Sunday, January 17, 2010

The forum has gone to the dogs

I was trying to come up with a good title for this post and I think this is very appropriate.  I'm speaking of the cleveland.com  Solon Coumunty Forum, of course.

When I first started on the forum it was clear that "Joe" was the main man there.  It was also clear that there was a tension there, where people would attack others.  I was welcomed as all newcomers are, as long as they don't rock the boat or upset the balance of power.

The main topic, let's call it Political Satire (and that's being kind) really has no place on that forum, sure much of the political satire is directed at Solon, but it is so much of the content that the intended content, for neighbors to discuss topics of local interest, is drown out, lost in a sea of Joe's endless chatter.  This occurs with the use of classic Propaganda techniques, drowning out, shouting down, censoring (reporting content as an "abuse"), tired tirade repetition, and reverse victimization.

In the beginning Joe used good writing, wit, banter, to subtly control the flow of discussion.  As the Mayoral campaign got going, he stopped sugar coating his turds and got more brutal as his message continued to fail.

First came the Bobist's and their relentless attack on Drucker, democrats, "da machine", and anyone who didn't swallow the message according to Bob.

They even, with Bob's knowledge, took aim at me, IRL with violation of my privacy and intimidation.

It was ironic to see the Bobist message of Dirty Drucker (once even Very Dirty Drucker as in VDD/VD Drucker) while Bob was conducting an extremely dirty propaganda campaign aimed at his opponent. Reverse Victimization at work.

Then came the outsider trolls - BSer and CK, fresh recruits willing to do Joe's bidding.  Gone was the "agree to disagree" civility.

It was BSer who first called me an Internet Dog (the concept that Internet Anonymity allows even a "Dog" to pretend to be someone important) to discredit me.  I turned that around and said since my personal privacy was violated I was the only one who could prove that I wasn't a Dog (signing off as "Woof Woof").

After the election things died down, the trolls were around, but the rest of the Bobist took a vacation to lick their wounds, to review why dirty tricks didn't work.  So in the first few days of the new administration, what happens, Joe comes back in a flurry of repetitious, unrelenting attacks.  No facts needed, the Bobist conclusion is the only one opinion he would tolerate.  I stepped it up, he stepped it up, it got ugly.

Then he took another break.  I continued to report what I observed - lies, hypocrisy, propaganda, all to discourage our freedom of speech.  A message that they did not want to hear.

Joe came up with a new strategy - "da rules, da rules".  He could skirt them, I shouldn't.  Then came the demands, first by BSer, then by Joe, picking up the outsider's bad habits.  I was not allowed to comment to his posts - a new Joe rule, over and above cleveland.com. Ironic considering Joe often derails discussion with his "comedy". So when I commented on posts of interest, remaining on topic, that happened to be his, he cranked it up another notch, threats including violating my privacy, which he holds dear for himself, but apparently its optional for others who don't play by "his" rules.

Apparently one of my big infractions was identifying him as the King of his MBoT. I wasn't trying to be complementary, I was just observing a fact, all the interruptions, the devils advocate opposing everything, the satire, no one can say anything without getting the Joe Stamp. If he actually had something to add to the discussions, besides FTA, free beer, cheers, then that wouldn't be bad.  Joe is masquerading as the senior statesman and in essence is the biggest Troll, King of the Bobists and MBoTs.

I have responded to a lot of posts, but I've tried to stay on topic. I'm not a sports fan, so if someone is talking about whether this coach should stay or go, I won't bother them. If I were Joe, I'd jump in, off topic, and end with "cheers", to be followed by the MBoTs who'd likely insult the original poster and make disparaging remarks about the city the forum is named after, from all places CH.  Why are outsiders butting into our affairs, with an air of self appointed authority?

Encouraged by Joe's boldness, the Bobists are coming back to bully all those with different opinions.

The Forum is so full of dogs, and their waste product, that I can't cope with the smell. There comes a time when you have to say, "What's the Point?". I know some real people who I can talk to outside the forum, there's a few other's I'd like to know. But I'm just tired of the (dog) shit. I have more important battles to fight. If you ever get rid of those feral vermin or tame them, send me a note.