July 3, 2012

• What Is Xanga? A Rebuttal RYC

  On Sunday, June 17th I posted a rather typical entry for me. Longish, detailed, well researched, with self created graphics. It was a heartfelt "tribute" to Stacey Knapp, a Xanga blogger who had recently died. I created it by "editing" the Xangan's blog into a series of "benchmark" posts, with links to the actual entries. It took a lot of time during the week previous to read the blog, make notes, collect links, and construct the entry. This was an amazing and life affirming process for me. The title I gave the entry is: "What is Xanga". My conclusion: "Xanga is Stacey. Xanga is you. Xanga is me."  I've always attempted to be original, entertaining, creative, and reasonable in my blogging. I never became a "Xangalebrity" on this service, but I would hope that I've been enough of a presence in Xangaland that I may be remembered. I must say I have received a lot in the way of comments during my eight year tenancy on the Xanga website, and you'd think I'd be prepared for anything. I always say "I'm here for the comments."

  I wasn't prepared to find a rambling almost incoherent comment from Sheldon Cooper. Bazinga!

  

  After reading three positive comments I was quite disturbed by the fourth. I like to proclaim that nothing really bothers me much on the internet. It is the internet after all, and one would think long time bloggers like me have developed a thick "blogger's skin" esp. if we blog not only for ourselves and our subscribers and friends, but for anyone and everyone who happens to drop by.  

  A lot of commenters "below" the comment to which I am addressing here seemed to take issue with it. The comment is almost as long as the blog entry I posted, and is a rant more than anything, containing criticism of my blogging style, and attempting to make the case that I shouldn't post tribute blogs or try to tell anyone how to blog. I've tried to forget receiving this comment, but I left it online, and I keep going back to it in my mind. I understand that there are "trolls" and such on Xanga. The blogger who wrote the comment is not familiar to me. The blogger's username is Big_Bang_Theory, from the popular televison comedy on CBS. The profile pic (shown above) is of the character Sheldon Cooper. I did "reply" to the comment which bothered me. A reply to my reply didn't seem to make any sense. The comment string can be found by clicking the link to my entry above. As usual with most commenters to my blog, I made an attempt to visit Mr. Cooper and check out his blog. I didn't have time to leave a comment on the first visit, and on the second, found that I had been blocked from the site. I frequently write that nothing is "wrong" with Xanga except some of the bloggers who "settle" here.

  The following is an edited version of the comment by @Big_Bang_Theory with annotations in yellow highlight.

  You can't possibly be serious.

  The proper way to do xanga?- "...Xangan has morning sickness, Xanga  has baby, gets married, gets divorced, gets remarried, gets sick,dies. YAWN!!!  Even your religious bias is present in your instructions about what Xanga should really be about "Stacy enters heaven." hurl. I say that because you're telling people how to blog and I'm saying that's a boring way to blog but one option...

  While it is true that I've frequently championed the fact that our blogs are our legacies, and mine has been constructed with that express purpose, by posting an example of someone's distilled life in an entry, in no way could it be construed that I'm "telling people how to blog." The weblog format has been around for a long time, and there are billions of them online. Why would someone begin their comment on a tribute blog by dissing the person being paid tribute? Also, as is possibly the case with most bloggers who leave comments such as this, when they paraphrase something supposedly from the entry which is false (the blogger didn't get divorced) they call attention to the fact their agenda didn't include reading the entry. Oh, and I'm a pantheist. I don't believe in heaven. I pondered how to describe the afterlife for the subtitle, and figured heaven was a good choice, because the blogger was a Christian. 

  ...Xanga is a place for many troubled people...to rant and rave and yell...and whine and moan about how much their life sucks, and they are not required to do that under their real name, because if they were, they would not have that outlet, do not tell them they're doing it wrong...Don't you try to make them feel like they are "doing xanga wrong." Don't try to mold everybody into a mike nyurini type of blogger, Good Lord spare Xanga that.

  Narrow minded much?

  This is where I started to get really upset. Not because Sheldon spelled my last name incorrectly, or that he seems to think I'm a "type of blogger" from which Xanga shoud be spared. But calling me narrow minded? I think Sheldon should remove the blinders covering his own narrow mindedness.There's more of the same, and then a personal attack, er, I mean some criticism of my "style" as a blogger.

  ...not just anyone could get hundreds of views on blogs that are way too long, - have not seen it happening for you, why? Because what xanga is for you is impossible for some other people to read, and/or to muster up the motivation to read all that stuff, because most of it doesn't grab a public audience,because it's only about you, and it's way too long...way too long about me me me - no it won't. It's fine to blog mind numbing droning on and on and on about you you you, you you you you you, that is your choice. Don't tell people that's the only thing xanga is supposed to be about! Good Lord that would  kill it off today if people listened to that wrong headed advice.

  One gal who was over watching my videos once proclaimed: You must like you an awful lot. I smiled and agreed. I do like me. I'm a likable guy. A lot of others here on Xanga do like "me" and my "blogging style". Every time I go on hiatus, I get messages asking me why I'm not blogging. Well, I've blogged a lot of my life, and if someone finds my blog "mind numbing droning on and on about mememe" then why would they stick around an leave such a long comment dissing that style. And why would they pick a tribute blog which might be read by the fallen blogger's family as a place to put their tirade?

  ...I've observed as you dig for that first name you are hell bent to get your hands on even if people don't like it you insist on beginning every comment with "Dear [real name here].  Very old school, not really your right, you don't ask people, you just try to get a name and do it. You do that because of how you want all of xanga to be like how you want it to be, it's irritating to some people but they don't want to be rude and tell you, so I'll tell you on their behalf. It's personally intrusive unless you have express permission.

  I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this point reading the comment. Sheldon "observes" me "digging" for a real name. As I mentioned, this is the first time I've ever even encountered this blogger. Is Sheldon a troll? He certainly seems to have a thing for my propensity to match a given name to a username. NOBODY has ever complained about this. One blogger asked me to use her username instead of her "real name" (or at least the one she said was "real".) I complied, and then found that she and other correspondents used her "real name" regularly. You can't play special interests on the internet. It's totally transparent. Unlike some bloggers who liberally sprinkle @username (that will probably show up as a link) throughout their blogs in order to gain readership and hits, I don't blog about others on Xanga. But I correspond with a lot of folks, and this is my way of being folksy. "It's irritating" to Sheldon. That's a given. It seems at this point that my very existence on this earth bothers Mr. Cooper. And I believe he has an IQ of 187. That's about 57 points higher than mine!

  No one likes trolls, no one likes stalkers, no one likes illegal activity, most of you LOVE xanga drama and you're in it right here. And you've gone and gotten yourself involved in it.

  WTF?

  Your style of blogging is actually  boring to some readers and no one will tell you that out right, because they're just being nice, but they just won't read it much, Painstaking recounting of your personal details. How baldmike does it. No template for how it should be done. I think if everybody blogged like that very few people would enjoy it here. Your title is misleading, presented as if it's the only right way to do it, not clear that this is only your opinion, so I'm saying it, that's just your opinion.

  Okay. It's the "title" that ignited this rant? The title is a question, and the answer is that Xanga is all of us who blog here. Yet Sheldon Cooper @Big_Bang_Theory seems to keep repeating that he thinks I'm instructing people how to blog.  

  Reproducing countless pictures of yourself, facebook timeline montage, your choice, giving real names, real dates, a personal autobigraphical 'adventures in mike" or whatever using your real name, your choice, don't recommend it, it's not safe right now. look at xanga terms of privacy tell you you should be careful about, telling true stories about your real life, don't try to shame people into being unsafe onn xanga right now. If you had any idea what's going on with legal violations, and you wouldn't, because it's not posted, you wouldn't be advising this (or maybe you would, I don't know what socialists do). And you avoid Xanga drama like the plague, so you say, I've observed you saying that a few times. Telling people how to do their xanga is not avoiding xanga drama like the plague. I've been witnessing the witch hunt and all the talk about how much people like you STATE you hate xanga drama, and I've been keeping notes, because they're all hypocrites.

  Paranoid Schizophrenic much?

  Don't try to push your way on everybody else, shaming others for not being like you is bullyish...  Where cyberstalking and  illegal harassment are being engaged in, telling people "posts more of the real you" is not the way to go, but there you go. cyberstalking will ruin the Xanga experience for many, and it may ruin more for them then just their Xanga experience, that is called legal damage in some ases, their personal lives have been violated and hate blogged, that is cyberstalking, and while that may be fine with you it's illegal in the state they live in and luckily the laws are processed under the state and not under the law of xanga according to baldmike,

  Somebody comes over to my blog and accuses me of cyberstalking? Pushing "my way on everybody else"???? This would be laughable except this comment is directed to me by somebody I've never encountered in the Xangasphere. (And wouldn't even let me visit their blog!) I'm thickening my skin. But I'm upset.

  ...there is a difference between hurt feelings and legal damages, there's a difference between anger and criminal activity, your decision to ignore it and pretend that your not involved in 'power and control' right now by trying to shame people because they don't blog like you do? ... Don't tell them to reveal more right now. You endanger them.

  At this point I'm wondering why "Sheldon" has taken this particular username. On the show, he's obsessive compulsive and lacks a good many social graces, but he's insanely logical, and intelligent. His alterego here in Xangaland sounds like an agoraphobe with mental problems who forgot to take their meds.

  ...You are just one more on the long list of folks who do not know the difference between a little xanga drama and serious xanga cyberstalking punishable by 5 years in prison.  Your timing is truly unfortunate.

  6/17/2012 1:58 PM Big_Bang_Theory 
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

  In my reply, I wrote: "I'm one of a bazillion bloggers, and this is the internet. I don't make any attempt to "instruct" or make anyone "do Xanga" in any specific way. The internet has never had a rulebook, and it's certainly not my specific intent to create one. ..I don't believe I've ever read your blog. It's just as important as any other blog. Thank you for the long comment. I especially love reading your criticism of my "blogging style" etc. "Your style of blogging is actually boring to some readers and no one will tell you that out right," I've been "told" I write very long blogs. By everyone. I type really fast, too. My blogs are as long as they are. And most of them are all about me. I don't remember inviting you to the party, but your as important as anyone else in the room, so welcome! The great thing about the internet is that if you find something boring, instant entertainment is only a click away. "Old School" You betcha. But this isn't a classroom and I'm not teaching anything. Go and blog as you were.

   Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool

  Whew. Well, ya know? I'm glad I got this off my chest. It's past 10pm now. I've got to go to work in the morning. I don't expect too many people to read this, and I don't expect many comments. I don't "call anyone out" here on my blog. (It's all about me, don't ya know?) But I want Mr. Cooper to realize that their rambling comment, to which I responded reasonably (and just got more incoherent folderal in reply) did upset me greatly.

  People who write comments such as this on the blogs of people such as I should possibly get off the internet, get out of the house, and look around. It's a wonderful world, full of all kinds of possibilities. You possibly spend entirely too much time on Xanga, reading between the lines of the blogs you encounter. You remind me not of the TV character of Sheldon Cooper at all, but of my ex girlfriend Pat (which may or may not be her real name, but whose story I've told in depth here on my blog.)  She had a limited vocabulary, so when she read the newspaper, she'd inject her own inferences and meaning into the words she didn't understand.

  I remain, as above and always, Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool

  What upsets me the most of course is that I'll never be able to watch The Big Bang Theory again.

  • 1:27 am
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