Saturday, August 4, 2012

MKMOT (August 4-5, 2012)

I'm confused by so much of what's gone on in the last few days, but it is clear that you guys responded well to a challenge. I'll tell you what, take the weekend off if you want. I mean, if you don't want to, you don't have to. This is a fun place, no??? But if you want to, you have  my blessing. That's all I'm saying. I probably won't even be in. To clarify, if you decide you'd rather not work this weekend, I can live with it. Only because you've been so productive over the last few days. In no way am I just saying this to cover any embarrassment it may cause in the event that I open the place up and no one shows. Which will happen, but will not be embarrassing, because I'm saying it's OK. Although I won't be ashamed if you do show up. Basically, my confidence is going to be sky high whether you choose to 1) show up, or 2) not. In no way will I be affected. I'm not needy. You don't think I'm needy, do you? Good.

I'm so glad we had this talk. I'm not going to set everything up or whatever, but the key has been turned. It's open.


36 comments:

  1. Just punchy enough from lack of sleep to come up with silly ideas that I'm willing to share:

    Why not make Gawker sites work like Twitter? You would only see the comments from peope you were following. There could be an option to view all for those who like self-flagellation. Anyone could do the equivalent of a retweet for worthy comments, whether burner or not. The burners would have the joy of seeing their comments displayed on a web site without having the rest of us see their little, heh, pecker wars. What's not to like?

    That being said, I have hope that last night's DUAN is an example of what may occur once football season starts up. 250+ comments headed up by Seinfeld, 80's one-hit wonders, etc? And we have seen that it is possible to bury the burners.

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    Replies
    1. As I recall, the "personal view" as you describe was a promised feature when Kinja first rolled out. It may still be in the works.

      Theoretically, I think it's absurd. I mean, if you're really dumb enough to believe that everyone is going to want to see the Burner comments and anonymous sources and "elevated discussions", then why provide a way for people to ignore all of it? I mean, combine the BlueTunic fix with a personal view, and it's the same as it ever was, right? Even though, as Denton said on Twitter, the "Deadspin of DUAN ended long ago", I think nearly 100% of regular contributors would opt-in to a functional view that pared down the number of morons in the comment section. That's basically people telling him he spent > $1M on breaking his websites, which is a report that I suspect innovative playboy millionaires do not like getting.

      But practically, I hope it happens, of course.

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    2. Addendum 1: It might need to be set up so that you would see comments from the followers of those your were following else some conversations could look somewhat disjointed.

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    3. BronzeHammer

      I guess I have hope that someone who has managed to reach the point that he can spend > $1M also has enough sense to make adjustments when his new toy isn't working as he hoped it would. But I do realize this is pie in the sky stuff.

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    4. Interesting idea.

      As far as Deadspin's woes go, Denton does not strike me as a Guy Who Knows When To Stop Throwing Good Money After Bad. He's spent over one million and several years on Kinja, he's not giving it up without a battle.

      Which is why IMG should just buy out Deadspin and give it back to Tommy, Barry et al already.

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    5. Well I don't want this to appear outwardly as yet another Kinja bitch session, because it ain't, but I think the unfortunate fact is that it IS working as he hoped it would.

      I think that the marketing speak of discussions and sources that we all like to make fun of was just that, marketing. If it worked out that way, fine. But it really was about allowing the unwashed masses to have a turn at the microphone and, as a result, be advertised to. No one would argue the number of comments isn't up since Kinja dropped, and my best guess is the comment section is now a better source of revenue now than it was 6 months ago. And that's before we even get to the individual ads on/around/in particular comments that I guess is coming.

      Of course, that view doesn't necessarily agree with the line we've always been fed - "Only a small minority of people even read the comments," etc. If it's so few people, why bother spending millions to add a few more? But I don't think Denton has to tell the truth to make money.

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  2. A shout out on the balog?

    Oh, that's faboo!

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  3. /thinks about MCA

    :(

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  4. Mangini In A BottleAugust 4, 2012 at 3:33 PM

    So uh, this was eloquent. Maybe not anything we haven't already said before, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. Fantastic. Thank you for the link.

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    2. He's dead on with the investment of effort thing. Good read.

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  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzf09PYSuhk

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  6. You talk to Jesus Christ as if he did it all for you... did it all for you.

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  7. Sad to see that "Andy Reid agonizing over whether to throw the challenge flag at the coroner" joke deleted. Yes, it was extremely distasteful, but, damn, it was funny.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. I actually gave it a +1 just for the sheer ballsiness of it. Still, I wasn't surprised to see it get deleted. It's a pretty fucking terrible story, and there seemed to be a lot of blowback.

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    2. Didn't see it, and I have fascinated you all repeatedly with my discussions about "the line" and my inability to define it with any sort of absolute clarity, but that strikes me as pretty funny. I may not have posted it myself, but I can appreciate it.

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    3. "Garrett Reid Chokes After Eating Challenge Flag"

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  8. Well you just burst my bubble. I thought it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. I was picturing her sitting at her desk writing "Mrs. Lucy Airborne" over and over. And trying to decide if she liked 'Mavvy' or 'Issy' better.

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  9. Who has two thumbs and had two functional ACLs this morning?

    [Sobs]

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    Replies
    1. Safewords are essential.

      What did you do?

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    2. My knee bent sideways playing basketball. Think I stepped on someone's foot. But the orthopedic anatomy professor from the med school I start next week was working out when it happened. The one lucky thing in all this.

      MRI soon but he's pretty sure my ACL's gone. Surgery shortly.

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    3. Yowza. Percocets go a lot better with finishing med school, I'd imagine. Stay strong.

      Delete
  10. This makes it all worthwhile. (Seriously, this might be my new favorite response to one of my comments.)

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    1. It's amazing how dense some people are. I mean it really, really is.

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    2. @FM

      I agree 100%. Some people just don't think before they tweet, and their apologies are meaningless.

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    3. I've been trying to decide since I first read this whether or not Michael is serious, or trying to make a joke. He deleted a response that took his comment seriously but it could still go either way. His comment history doesn't seem to indicate your run of the mill troll or nitwit. My life is full of these little mysteries.

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  11. Jesus, I just looked at her comment history.

    If I were trying to be an obnoxious troll, with a tenuous grip on reality and logic, and came up with her comments, I'd be pretty happy with myself. I'd say "Kinja!" now, but I have a strong feeling, deep in my soul*, that she used to be starred on Jezebel.

    *or whatever is in the gaping void where it should be

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  12. JESUS CHRIST, BBAM!


    "But, then, I went to Berkeley. Perhaps you've heard of it? One of the world's top universities."

    I can't make that any funnier.

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  13. Honestly, if you write a phrase like "Perhaps you've heard of it? One of the world's top universities.", it had better fucking be preceded by "Al's University, Towing, and Chinese Food" or the equivalent.

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  14. Jesus, Echo, I fucking butchered that exchange in DUAN.

    In summary, you were dismissed. The joke involved bringing you back, only now Deadspin is spiraling into some kind of strange dimension where time moves both forward and backward simultaneously. Kinja is having its way with DUAN, and my various alien-like appendages are incapable of coping. I'm going to go drink a delicious shake of ejected gastric acid off of the rapidly-dissolving carcass of a rabbit, and try again in a little while.

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    Replies
    1. My God, this is agony. This is like doing very sincere, earnest interpretive dance in front of a large crowd, only I'm the only person who hears the music.

      Also, with giant, blue, serrated, sea-water scented claws instead of feet.

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    2. In my wildest dreams this could not have gone any better. I salute you sir.

      Delete
  15. "Mr. Burke, as a result of peeing in the company fish tank during the last Margarita Tuesday, it's now going to be your job to read, copy and paste random tweets from fucking idiots. There's really not going to be any commentary or technical expertise, but somebody sensitive to the value of what it is they do on this planet might feel a twinge of regret, or some sort of ennui..."

    "(sigh) That's fine. (gets imitation brain-hook sold in the Egyptian section of the natural history museum, releases soul-eater from its extra-dimensional prison) At least I'll get to experience life as lived by most of our new comment pool."

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