kearly
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I've given it a lot of thought over the past couple years and increasingly in the past few weeks, and I've decided with conviction that my Random Thoughts™ threads have run their course here at .net.
Explaining why is not easy and will require a lot of backtracking. Apologies if this turns into a meandering post, but if nothing else it will feel good to get a lot of this off my chest.
I've been blogging now for many years. I'm not talking about message boards, but writing for sites. For four years I had the privilege of contributing at Seahawks Draft Blog. I helped out Montana's 17power blog for a year. I've had a couple other blogging escapades in the past at non-sports websites.
For some reason, it always felt more natural posting my random threads thoughts at .net, which is why I opted out on the idea of posting them at 17power after the 2011 season.
The goal of my random thoughts threads is to capture the feel of the game with a little bit of Fareed Zakaria type analysis tossed in on the side. This in turn, has led to some of the very brightest and most interesting minds on .net coming out of their shells to share their football observations. In this sense, the threads have been a huge success, especially lately.
Unfortunately, I've slowly come to realize that blog type content does not belong on a message board with very passionate fans posted hours after a tough loss or frustrating win. My intent is only to start intelligent discussion, not to be the center of attention. Unfortunately, far too many posters have used these threads as a cathartic device. Rather than walk things off, they use these threads to spew anger, directed at me personally, as if it's my fault the Seahawks upset them. Far too often this leaves me feeling like the Alan Colmes of .net, the thoughtful nice guy that anti-intellectual dickheads just love to shit on.
It donned on me just this past week. In all my years of blogging at numerous blogs, I've enjoyed traffic on par or even in excess of .net at times, but never at any of those places did I have to endure the abuse I get here in almost every RT thread. The worst experience I've had at a blog is probably better than the best experience I've had posting RT here.
The reason is so obvious that I feel stupid for not realizing it years ago. When you have your own website, it's your home. People visit because they know what they want and the author provides that for them. They stay for the amusement and they remember to be polite (or at least 99.9% of them do anyway). A few even chime in with fantastic insights. It is the kind of place where people are actually looking to read an opinion rather than to express emotion. By design, it is not the kind of place people go to vent, at least in the vast majority of cases.
Message boards, on the other hand, are designed with more of a 'vent' aspect. It is the place people go to express emotions.
While I truly love the discussion that many of the recent RT threads have created from posters like Scottemojo and Tical, the problem is that it's still my name and big ass OP that's on the front cover of the thread. Which has made me a target for angry people, the kind of target I don't want to be. The kind of target nobody wants to be.
It certainly wouldn't bother me if someone else picked up the mantle to get an intelligent discussion thread rolling after games. I'd probably participate in it. But I just don't think I can headline any more of them.
Before anyone asks, I have no interest in continuing these posts on a blog. I don't have that kind of time or energy anymore, and besides, I think it's been a good run.
I know some of you will be seriously bummed by this, and I don't blame you. It's been a fun time, it's always a bummer when changes come. I wish I could keep going, but the abuse has just added up to being too much over the years and though I'm quitting today, the truth is that I've been hanging on for a very long time.
...
One last parting shot. Lately I've seen a lot of crap being dished out for Hsu and Hawkblogger. Specifically regarding them personally. Their character.
I'm of the opinion that if 95% of .net had the following, attention, and Seahawks access those guys had, they'd be no better.
The most challenging aspect of blogging and giving one's own opinion is to avoid narcissism. Giving an opinion naturally lends itself to the use of words like "I" or "me." It just does. Believe me, I've been trying to cut those words out for years and it's damn near impossible. As the sentence just written proves.
Has it gotten to their heads some? Sure, but they are saints when compared to the John Morgan's of the world and his acolytes. You give opinions, you make informed predictions, you get access. It's going to go to your head. Trust me on this.
In general, I think we come down WAY too hard on those who sacrifice their time and energy to inform and entertain us.
And if someone else does end up doing a weekly Random Thoughts thread that really catches on, can we please all agree to not shit on the guy? And to make sure that those that do are made to know that they aren't helping. By everyone. That would certainly help the author's shelf life, if nothing else.
Thanks for reading all that. It's my hope that somehow a thread without my name attached to it can still get the most interesting minds to show up. If that could work out somehow, that would be awesome.
Explaining why is not easy and will require a lot of backtracking. Apologies if this turns into a meandering post, but if nothing else it will feel good to get a lot of this off my chest.
I've been blogging now for many years. I'm not talking about message boards, but writing for sites. For four years I had the privilege of contributing at Seahawks Draft Blog. I helped out Montana's 17power blog for a year. I've had a couple other blogging escapades in the past at non-sports websites.
For some reason, it always felt more natural posting my random threads thoughts at .net, which is why I opted out on the idea of posting them at 17power after the 2011 season.
The goal of my random thoughts threads is to capture the feel of the game with a little bit of Fareed Zakaria type analysis tossed in on the side. This in turn, has led to some of the very brightest and most interesting minds on .net coming out of their shells to share their football observations. In this sense, the threads have been a huge success, especially lately.
Unfortunately, I've slowly come to realize that blog type content does not belong on a message board with very passionate fans posted hours after a tough loss or frustrating win. My intent is only to start intelligent discussion, not to be the center of attention. Unfortunately, far too many posters have used these threads as a cathartic device. Rather than walk things off, they use these threads to spew anger, directed at me personally, as if it's my fault the Seahawks upset them. Far too often this leaves me feeling like the Alan Colmes of .net, the thoughtful nice guy that anti-intellectual dickheads just love to shit on.
It donned on me just this past week. In all my years of blogging at numerous blogs, I've enjoyed traffic on par or even in excess of .net at times, but never at any of those places did I have to endure the abuse I get here in almost every RT thread. The worst experience I've had at a blog is probably better than the best experience I've had posting RT here.
The reason is so obvious that I feel stupid for not realizing it years ago. When you have your own website, it's your home. People visit because they know what they want and the author provides that for them. They stay for the amusement and they remember to be polite (or at least 99.9% of them do anyway). A few even chime in with fantastic insights. It is the kind of place where people are actually looking to read an opinion rather than to express emotion. By design, it is not the kind of place people go to vent, at least in the vast majority of cases.
Message boards, on the other hand, are designed with more of a 'vent' aspect. It is the place people go to express emotions.
While I truly love the discussion that many of the recent RT threads have created from posters like Scottemojo and Tical, the problem is that it's still my name and big ass OP that's on the front cover of the thread. Which has made me a target for angry people, the kind of target I don't want to be. The kind of target nobody wants to be.
It certainly wouldn't bother me if someone else picked up the mantle to get an intelligent discussion thread rolling after games. I'd probably participate in it. But I just don't think I can headline any more of them.
Before anyone asks, I have no interest in continuing these posts on a blog. I don't have that kind of time or energy anymore, and besides, I think it's been a good run.
I know some of you will be seriously bummed by this, and I don't blame you. It's been a fun time, it's always a bummer when changes come. I wish I could keep going, but the abuse has just added up to being too much over the years and though I'm quitting today, the truth is that I've been hanging on for a very long time.
...
One last parting shot. Lately I've seen a lot of crap being dished out for Hsu and Hawkblogger. Specifically regarding them personally. Their character.
I'm of the opinion that if 95% of .net had the following, attention, and Seahawks access those guys had, they'd be no better.
The most challenging aspect of blogging and giving one's own opinion is to avoid narcissism. Giving an opinion naturally lends itself to the use of words like "I" or "me." It just does. Believe me, I've been trying to cut those words out for years and it's damn near impossible. As the sentence just written proves.
Has it gotten to their heads some? Sure, but they are saints when compared to the John Morgan's of the world and his acolytes. You give opinions, you make informed predictions, you get access. It's going to go to your head. Trust me on this.
In general, I think we come down WAY too hard on those who sacrifice their time and energy to inform and entertain us.
And if someone else does end up doing a weekly Random Thoughts thread that really catches on, can we please all agree to not shit on the guy? And to make sure that those that do are made to know that they aren't helping. By everyone. That would certainly help the author's shelf life, if nothing else.
Thanks for reading all that. It's my hope that somehow a thread without my name attached to it can still get the most interesting minds to show up. If that could work out somehow, that would be awesome.