Oh no they didn't!
October 7, 2014 11:25 AM Subscribe
On the way to infamy, some believe, [Oh No They Didn't] lost its original mission, becoming infamous more for its trolls than for its vision of a celebrity-gossip utopia. Today, few users even know three black girls founded the site.
I've heard of this happening with plenty of LiveJournal communities, either where the original maintainers disappeared and the users tried and tried and tried to take over the comm but there were no maintainers, or this case where the original maintainers gave other people mod status and then got kicked off their own comm. It's just usually not in communities this large or well-known.
posted by Electric Elf at 11:54 AM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Electric Elf at 11:54 AM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
i know it's totally silly, but i'm still on ontd every day. i think it's weird to suggest that most users don't know about the history - it gets talked about a lot. pretty much every thing discussed in the article i learned about first in ontd comment threads. also, while i'm pretty sure they used to post vice content, i think it's a banned source now, much like perez hilton (one of the reasons i like the site - no perez).
posted by nadawi at 11:55 AM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by nadawi at 11:55 AM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
ONTD is one of the biggest gathering places for fandoms all over, and it has friggin' offshoots (omonatheydidn't is a major ~destination for English-speaking K-pop fans, ontd_glee took over the rapidly dwindling Glee fandom a couple of years ago, etc.).
All save one of the ONTD/offshoot communities I experienced were nasty. ontd-merlin was fine, probably because it never got big. YMMV
posted by fatehunter at 11:55 AM on October 7, 2014
All save one of the ONTD/offshoot communities I experienced were nasty. ontd-merlin was fine, probably because it never got big. YMMV
posted by fatehunter at 11:55 AM on October 7, 2014
one of the things i like about it is how varied it can be - kpop, british stuff, riot grrl, and on and on and on. there definitely some nasty troll stuff going on, but i see way more people mocking the trolls than the trolls themselves, of course i never expand the giant comment sections. i'm always surprised when people know each other and pull out weird history -but i'm not a member, just a viewer.
posted by nadawi at 12:00 PM on October 7, 2014
posted by nadawi at 12:00 PM on October 7, 2014
I'm putting together a timeline of events from the article:
2004: Founded by Erin Lang, Bri Draffen, and Breniecia Reuben
2005: Draffen leaves
[unknown, but around that time, I guess]: Reuben leaves
2006: Lang adds Brenden Delzer and Elizabeth Carter as maintainers after having participated sporadically for some time
2009: Lang comes back, finds out that she's been removed as a maintainer. Delzer and Carter say that it was a safety measure, restore her maintainer status, then remove it again for sporadic participation.
So, is it really "whites allegedly stealing black culture", or more like "community founders walk away after a couple of years, later regret it after the inheritors hit paydirt"?
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:01 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
2004: Founded by Erin Lang, Bri Draffen, and Breniecia Reuben
2005: Draffen leaves
[unknown, but around that time, I guess]: Reuben leaves
2006: Lang adds Brenden Delzer and Elizabeth Carter as maintainers after having participated sporadically for some time
2009: Lang comes back, finds out that she's been removed as a maintainer. Delzer and Carter say that it was a safety measure, restore her maintainer status, then remove it again for sporadic participation.
So, is it really "whites allegedly stealing black culture", or more like "community founders walk away after a couple of years, later regret it after the inheritors hit paydirt"?
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:01 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Except for the part where the founder took time off and then they wouldn't let her back in.
posted by 41swans at 12:15 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by 41swans at 12:15 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
So, is it really "whites allegedly stealing black culture", or more like "community founders walk away after a couple of years, later regret it after the inheritors hit paydirt"?
It seems disingenuous to frame Lang's lack of participation as "walk[ing] away." According to the article her mother died of brain cancer in 2004 and she became "depressed [while] going through real-life family stuff." Several months after adding Delzer and Carter as maintainers she lost access to a computer although "both Lang and Delzer say Lang occasionally emailed the maintainers to tell them she lacked a computer." She wasn't able to rejoin the community "until spring of 2009. Still without a computer, she lived in Birmingham, Alabama, with Brian, another community member."
posted by Slurms MacKenzie at 12:17 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
It seems disingenuous to frame Lang's lack of participation as "walk[ing] away." According to the article her mother died of brain cancer in 2004 and she became "depressed [while] going through real-life family stuff." Several months after adding Delzer and Carter as maintainers she lost access to a computer although "both Lang and Delzer say Lang occasionally emailed the maintainers to tell them she lacked a computer." She wasn't able to rejoin the community "until spring of 2009. Still without a computer, she lived in Birmingham, Alabama, with Brian, another community member."
posted by Slurms MacKenzie at 12:17 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
I was one of the first ONTD members back in 2005. I remember the founders disappearing suddenly, and in their place was Brenden, who I will forever associate with a Chihuahua wearing a sparkly pink tiara and a fluffy ballerina skirt. It upsets me to hear that there was probably an effort to bar the original three from rejoining. Brenden's barely on anymore as it is, and with all the advertising the site's pretty difficult to use comfortably. Not what it was in its heyday.
posted by Hermione Granger at 12:24 PM on October 7, 2014
posted by Hermione Granger at 12:24 PM on October 7, 2014
there were totally circumstances - but ontd suffered as the founders got bored/got busy/had real life shit come up - i honestly think if the new guys hadn't stepped in ontd would have shut down - the trolling and nastiness, to my mind, was at its worst in the interim. should they have let her back in when she wanted back in? maybe - probably - but to my mind this article doesn't do a good job of making that case.
oh, and never view the site without adblock. it really is hard to use with all the ads.
posted by nadawi at 12:27 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
oh, and never view the site without adblock. it really is hard to use with all the ads.
posted by nadawi at 12:27 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
i <3 forums and this was one of the best.
forums > all other type of internet
they are like the Platonic city state ideal of internet with founders as philosopher kings
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:29 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
forums > all other type of internet
they are like the Platonic city state ideal of internet with founders as philosopher kings
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:29 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
Oh god, it's like my two Internet spaces colliding.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:33 PM on October 7, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:33 PM on October 7, 2014 [7 favorites]
Yassssss expose ha!
posted by supercrayon at 12:37 PM on October 7, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by supercrayon at 12:37 PM on October 7, 2014 [9 favorites]
Yassssss expose ha!
STOP. It’s just wrong to see this sort of speech on Metafilter, man.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:42 PM on October 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
STOP. It’s just wrong to see this sort of speech on Metafilter, man.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:42 PM on October 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
no1curr
posted by orrnyereg at 12:45 PM on October 7, 2014 [18 favorites]
posted by orrnyereg at 12:45 PM on October 7, 2014 [18 favorites]
While I can see the awkwardness of it, I've dealt with communities with flaky maintainers before. If you disappear for three years, even for Reasons, I don't know that I think the people who have been doing the work in the meantime are required to let you back in, especially if you continue to be flaky. And removing the admin status of someone who isn't logging in is just good security.
posted by tavella at 12:47 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by tavella at 12:47 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
if only mefi had images.
[guy waving glow sticks]
[kermit sipping tea]
[beyonce crying]
posted by nadawi at 12:48 PM on October 7, 2014 [14 favorites]
[guy waving glow sticks]
[kermit sipping tea]
[beyonce crying]
posted by nadawi at 12:48 PM on October 7, 2014 [14 favorites]
i see way more people mocking the trolls than the trolls themselves
My biggest problem with ONTD/offshoots aren't the trolls, who exist everywhere. In smaller offshoot communities, mod teams and cohorts carry on vendettas against certain celebrities and fanbases, and they can easily set the tones of the places. ONTD itself is big enough that no single group can hold sway for long; instead, it has shifting currents of vendettas and favorites.
In fairness, quite often ONTD gets a vendetta because a celebrity has said problematic stuff and the fans are irrationally defensive. But 9 times of of 10, ONTD carries the vendettas too far, and rival fanbases take the opportunities to throw stones. People keep scores, waiting for your fav to fuck up so they can return the favor. It's counterproductive to the cause of combating problematic attitudes, and that's putting it mildly.
And then there are vendettas that begin because some people find other people (celebs or fans) to be assholes for no specific reason they can articulate. Or one person in one group has a hostile run-in with another person from another group, and it escalates somehow. Or people think a fanbase produce and spam too much fanwork. Or my personal (least) favorite: [group] have such high opinions of themselves. lol they're the worst. Because lonely people with low self-esteem trying to pump each other up and have fun together is the worst aspect of Internet.
posted by fatehunter at 12:48 PM on October 7, 2014
My biggest problem with ONTD/offshoots aren't the trolls, who exist everywhere. In smaller offshoot communities, mod teams and cohorts carry on vendettas against certain celebrities and fanbases, and they can easily set the tones of the places. ONTD itself is big enough that no single group can hold sway for long; instead, it has shifting currents of vendettas and favorites.
In fairness, quite often ONTD gets a vendetta because a celebrity has said problematic stuff and the fans are irrationally defensive. But 9 times of of 10, ONTD carries the vendettas too far, and rival fanbases take the opportunities to throw stones. People keep scores, waiting for your fav to fuck up so they can return the favor. It's counterproductive to the cause of combating problematic attitudes, and that's putting it mildly.
And then there are vendettas that begin because some people find other people (celebs or fans) to be assholes for no specific reason they can articulate. Or one person in one group has a hostile run-in with another person from another group, and it escalates somehow. Or people think a fanbase produce and spam too much fanwork. Or my personal (least) favorite: [group] have such high opinions of themselves. lol they're the worst. Because lonely people with low self-esteem trying to pump each other up and have fun together is the worst aspect of Internet.
posted by fatehunter at 12:48 PM on October 7, 2014
There’s some speculation that yesternight is the one responsible for recently reporting numerous old ONTD posts, resulting in a few posters getting suspended for copyright infringement for posts made a long time ago. hawaii_bombay was one of the suspended posters, although I’m not sure if that was related because she got the boot a while ago. Unfortunately, HB’s suspension meant the loss of the greatest ONTD thread ever.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:49 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by imnotasquirrel at 12:49 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
they are like the Platonic city state ideal of internet with founders as philosopher kings
An impossible ideal at best, a justification for totalitarianism at worst?
posted by Sangermaine at 12:51 PM on October 7, 2014 [4 favorites]
An impossible ideal at best, a justification for totalitarianism at worst?
posted by Sangermaine at 12:51 PM on October 7, 2014 [4 favorites]
I adore ONTD. I get all posts in RSS and still comment regularly. The number of Friday nights I spent hangng around FFAF back in the day, I couldn't even count.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:56 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:56 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
*fires up youreindangergurl.gif*
posted by mynameisluka at 12:56 PM on October 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by mynameisluka at 12:56 PM on October 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
if only mefi had images.
Didn't we have those at one point?
[picture of guy running ONTD with white splotches on his face a la Perez Hilton]
posted by MikeMc at 1:48 PM on October 7, 2014
Didn't we have those at one point?
[picture of guy running ONTD with white splotches on his face a la Perez Hilton]
posted by MikeMc at 1:48 PM on October 7, 2014
While I can see the awkwardness of it, I've dealt with communities with flaky maintainers before. If you disappear for three years, even for Reasons, I don't know that I think the people who have been doing the work in the meantime are required to let you back in, especially if you continue to be flaky. And removing the admin status of someone who isn't logging in is just good security.
If someone only resorts to decency when it's required, are they really being decent? I'm sorry, but I can think of a hundred ways to do what's best for the stability of the site/community, while still acknowledging and respecting the founders and their contribution.
There a significant amount of Internet (and popular) culture that either directly comes from or was honed to a fine polish on ONTD. When you consider how underrepresented women and people of color are when it comes to the monetization of that culture, the whitewashing of the founders contribution to the culture is kinda bullshit, regardless of the current holders rationalizations or intent.
posted by billyfleetwood at 2:25 PM on October 7, 2014
If someone only resorts to decency when it's required, are they really being decent? I'm sorry, but I can think of a hundred ways to do what's best for the stability of the site/community, while still acknowledging and respecting the founders and their contribution.
There a significant amount of Internet (and popular) culture that either directly comes from or was honed to a fine polish on ONTD. When you consider how underrepresented women and people of color are when it comes to the monetization of that culture, the whitewashing of the founders contribution to the culture is kinda bullshit, regardless of the current holders rationalizations or intent.
posted by billyfleetwood at 2:25 PM on October 7, 2014
I'm not quite sure what you are addressing there, billyfleetwood . If you flake for years, I think a perfectly decent person can decide you aren't responsible enough enough to be re-admined. A livejournal community like that is the work of many people, work a maintainer can destroy. Only the owner can delete the entire community, but a maintainer can delete any and all entries.
Should they have? I don't know, but I wouldn't be terribly inclined myself unless I was confident the flakiness was done with. If she had deleted the community before she walked away, I would have thought it was jerky but within her rights. Once she walked away and handed it to other people who put three years of work into it, I don't think they were obligated to hand all that work back to be potentially destroyed.
Really, if she wanted to dispute it legally, then she should be looking at LJ. As creator of the community, she should technically have become owner when they distinguished the role in 2011, instead LJ seems to have taken the opportunity to seize ownership of it, revoke the permanent account status, and profit from the advertising.
posted by tavella at 2:54 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
Should they have? I don't know, but I wouldn't be terribly inclined myself unless I was confident the flakiness was done with. If she had deleted the community before she walked away, I would have thought it was jerky but within her rights. Once she walked away and handed it to other people who put three years of work into it, I don't think they were obligated to hand all that work back to be potentially destroyed.
Really, if she wanted to dispute it legally, then she should be looking at LJ. As creator of the community, she should technically have become owner when they distinguished the role in 2011, instead LJ seems to have taken the opportunity to seize ownership of it, revoke the permanent account status, and profit from the advertising.
posted by tavella at 2:54 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
That was actually a really good article, impressed by Vice again.
And ohman, LJ moderator/maintainer wars. Back in the day there was no moderator/maintainer/owner distinction, only a "maintainer" status where any maintainer could remove any other maintainer at any time. I know because I was briefly a maintainer of the death_note community on LJ, before I was booted off with the original founder by an infamous troll who also volunteered to help out. There was then a schism and two competing Death Note communities. ~Drama~, as they say.
posted by subdee at 3:35 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
And ohman, LJ moderator/maintainer wars. Back in the day there was no moderator/maintainer/owner distinction, only a "maintainer" status where any maintainer could remove any other maintainer at any time. I know because I was briefly a maintainer of the death_note community on LJ, before I was booted off with the original founder by an infamous troll who also volunteered to help out. There was then a schism and two competing Death Note communities. ~Drama~, as they say.
posted by subdee at 3:35 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was a little surprised that this article didn't seem to mention ONTD's constant content theft. The site posts entire huge articles, which is pretty egregious, and often the "sourcing" is a link that's clickable on one single numeral. (An excerpt? Okay. The whole thing? No.) As someone who's been ripped off by the site multiple times, it's beyond frustrating.
posted by Charity Garfein at 3:44 PM on October 7, 2014
posted by Charity Garfein at 3:44 PM on October 7, 2014
@Charity Garfein, it's mentioned a couple of times:
"Users submit all the content on the website (or copy and paste material from other publications, including this one)"...
"Users published scanned copies of magazine articles, lifted from other blogs’ content, and wrote witty commentary about celebrities"...
A bit snarky, but there.
posted by subdee at 3:55 PM on October 7, 2014
"Users submit all the content on the website (or copy and paste material from other publications, including this one)"...
"Users published scanned copies of magazine articles, lifted from other blogs’ content, and wrote witty commentary about celebrities"...
A bit snarky, but there.
posted by subdee at 3:55 PM on October 7, 2014
also, not sure when you last got ripped off - but a lot of that has been slowly changing , for instance if it's lists then only part of the list can be posted, you usually can't post full image galleries, sourcing is getting better, they maintain a list of sites where you can't upload articles from, the editorializing is largely gone (which i miss), etc.
posted by nadawi at 4:07 PM on October 7, 2014
posted by nadawi at 4:07 PM on October 7, 2014
and, again, vice is on the banned list - and as i remember they've been involved in pissing matches with ontd for a while now. i wish they had talked more about that.
posted by nadawi at 4:08 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by nadawi at 4:08 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
tavella: While I can see the awkwardness of it, I've dealt with communities with flaky maintainers before. If you disappear for three years, even for Reasons, I don't know that I think the people who have been doing the work in the meantime are required to let you back in, especially if you continue to be flaky. And removing the admin status of someone who isn't logging in is just good security.
I'm with you on this, i found the "white people stealing black culture!" angle of this article really fucking tired and clickbaity.
Just because vice posts good stuff sometimes now doesn't mean they don't still post total bullshit designed to just grab clicks.
seriously i mean,
I'm not someone who is automatically skeptical of these kinds of claims, in fact i'm usually suspicious of the defendants in them and sympathetic to the case because the kind of thing being sold by the title is you know, real and happens all the time.
But if you start something, and appoint other people as moderator while you can't be and essentially leave for years i don't think you're really entitled to get back in unless you're paying the hosting the whole time or something. They've been doing the work while you're gone. Maybe if you can get the users and community members to vote you back in, but calling it some fucking "silenced all my life! white people stealing things from black kids!" scenario is really, really tired.
posted by emptythought at 4:47 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'm with you on this, i found the "white people stealing black culture!" angle of this article really fucking tired and clickbaity.
Just because vice posts good stuff sometimes now doesn't mean they don't still post total bullshit designed to just grab clicks.
seriously i mean,
like many stories of whites allegedly stealing black culture, this story begins in the SouthOh fuck offfffff guys.
I'm not someone who is automatically skeptical of these kinds of claims, in fact i'm usually suspicious of the defendants in them and sympathetic to the case because the kind of thing being sold by the title is you know, real and happens all the time.
But if you start something, and appoint other people as moderator while you can't be and essentially leave for years i don't think you're really entitled to get back in unless you're paying the hosting the whole time or something. They've been doing the work while you're gone. Maybe if you can get the users and community members to vote you back in, but calling it some fucking "silenced all my life! white people stealing things from black kids!" scenario is really, really tired.
posted by emptythought at 4:47 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
for instance if it's lists then only part of the list can be posted, you usually can't post full image galleries, sourcing is getting better, they maintain a list of sites where you can't upload articles from, the editorializing is largely gone (which i miss), etc.
Agreed, there is definitely effort being made to not totally C&P content from other sites. It does make things a little less convenient/fun, but I totally understand and respect it.
Also, I just went to look at the list of banned sites, and HOLY COW, how do they still have so many posts a day if all the sites listed below are banned?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:00 PM on October 7, 2014
Agreed, there is definitely effort being made to not totally C&P content from other sites. It does make things a little less convenient/fun, but I totally understand and respect it.
Also, I just went to look at the list of banned sites, and HOLY COW, how do they still have so many posts a day if all the sites listed below are banned?
NO posting from the following web sites: BlindGossip.com, AVclub.com, Chicago Tribune, X17, Deadline.com PopStar.com / ScreenStar.com /TVStar.com, Gigwise.com, AfterElton.com / AfterEllen.com / LogoOnline.com, Celebitchy.com, Celebrity Baby Blog, Celebrity Babies, IndyPosted.com, Celebutopia.com, HuffingtonPost.com, Bossip.com, Vulture.com/NYMag.com, MavrixOnline.com, Salon.com, Slate.com, PitchFork.com, PitchFork.TV, TheDissolve.com, TheYoungFolks.com, ScreenRant.com, NothingMajor.com, TheMarySue.com, People.com, EW.com, SI.com, Time.com, Mediaite.com, CelebrityDirtyLaundry.com, Popdust.com, Pressparty.com, Flavorwire.com, Gawker.com, Vice.com, DailyDot.com, Mashable.com, MotherJones.com, Billboard.com, Collider.com, Unrealitytv.Co.Uk, WashingtonPost.com, SpoilerTV.com, TheBackLot.com, IndieWire.com, NME.com, Thelma.com, HitFix.com, and Mic.com
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:00 PM on October 7, 2014
they usually get around it by taking the article from places that basically just pull quote from one of those sites. in the comment section for something the other day people were trying to figure out if a pull quote article about this vice article could be posted - which has made me wonder if mefi is about to get featured on ontd. heh.
posted by nadawi at 5:03 PM on October 7, 2014
posted by nadawi at 5:03 PM on October 7, 2014
as an ONTDer since 2005, obligatory:
- BUT WHO WAS COMA
- When will ur favs?
- Legendtina
- Granny, are you okay?
- Drag ha!
- Senor Bale
- Boss bitch > basic bitch
- I know, bitch, I was watching
- shaking and crying rn
- literally deceased, ashes scattered
- that Raven-Symone riding a Segway gif
- "Halloweening" your avatar
Man, so many hundreds of other things I could post, but at this point all I know is TPS and a few others here (and myself, obvs) are 100% fluent in ONTD LJ slang.
The fact that it's not completely internet-pervasive has been driven home to me dozens of times when using said slanguage over IM at work, only to be met with "...wait, what?" responses from coworkers.
NEVAR 4GET
...and I remember Yesternight.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:39 PM on October 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
- BUT WHO WAS COMA
- When will ur favs?
- Legendtina
- Granny, are you okay?
- Drag ha!
- Senor Bale
- Boss bitch > basic bitch
- I know, bitch, I was watching
- shaking and crying rn
- literally deceased, ashes scattered
- that Raven-Symone riding a Segway gif
- "Halloweening" your avatar
Man, so many hundreds of other things I could post, but at this point all I know is TPS and a few others here (and myself, obvs) are 100% fluent in ONTD LJ slang.
The fact that it's not completely internet-pervasive has been driven home to me dozens of times when using said slanguage over IM at work, only to be met with "...wait, what?" responses from coworkers.
NEVAR 4GET
...and I remember Yesternight.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:39 PM on October 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
Also can I get an "amen" that the ONTD app is utter shite? I looked and it loads like, 11 different third-party advertising APIs from Russia.
THANKS A LOT, BRENDEN. ;_;
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:41 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
THANKS A LOT, BRENDEN. ;_;
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:41 PM on October 7, 2014 [3 favorites]
pps. MY BODY IS READY.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:44 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:44 PM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
The fact that it's not completely internet-pervasive has been driven home to me dozens of times when using said slanguage over IM at work, only to be met with "...wait, what?" responses from coworkers.
Where are the lies? My sister and I both read ONTD and have for years, and it's almost like we have a secret language.
I think I love ONTD so much as a contrast from metafilter. On Mefi there will be a post about, for example, some prominent person doing something stupid, and the thread will be filled with these really intellectual comments breaking down the context and implications and examining the situation from different angles.
The comments on ONTD on the same topic will be: this bitch.
I love how Mefi dissects things. I love how ONTD gets to the point.
posted by supercrayon at 7:11 PM on October 7, 2014 [7 favorites]
Where are the lies? My sister and I both read ONTD and have for years, and it's almost like we have a secret language.
I think I love ONTD so much as a contrast from metafilter. On Mefi there will be a post about, for example, some prominent person doing something stupid, and the thread will be filled with these really intellectual comments breaking down the context and implications and examining the situation from different angles.
The comments on ONTD on the same topic will be: this bitch.
I love how Mefi dissects things. I love how ONTD gets to the point.
posted by supercrayon at 7:11 PM on October 7, 2014 [7 favorites]
Source: My friend on a bike.
posted by orrnyereg at 7:11 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by orrnyereg at 7:11 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
Supercrayon: NO LIES DETECTED.
also, obligatory "thisbitch.gif" at any/all discussions of Tila Tequila.
Actually, Metafilter:ONTD::Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:@midnight.
Now, sis...did I get that right? slayyyyyyy!
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 7:44 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
also, obligatory "thisbitch.gif" at any/all discussions of Tila Tequila.
Actually, Metafilter:ONTD::Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:@midnight.
Now, sis...did I get that right? slayyyyyyy!
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 7:44 PM on October 7, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thanks for posting this—I have visited ONTD almost every darn day for the past couple years and I had no idea about this history.
posted by Zephyrial at 10:34 AM on October 8, 2014
posted by Zephyrial at 10:34 AM on October 8, 2014
"Did a white guy steal..." is inflammatory, sure, but I don't see anything wrong with pointing out that of all the people (mostly women, mostly black) who worked on the community, only the white dude managed to get paid for his time.
Because I remember being on Livejournal and seeing so many women put SO many hours into writing content and building communities without ever once dreaming of being paid.
posted by subdee at 4:21 PM on October 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
Because I remember being on Livejournal and seeing so many women put SO many hours into writing content and building communities without ever once dreaming of being paid.
posted by subdee at 4:21 PM on October 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
My bookmark bar has Metafilter, Facebook, and Livejournal (for ONTD) in that order. The tabloid cover post is the highlight of my Wednesday. (I've also made a pie featured in one of those posts.)
I don't think Brenden being the one to monetize it is a problem with Brenden, but of society. When women are taught from a young age that their work has value and their time is worth money, and all that...
posted by Ruki at 4:32 PM on October 8, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't think Brenden being the one to monetize it is a problem with Brenden, but of society. When women are taught from a young age that their work has value and their time is worth money, and all that...
posted by Ruki at 4:32 PM on October 8, 2014 [2 favorites]
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