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Grex > Coop12 > #113: Cyberspace Communications finances for June 2002 |  |
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| 16 new of 271 responses total. |
mdw
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response 256 of 271:
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Jul 12 08:58 UTC 2002 |
Authors vary in their abrasiveness (so do geeks). I have met authors
who had belief systems I've found very unpalatable. Some of them were
people who made RIAA look downright reasonable in comparison. Ie, the
sort of people whose anal possessiveness of their every word makes you
want to run home, burn everything you have of theirs, and try very hard
to forget they ever existed. I've also met authors who are downright
charming and interesting folks, with original ideas, and I think this is
really the more common sort. I think the two factors authors have in
common with each other is that, at least on paper, they *have* to be
entertaining (never mind what they're like in person), and they have to
have thick skins if they're to survive the inevitable harsh critique.
Some of those elements are certainly in common with conference goers.
But I think there are important differences between each of the 3:
authors, geeks, and conference participants. The successful author
rarely worries about building a community & sharing 2-way
communications. Geeks rarely consider themselves as social creatures; a
certain amount of anti-socialism is almost necessary as a rite of
passage. "Those who can, do; those who can't, talk" is practically a
motto of "geek" culture, never mind that the whole concept of geekism is
almost purely a social phenomenon. Being a computer conferencing
participant is manifestly a social thing; while writing is important,
it's the social exchange that drives the whole process. Being a
participant is scary to most people: it involves a willingness to expose
yourself to public view and being seen negatively. A certain amount of
thick skin is necessary to overcome this barrier. Beyond that, however,
it's all social contract - the real issue is not whether your skin is
thicker than anyone else, or your language more abrasive; but how well
you fit in with the social norms of everybody else, and how much what
you say sparks other people to say interesting things in turn.
In one sense, this doesn't matter at all. A willingness to open one's
pockbook is not necessarily coupled with a willingness to say anything
at all. While many of our present members are active conferencing
participants, some are not, but just like the idea of grex. Considering
the number of active participants we have in the conferences, vs. the
total number of users on grex, it becomes clear there are large groups
of people using grex who probably haven't the least idea of how grex is
funded or run, let alone how they could get involved. Asking these
people to develop thick skins before contributing money is probably not
sound financial policy.
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polytarp
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response 257 of 271:
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Jul 12 09:21 UTC 2002 |
Do you really go anywhere?
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jaklumen
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response 258 of 271:
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Jul 12 10:59 UTC 2002 |
Hehehe, whatever, Phillie boy.
On the author thing: I've only met one author (via IM and e-mail
means), and that was through LARP: C.S. Friedman. *chuckle* While
roleplaying Jewish vampires is interesting, it's even more interesting
to experience her Jewish view for real =) And some days, I have to
take her with a grain of salt.. but I think that's just her
individually.
resp:256 Yes. I'm here because of the people. The debate is fine,
but I'd lose interest fairly quickly if I didn't find the people
interesting. GREX is a moderately social phenomenon, at least in
conferencing and chat.
I'm very flattered that someone decided to pay for my membership
anonymously. There honestly were times when I could have sent a little
money when I freely had it, but mostly, other bills had to take
precedence. I got a lot of nice things out of Grex, so I figured I
should give back, even though I knew I wouldn't use all the features of
membership. But I think it could be said that you get out what you put
into it; and conversely, if one gets a good benefit from Grex, then a
financial contribution of some sort is a good gesture.
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mcnally
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response 259 of 271:
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Jul 12 11:14 UTC 2002 |
re #256:
> I have met authors who had belief systems I've found very
> unpalatable. Some of them were people who made RIAA look
> downright reasonable in comparison. Ie, the sort of people
> whose anal possessiveness of their every word makes you want
> to run home, burn everything you have of theirs, and try very
> hard to forget they ever existed.
Are you describing a close encounter with Harlan Ellison?
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jmsaul
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response 260 of 271:
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Jul 12 12:02 UTC 2002 |
Re #258: I've met quite a few, and they're as varied in personality as
the rest of the population is. All well-read and most are
interesting to talk to, though.
Re #259: Can't think of anyone else...
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md
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response 261 of 271:
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Jul 12 13:38 UTC 2002 |
Joke that went around during a conference at my college one fall: What
do famous poets talk about? The World Series.
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davel
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response 262 of 271:
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Jul 12 14:22 UTC 2002 |
<dave regrets the thoughtless word that led to all this>
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mdw
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response 263 of 271:
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Jul 12 16:24 UTC 2002 |
I haven't met Harlan Ellison, and no, I'm not going to name names.
I remember meeting a CompuServe host of some sort at one point who I
thought had equally distasteful views. Among other things, I recall
that he was very proud that compuserve had finally discontinued their
programming service (at one point, besides CB & sigs, they also allowed
people to write fortran programs to run on compuserve's pdp-10s). If I
remember right, he viewed this as a triumph of the "common man" over
them alien technoids who weren't really representative of real people.
He had weird ideas on copyright too. I imagine he's found the
subsequent 20 years "uncomfortable", except possibly for the direction
copyright law has evolved towards.
I ran across this while trying to figure out if compuserve had forums or
sigs, and what they called their hosts:
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/sig/comm-nets/aoki.txt
It's an interesting view of online communities in Japan.
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cross
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response 264 of 271:
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Jul 12 18:19 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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remmers
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response 265 of 271:
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Jul 13 14:44 UTC 2002 |
You will show up as a very dislikeable character in my next novel.
Oops, almost forgot: :-)
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cross
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response 266 of 271:
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Jul 13 18:57 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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tsty
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response 267 of 271:
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Aug 18 10:45 UTC 2002 |
wow - all of the above in 11 days.
and 30+ days w/o a response, till now.
hmmmm, 24+ responses per day. LOTS to think about.
i have a thick skin, i dont have a thick wallet but i know ppl who do.
membership, per se, is not a big thing for me (ymmv, and it does) and
i'm on both systems, have given to both systems, will give to either/both
systems in teh future. oh, that means the duality of time and money.
i fully appreciate the time, money and text contributions of everyone
whether they 'like' me or not. 'like' doesnt matter all that much either.
as i said, i have a thick skin. i've needed it on both systems and
i won't say where i needed it more.
i think the text contributions are 1/3 of the balance, money 1/3 and
obviously, time 1/3.
every single one of us contributes, therefore, and far be it from me
to value one over the other, the whole is stronger adn greater and
mnore valuable than the sum of the parts.
i think quibbling over parts is an excercise in quibbling.
i also think that ppl of the calibre who become involved in either
system will find the ways to perpetuate the system(s).
interaction at a distance has inherent strengths which i do NOT see
diminishing.
getting a few more people involved in one or more of teh 1/3s is either
a function of *our* word of mouth/email or some 'advertising' (not
the dirty words yu see on tv).
i go back to confer II and i think that community strength frightened
it;s sponsers as they saw what a (great) monster they allowed to
flourish. oh, that threat to them is no more.
our community strength is not in opposition to an outside, potentially
malevolent, force except as it relates to our freedom to continue
our system(s).
bring in a friend or two over the next 6-8 months. they might like us
despite our quibbling. they ought to, we;re pretty darn good!
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polytarp
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response 268 of 271:
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Aug 19 13:33 UTC 2002 |
Don't listen to2.
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tsty
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response 269 of 271:
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Aug 23 04:58 UTC 2002 |
huh?
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polytarp
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response 270 of 271:
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Aug 23 19:15 UTC 2002 |
Don't listen to jp2.
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jp2
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response 271 of 271:
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Aug 23 19:52 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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