Of Message Boards and Banners
Jun. 5th, 2002 09:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteIn the grand scheme of things, with war and terrorism and corrupt businessmen and all sorts of rotten things going on in this world, the fate of an Internet message board is rather small, but it's MY board, so to speak, so I put this out to you...
There are a slew of comic book related boards and columns at a site called World Famous Comics (www.wfcomics.com). The message boards are at www.comicscommunity.com and sponsored by View Askew. Which is writer/director/comic book fan Kevin Smith's Web site. All sorts of View Askew banners pop up, the latest of which is an ad for a new film spoof and eventual film-related news sub-site called "Poop Shoot." Apparently, despite many of the boards having rules of conduct against offensive language and content, the site this links to is offensive - my filtered computer at the office cannot go there - and even the childish title of the sub-site is beneath the standards of the board I go to.
It's a board run on behalf of former comic book writer and current Comic Buyer's Guide columnist Tony Isabella. He is smart, liberal, and even-tempered about life. He invites discussion about all topics, although the main matters of discussion are comic books, genre TV and films, and American politics. Tony is also an absolutist on freedom of speech. He absolutely supports everyone's right to say what they want, and he absolutely acknowledges that with great power comes great responsibility. Which is to say, he accepts the notion of self-censorship of his works and his site to protect children, so that no intruding government eye and no well-meaning self-proclaimed guardian of public morals will tell him what he cannot say or do.
The bottom line? Tony doesn't want banner ads for offensive Web sites on a board he's in charge of. View Askew has made it clear, alas, that such banners (albeit modified to be less offensive) must run on all boards at Comics Community. Even the ones for all ages of users. Tony is not happy. Not at all. And he posted this morning that this message board, and perhaps his entire output of work for the Net, may be at an end.
This is the double-edged sword of the Internet. With great freedom comes great responsibility. This seems to be something that Mr. Smith, a talented writer and someone who clearly is supporting this site out of his love of comics, does not see. This is something that Mr. Isabella, perhaps more than even I would, understands well. He has two school-age daughters. He wants them to be able to see his work on the Net. And now he cannot be sure that it's safe for them.
Is Tony being a prude? No. He's making an effort to draw a line so that the adult material he doesn't want kids to see is on the other side. But he is quite possibly ending something great to make a point. I support that. But if this board comes down, I will miss it a lot. The people there are my friends. I've even met a couple. We debate politics like adults, always. We share our thoughts on Buffy every Wednesday morning, on comics every Thursday. And we all go there to take a break from work, to say hi.
So I will let you know what happens. A page in my life, a small part of it but one that matters, may be about to end, or at least about to change to something else that may be a lot harder to navigate (if the board moves to Delphi or some such place).
but for now, I want to tip my hat to a man who has made a stand for what he thinks is right. And I think he is right.
There are a slew of comic book related boards and columns at a site called World Famous Comics (www.wfcomics.com). The message boards are at www.comicscommunity.com and sponsored by View Askew. Which is writer/director/comic book fan Kevin Smith's Web site. All sorts of View Askew banners pop up, the latest of which is an ad for a new film spoof and eventual film-related news sub-site called "Poop Shoot." Apparently, despite many of the boards having rules of conduct against offensive language and content, the site this links to is offensive - my filtered computer at the office cannot go there - and even the childish title of the sub-site is beneath the standards of the board I go to.
It's a board run on behalf of former comic book writer and current Comic Buyer's Guide columnist Tony Isabella. He is smart, liberal, and even-tempered about life. He invites discussion about all topics, although the main matters of discussion are comic books, genre TV and films, and American politics. Tony is also an absolutist on freedom of speech. He absolutely supports everyone's right to say what they want, and he absolutely acknowledges that with great power comes great responsibility. Which is to say, he accepts the notion of self-censorship of his works and his site to protect children, so that no intruding government eye and no well-meaning self-proclaimed guardian of public morals will tell him what he cannot say or do.
The bottom line? Tony doesn't want banner ads for offensive Web sites on a board he's in charge of. View Askew has made it clear, alas, that such banners (albeit modified to be less offensive) must run on all boards at Comics Community. Even the ones for all ages of users. Tony is not happy. Not at all. And he posted this morning that this message board, and perhaps his entire output of work for the Net, may be at an end.
This is the double-edged sword of the Internet. With great freedom comes great responsibility. This seems to be something that Mr. Smith, a talented writer and someone who clearly is supporting this site out of his love of comics, does not see. This is something that Mr. Isabella, perhaps more than even I would, understands well. He has two school-age daughters. He wants them to be able to see his work on the Net. And now he cannot be sure that it's safe for them.
Is Tony being a prude? No. He's making an effort to draw a line so that the adult material he doesn't want kids to see is on the other side. But he is quite possibly ending something great to make a point. I support that. But if this board comes down, I will miss it a lot. The people there are my friends. I've even met a couple. We debate politics like adults, always. We share our thoughts on Buffy every Wednesday morning, on comics every Thursday. And we all go there to take a break from work, to say hi.
So I will let you know what happens. A page in my life, a small part of it but one that matters, may be about to end, or at least about to change to something else that may be a lot harder to navigate (if the board moves to Delphi or some such place).
but for now, I want to tip my hat to a man who has made a stand for what he thinks is right. And I think he is right.
