Reacting to the Predictable
Much ink has been spilled regarding predictive policing tactics as of late. Numerous law enforcement agencies all over the U.S. are relying on historical crime data, metropolitan topographical features, and other pieces of information to data model crimes yet to be committed.
We lack those pieces of high-tech gadgetry here at TTAC, yet I (and many others) predicted exactly what was about to happen in the comments of an incredibly well written and thoughtful story about a girl and her car.
That saddened me — and then I reached for my therapeutic ban hammer.
Two articles were posted today that I knew would elicit a certain response from the “Best & Brightest.”
The first post, Jack’s take on masculinity and crossovers … and a lot of other things … drew people in with the well-crafted prose one expects from Jack. The comments lit up. Members of the B&B were either in absolute agreement or violently opposed to the piece. Many hundreds of comments later, I haven’t moderated a single reply or banned a single person.
Then, later this morning, we posted a story from David Holzman about a girl who loved her car so much that she had it transported from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Some people thought this would be the best opportunity to express their new-found “masculinity” and take the story’s protagonist down a peg. Why those particular commenters felt the need to attack someone for enjoying and loving what they already have is beyond me.
Many comments were edited. Some comments were deleted entirety. And two users — RideHeight and CJinSD — have been given one-week bans.
So, you may ask, why the inconsistency in moderating comments and users between the two pieces?
Unlike these new-fangled predictive policing methods, I’ve taken a very reactionary stance toward comment moderation: if nobody complains to me directly about unruly comments, I leave them alone. However, I investigate immediately when someone picks up the phone and dials 911-TTAC.
Today garnered no moderation requests on Jack’s article, but it sure did on David’s. With the additional factor of the person in David’s story not being here to defend herself — not that she should/would want to be here with this crowd — something needed to be done.
Now you know. Clean it up.
[Image: Marcus Yeagley/Flickr]
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"Incredibly well written and thoughtful" is a bit much. Sure, it was a pleasant puff piece but (unlike the Van in Japan pieces) not really 'About Cars'. You could have replaced the Corolla with another inanimate object and not change the content much. If the subject had been male, you might have gotten 20 comments, and most a variation of 'get a job hippie' or 'white people problems'. I almost think you were purposely trolling the B&B, or else were naive at how the comment proles would respond (gratuitous cleavage shot?!). Do you even internet, bro?
I've been trying to figure out if this is a community of which I want to be a part. I disagree with the method by which moderation was enacted and feel that the story was, as Driver8 says, not really about the car. Bringing the car over was a common-sense decision with a fun road trip involved. That it escalated as much as it did, or that most of the comments are currently fawning over the decision, cement this as not being a community of which I want to be a part. I was looking for The Fun About Cars and took a wrong turn.