Tag: comic book resources

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salarta:

I have a rant here, and I’m not linking to anything I talk about here publicly because 1) I don’t want to contribute to the bad bits, and 2) in the off chance a mod or admin at CBR sees this, I want them to figure out for themselves where the problem is and actually do their jobs.

Even though I…

Update, an admin deleted posts and gave a warning in the thread. It only took him, oh, about 8 hours from when I made my Tumblr post, which is about 10-12 hours before they took any action.

In response to halcyonstarfish, I agree with you. I think CBR is by and large biased in a sense where admins and mods will let things slide for stuff they like or agree with, but act harsher toward anyone they have something against. It’s why I say CBR isn’t a very good gauge for fan interest. I’m not even sure I’d say it’s good for feedback anymore like I used to. If you’re looking for criticism, what you get out of CBR is CBR-approved criticism, not real, full, honest criticism.

That’s not to say there isn’t a need for some gatekeeping, nor that mods/admins at CBR don’t allow any differing opinions at all. I’ve seen the need for gatekeeping in some cases very vividly as a result of GamerGate, and the average person doesn’t want to completely shut themselves out from other views. But as you said, I think their bias gets the better of them.

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I have a rant here, and I’m not linking to anything I talk about here publicly because 1) I don’t want to contribute to the bad bits, and 2) in the off chance a mod or admin at CBR sees this, I want them to figure out for themselves where the problem is and actually do their jobs.

Even though I refuse to participate there now (will explain later), I do keep tabs on discussions and information on ComicBookResources. That’s one of several areas where I look to gauge fan and consumer activity.

On one of CBR’s threads, a poster recently blasted one of Marvel’s editors for his weight. This was in addition to saying the editor is motivated by ego and hates fans. This was all about one specific person, and he’s explicitly named. The post has been up for hours.

So here’s my question: why did I get threatened with a ban for much less while posts that harsh get a pass?

The post I made that somehow earned a ban threat wasn’t anywhere near that bad. All I did was say Marvel as a general broad entity was being greedy and egotistical. I didn’t name a single person when I said it. I didn’t insult someone’s weight as a way to disparage them as a person. I complained about the general state of Marvel and the current direction and motivations of the company.

The reasoning as I understood it for my ban threat was that because CBR had a huge problem with attacks and harassment last year, they needed to be strict to the point of being obscenely heavyhanded. Letting the post I’m referring to stay as-is, no deletion, no warning, no edit to remove anything really offensive while having threatened me with a ban for much MUCH less, flies directly in the face of that reasoning. 

Here’s my theory: CBR, or at least the specific admin that threatened me with a ban, wanted an excuse to get rid of or silence me, personally. I don’t say any of the sort of mean, cruel, insulting things that would make it easy to assume my complaints are pure hatred and spite. I say exactly what I think, I try to be fair as best as I can (knowing full well I’ll screw up at times), and I try to be thorough.

If I see nothing about that post changed or removed by tonight, mainly the fat-shaming of the editor, I am going to assume exactly the above: that the admin threatened me with a ban not because I actually did anything wrong according to CBR rules and guidelines, but because they wanted to run me off the board and that was the closest to a valid excuse they could find to do it.