There’s a pretty large contingent of people who read USSM and hate it. For whatever reason, good or bad, it just reaches into their brain and throttles the angry part. As a result, they spend a lot of time writing us horrible emails and bad-mouthing us.
Whatever.
What I don’t understand, though, is why they insist on coming back. They clearly think it’s a waste of their time, but they’re unwilling to do anything else.
Some people hate and love us. You can go back through the comments and find that the guy who likes to savage us for not being on the right side (their side) of topic X have written comments about how much they agree when we’ve written articles about the subject. The sin, it appears, is to not be on their side all the time, or… I’m not not sure what it is.
Some of these people I’ve had conversations with, and they go like this:
Hater: “I hate you guys, you’re all a bunch of morons and I don’t know why you have any readers…”
Me: “I’m sorry you feel that way. There are many other places you might find yourself happier, like x, y, and z. In the meantime, please consider not reading our site, as it clearly makes you very angry.”
Hater: “No way, I love the site!”
I don’t get it. I feel like we should have some kind of CNN/MSNBC/etc-style news ticker that scrolls by the top, constantly repeating obvious things like “We condemn use of steroids — We’re not stathead zealots –” with each one linking to an article where we handled the topic at length.
I’d update the FAQ, but no one reads that anyway. Oh well.
ichigod | 11-Apr-06 at 12:32 pm | Permalink
It feels a bit silly commenting on a post that is a month old and I wonder that you would even see it given it was so long ago, but I felt compelled to give my 2 cents: U.S.S. Mariner ROCKS! It is the site I go to every day. (1 cent) Trying to rationalize crazy people will only make you crazy. Some people thrive on the kind of tension that is created by being crazy. Don’t get hooked! (2 cents)
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PositivePaul | 12-Apr-06 at 1:27 pm | Permalink
I haven’t been ’round these parts for awhile, so bear with my lack of timeliness, but Derek, I think I have an answer.
Since USSM has the reputation it does (as being an “authoritative” Mariners blog), anyone who wants to even remotely be considered “anyone” is going to want to be “seen” there in some capacity. Back 30 years ago, let’s say (yes, before your time and my time), someone in NY might not’ve liked what goes on at Studio 54, but there was a certain coolness in being seen in there mingling with the crowd (especially since it was a relatively hard place to get into in the first place).
Likewise, while people may not always like what’s being said at USSM, but they’re going to want to pay attention to, and stick their toes in, whatever’s going on. You’ll always have people making asses of themselves and trying to take down the people who run the joint — to, foolishly of course, make themselves look ‘bigger.’ It goes with the territory of being part of the “in” crowd.
When your “product” involves a level of humor or general snarkiness, there are always going to be people who appreciate it and people who abhor it. Likewise, someone may find something you say one day completely hilarious, yet something you say on another day completely repulsive. The authors of USSM and the readers of USSM both have to take everything with a grain of salt, and learn not to take things personally.
Since a lot of Western culture nowadays attaches the understanding of “truth” to one’s opinion, when that someone’s opinion is trashed (however tactfully done), they’re going to feel an emotional need to defend themselves (and strike back when they’re being ‘attacked’). Unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of the sense of debate and negotiative discussion that, really, our democracy was founded upon.
Anyway, just thought I’d share my thoughts. There have been times when I’m on either side of the “I hate USSM” and “I Love USSM” fence, so take these thoughts thusly. Hope this helps, though…
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Anonymous | 01-Jun-06 at 2:28 am | Permalink
USSM is great site that not only entertains but is very informative for a reader like me.
This is just my opinion, but you are sometimes a bit quick to the snark towards some of the posts. I can only imagine what many person-hours spent moderating comments does towards patience, but sometimes I think this only provides fuel for the equivalent of web ne’er-do-wells.
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