some questions for me when you have time. 1) Is four the maximum number of allowable posts? There were other things I wanted to post tonight. 2) How do I know what is off limits in terms of topics? I have written several columns about the various Presidential Candidates, as well as some columns dealing with the Virginia Tech Massacre. Is that considered “old news” already (it was just mentioned on the news 5 minutes ago)?
3) My dad just had open heart surgery 2 weeks ago (he is fine) and I wrote a tribute to him. Is that something acceptable to post even though it’s not a political or cultural issue?”
He replied “There is no numerical limit or anything like that. It is always advisable to add one’s comments to an already existing thread, i.e., the French elections thread, than start a new topic. I’d advise you to read a bit more before you jump in make a lot of noise —
that we’ll you’ll get a better feel for what goes on here. Snoop, and rev Sharpton, etc., old news, unless we have an Imus thread — add it there. By the way, our message boards are not “the blogosphere” — we’ve been around much longer than blogs, and I remember message board wars between the Armenians and Turks when I first got online, circa 1993. The idea here is conversation. I hope you’ll join in! And please, call me (name withheld).”
I read the various topics, and noticed that nobody was writing about the 2008 Presidential campaign or the War on Terror. What could be more relevant than that? Just because the Jewish Journal skews politically to the left (It is Jewish after all), surely some posts about the defining issues of our time would be appropriate. I posted several posts, each one dealing with a different Presidential candidate. I wrote about Romney, McCain, Thompson (Fred), Gingrich, Giuliani, etc. I also wrote about Dick Cheney from a Jewish perspective. I was surprised to read another email from the Jewish Journal webmaster, this time in a hostile tone.
“You have abused our hospitality and disregarded my advice. As far as I am concerned you are a spammer, filling up our message boards with the same message, repeated over and over. Did you not read that OFF TOPIC posts will be deleted? I have removed all your posts and deleted your user ID. Go back to your blog — maybe someone will read your stuff there. Our forum is not your playground.”
I did out of pure graciousness send the webmaster an email explaining that in my mind, I absolutely was following his instructions, unclear as they were. He then sent me a link to “message board nettiquette.”
Now I read the Jewish Journal. Politically, it is a liberal disaster, but a plurality of the columnists are quite thoughtful and thought provoking. I have met people from the magazine and found them friendly and courteous. Occasionally the Journal wades into territory that would fall under the “mind your own d@mn business” category (Jews taking sides in the Armenian vs Turkey dispute makes as much sense as Portugal analyzing the Arab-Israeli Conflict. We should be happy two nations do not hate us, and try to increase the number, not decrease it).
However, this experience does not cast the Jewish Journal in a positive light. I am a believer that intelligent questions should be answered in an intelligent manner. Hostility should be reserved for those who engage in hate speech. I find it ironic that the Huffington Post can allow people to compare President Bush to Hitler, but a Jewish message board will not let me post about Republican presidential candidates in a positive light. Ironically enough, the very last post I wrote about was “ideological bigotry.”
Luther Campbell of and 2 Live Crew only increased in popularity after being banned. They put out “Banned in the USA,” and were rewarded, deservedly so.
I have alot to learn about this www.comgovorgtypestuff.huh. What I do know is that even though message boards are not democracies, they are there to promote dialogue. They should be run by people who believe in discussion, not ranting and raving at honest mistakes. Once again, a member of my own community chooses to have problems with writing that no other site has objected to…not once.
I shall continue to educate liberal Jews on how to become normal, tolerant people.
“Listen up y’all, to what I say…I won’t be banned in the USA.”
Ok Blogosphere. Time to try this again. Hello!
eric
ou wrote in “Banned…”
>>>>>>>
Well, you apparently did not read everthing. I write almost exclusively on the war on terror. Furthermore, there are many comments on what I post. Take another look. you might find what you are looking for. If you cannot find them write me back and I will give you the names these topics are listed under.
Larry
You are a rude clueless newbie and you’re lucky I let you come back at all.
Blogosphere != message boards.
Reposting private email = lame.
RTFM.