Death of a great blog
Scott Ott, the proprietor of ScrappleFace, has discontinued comments on his blog. I have no idea what prompted this decision. Maybe he was tired of wrangling and deleting the obscene comments posted by Those People. I'll leave the link up for a while, in case he changes his mind.
In my bitter disappointment that he has closed his forum, I think that he has gotten a case of what we hillbillies call “the big head”. Book deals, lecture tours, and Rush raves on his radio program have convinced him to turn an open forum into a vanity site. ScrappleFace provided a sense of community, even family, among conservatives. All six of my readers are people who drifted over here from Scott’s site. Despite the negative remarks that showed up with regularity, there was a larger sense of the unity of purpose among conservatives that appeared daily on his forum. Friends were made, and support in many ways was given through the open forum he provided. I mourn the loss of such a widely visited place of expression. Scott is a perceptive and witty, intelligent man; however, I do not think his wit will survive in the vacuum he has created by eschewing comments on his posts.
UPI will remain open as is, and lacking the input of posting at ScrappleFace, I will try to remain more diligent in response. Perhaps Great Scott is pushing us towards this. A lot of former Scrapplers have their own blogs now [see links at right]. I do not think a vanity site with no comments will long survive. I have my moments of cleverness, but without the occasional slap upside the head, I’m nothing more than a drunken braggart. Those slaps come from the comments.
Great Scott, we knew ye when!
In my bitter disappointment that he has closed his forum, I think that he has gotten a case of what we hillbillies call “the big head”. Book deals, lecture tours, and Rush raves on his radio program have convinced him to turn an open forum into a vanity site. ScrappleFace provided a sense of community, even family, among conservatives. All six of my readers are people who drifted over here from Scott’s site. Despite the negative remarks that showed up with regularity, there was a larger sense of the unity of purpose among conservatives that appeared daily on his forum. Friends were made, and support in many ways was given through the open forum he provided. I mourn the loss of such a widely visited place of expression. Scott is a perceptive and witty, intelligent man; however, I do not think his wit will survive in the vacuum he has created by eschewing comments on his posts.
UPI will remain open as is, and lacking the input of posting at ScrappleFace, I will try to remain more diligent in response. Perhaps Great Scott is pushing us towards this. A lot of former Scrapplers have their own blogs now [see links at right]. I do not think a vanity site with no comments will long survive. I have my moments of cleverness, but without the occasional slap upside the head, I’m nothing more than a drunken braggart. Those slaps come from the comments.
Great Scott, we knew ye when!
posted by Robert at 12:26 PM
43 Comments:
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Bite me. I need word verification to avoid your junk.
Possum
I feel you pain.It is a sad sad day in Scrappletown.
I have to agree with the Possum on this one. Scott Ott's appeal was the give-and-take in the comments section, and often the creativity and humor of the commenters was far greater than the original post.
Michelle Malkin used to have comments on her blog, but discontinued them because of the vile, racist and pornographic comments she'd get, really personal, horrible stuff. But Scott?
I think monitoring the comments section is part of the cost of doing business. Just like you have to pay your light bill if you are running a small business in a small office, you have a blog that has grown in popularity because of the friends chatting in the comments section, you need to sweep it out and make it a nice place to hang out if you want it to survive.
I know for sure the tip jar won't need emptying as often...
Possum,
Don't come down too hard on Scott. He has to monitor Scrappleface nearly 24/7/365 in order to quickly delete any "non-family-friendly" type stuff. Everybody needs a break now and then. This is his way of saying, "I'm tired".
I suspect that Scott will be back up before you know it with the comment section. When he does, I think it would be a great idea if we all focused on Scott and his articles, and not so much on ourselves.
I've noticed that sometimes Scott will put up an article and everybody will start chatting amongst themselves... and very few people will actually address anything directly to Scott (like 'great post' or 'Thanks Scott').
It's hard to keep coming up with new stuff all the time. And it must be disappointing to have people talk around you all the time.
Just an opinion... please don't shoot the messenger.
Best regards,
Hawkeye
So far I've agreed with everyone'scomments.How can this be?
My first posts to Scott have always tried to be on topic, and usually highly laudatory. The comments devolve quickly, and are often hijacked by trolls. Recently, a couple of threads stayed OT for a distance, which was refreshing. Even when we get to recipes, it's never lacking in intellectual input.
I hope Scott's just having a spell of mental sourness. I understand those. We have days when we say "F*** it all!" and turn away.
The door will always be open here. I'll even cut more slack than Scott on calling a spade a spade, or BS what it is. I can't keep up his pace of commentary on world events. I will check in here every day, and try to goose everyone with a virtual cattle prod. I hope that the support, good faith, and humor will migrate over here from ScrappleFace. My spies are everywhere, and my mailing list is vast, thanks to Scott.
Hopefully, the disappointment will translate into productivity on my part. Thanks to all who stop by, and we'll take a swing at getting the old spirit of UPI up and running again.
Maybe it's just the pace of production that has Scott disspirited. I certainly can't think of anything remotely entertaining every other day. Let us pray that he is granted renewed strength of purpose, and may we continue to gather here in the interim.
Thanks, Possumtrot. Hopefully Those People won't show up here.
Whaaaaa!!!! This shutting down of the comments on Scrappleface has me cryin' like a liberal!!! Whaaaaa!!!! With the "troubles" I've been dealing with of late, Scrappling was my "outlet"...be it for venting or laughing hysterically. It's a real downer to not be able to "respond" to Scott's satire or to read the rapier wit of my fellow posters. Can't say I'll be missing the troll spew though.
The door is open, Shelly and Bunny. The post that follows is my last BCC to Scott, and a reply to Hawkeye.
One last appeal for reconsideration.
I feel as though someone just hit me in my elbow, the one I've been busily and happily doing therapy and exercising so that I could type again. I've been able to do a short email,but didn't feel up to speed for Scrappleface.I had been reading and enjoying, though. Now, I feel like I have nothing to work toward. My incentive is gone. One of the neat things about Scott's site ,besides his wonderful parodies, was the simplicity of posting. I love all the blogs that have "spun off "from SF, but nearly all of them are harder to post to, and it's harder to read the comments than SF. Let's hope we can all find a new meeting ground,to stay in touch with our friends,and I DO feel all of you guys are my good friends.I'm even going to miss some of the trolls.I'm just so disappointed.
Still caring,
Barb Prettyold
A lot of my stuff online is egocentric, and certainly my blog is the ultimate vanity. We all love to shout and scream at the universe, and the net is better than standing at the ocean's edge. Nobody gives a damn about my opinion on anything. Scott got there early, with good humor and a smart satiric take on what goes on. I had some fun with the original UPI between 2000-2001. 9/11 stole my sense of humor; nothing was funny any longer. I was lulled into that Clintonian sense of security; I knew things were going badly wrong, but from my South American desk, it seemed safe to laugh at them. I started a blog/web page over at Yahoo GeoCities years ago, but it died from lack of interest. The original UPI was a mailing-list joke, when I had the convalescent time to play with Photoshop, alter news photos, and write silly captions to accompany them. I posted one or two on the current blog, but most of the past work is buried in the crashed remains of HAL 9000 Mk. I.
I hope that Scott is just having a bad hair day. ScrappleFace without comments will not be worth the time it takes to summon it up on dial-up; my time will be better spent policing my own little blog. I sense a great vibe of responsibility descending on Scott; success bears a price, and he woke up the other morning realizing "There are people who depend on me!" Kind of like that "...have to make the doughnuts..." guy from a while back.
I meant what I said about a vacuum. I could write my memoirs, and have them published by a vanity press. Friends have urged this; I resist. A free blog is fine for venting; FOX News has all the company contributors it needs. I hope Scott doesn't have the big head. I think he's been looking for an honorable mention on FOX as a premiere blogger, but it hasn't happened yet. An individual wit, no matter how sharp, is not a sustaining entity. The original UPI died because it was an ego-driven "cutesy" site of faux news stories, with no commentary.
Like Tom Bodine says, we'll keep the doors open and the lights on.
R
Some of you'uns have a more expanded list of Scrapplers than I do. Please direct them here while Great Scott goes through his dark night of the soul. We'll get through this together, and the Great Cheeto Eater will see the light.
Like hurricane survivors, we will gather here for support. ScrappleFace is home, and will rebuild accordingly.
Possum....what in the world is the "great cheeto eater"?
Possum,
I wrote Scott a note, as you did, asking whether this was a mermanent thing. His response was, "temporarily permanent". I don't know how final that sounds, but I hope it is more temporary than permanent.
I will say I am disappointed in him. He rarely corresponds on his own comment site. He has problems from time to time on the blog and gives no warning as the the reason for the closed comment section. Then he decides to cancel comments completely and fails to tell anyone about it. I have written to him in the past and not gotten any response. At least he had the courtesy to do so now.
Anyway, we got you and the other Scrapplbloggers to fall back on.
Write on, brother!
Mig, hello! I agree, I haven't been at Scrappleface too long, but you're all very welcoming to the new girl and I feel like I've made new friends. I am very grateful to Possum and the others for the ability to still check in with one another.
Maggie,
Scott referred early on to himself as an orange-fingered fan of Cheetos, suggesting he was overseeing his blog while munching away. Before he went with his new buttoned-down image, he was known as the Great Cheeto Eater.
Shelly,
I will be honored if my little spot here becomes the check-in point for bereft Scrapplers. I think we all feel somewhat adrift today. I was tempted to throw my own tantrum and remove the link from this blog, but I think Scott will reconsider. I hope so, anyhow.
This just in from Angus the Scot, a.k.a. Nick, courtesy of MiG:
Hello D----,
Hello every one. I got out of the Hosptial about 3:40 pm this afternoon. Have FOUR (4!) broken ribs. Bicycle accident. Because they're broken instead of cracked, they couldn't tape me up. Only hurts if I move to fast. Legs, hips and arms and neck okay. Please don't ask how I made a mistake and was thrown off the bike. Thats enough.
Well be out of circulation as for bike rideing and skating. Landed on my right side and thank God I was wearing my helmut as it left an impression in the dirt.
All for now.
D----, can toy [sic..."you?"] tell theScrapple Face crowd on the e-mail list.
God Bless you all.
Nick "Angus."
A prime example of why we need ScrappleFace. How else will we know who to pray for?
Fred "Heirborn Ranger" Sinclair sent me an email pointing out that we really don't know why Scott is doing this,but he must be having some sort of problem,and that he was going to send a donation. After reading Scrappleface for over a year,I feel like I know that Scott is a very good person.
I told Fred he made me feel ashamed ,just being concerned for myself,and of course Scott has a reason.
So I will join with everyone else and do my best to keep the spirit of Scrappleville alive, fighting for conservative ideals and mocking dimlibs everywhere.
Scrappleface has won followers because Scott Ott is a very funny and insightful guy. If you read his archives, you'll see having dozens of commenters didn't "make" his blog, and not having them won't "break" it. He began as he has continued. The few times I read his comments, it was like reading some unrelated message board. Why should he spend time monitoring the comments so you would have a place to chat about your social life?
As for Scott having a "big head" - I "met" him online when he first started out, and he was sweet and funny and unassuming. When I came through his home state a couple of years ago, I met him and his family in person. He was exactly the same. I'm confident he still is. He is a good and humble person, and you all are behaving like spoiled children. Can't you admire his talent and stop your whining? You remind me of a song a friend of mine used to sing - only for her it was a joke - "It's all about me, it's just about me, it's all about me me me me...."
I don't understand why some of you are so ugly, even vicious, just because he made a decision about his own blog. Sounds to me like it was a good one, if this is the kind of attitude you have when he makes a choice he apparently thought was right for him. With friends like you...
It's his blog, and his decision, and in spite of my sounding like a spoiled child, I will respect what he does. My admiration for Scott's genius is not diminished in the least by his changes to his website, Susanna. I have this modest space to chronicle my own little egocentric ramblings. Scott gave us room to comment on the larger issues of the day, and provided great satirical laughing points from which to jump off.
Scott Ott is one of the smartest, most decent people I know. He refused to ban people from his blog that I would've zapped in a moment. (That probably includes my own puffed-up self.) Civility may be dead in most parts of America, but he and I can agree to disagree. I think he is making a mistake, and have told him so. He can reply, or not reply, and do what he wants. That's the beauty of how we live our lives.
The nature of a blog is a minor issue. There are people lurking out there who want to dictate far worse than whether to include a "comments" section on a blog. They deserve a lot more attention. Great Scott can do what pleases him.
No comment.
But seriously, as I've told Scott, I think he should institute some kind of approval/registration process...it would eliminate anonymous punks.
PS: I see you've activated the word verification option...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ya, Jack, the first post in this comments section is some garbage spam that was probably automatically generated. Like everyone else, I have to type in a few random letters now.
I still welcome diverse opinions from almost any source, as long as they're kept reasonably clean. I'm stung by Susanna's accusation of viciousness. I thought my opinion was more of a snivel than an attack.
Well, here's my two cents.
I think Scott is a good person. We have exchanged many emails between ourselves over the several years I have been posting. R.A.M. is not the only name I have used. I was UNOME and before that, Susan Serin-Done.
I will say, Scott is a lot more tolerant with people than I am. I think I am a good Christian, but if I think someone has crossed the line, I will say so. Scott doesn't agree with this and thinks we can get through to everyone with tolerance. I respect his opinion, I just don't agree, and this is probably one of the few things we don't agree on.
Some people today, will push your buttons even more if you let them go, and I think they finally got to Scott. Having said this, I do think he will allow comments again, I just hope he does what Camojack suggested and has people register. That will stop most of the trolls from spewing the filth.
I must say, I have been guilty of coming back at them (trolls) sometimes, and I know that is not right either.
I guess we will see what Scott does. I too, do not think his site will continue without the comments. As good as his stories are, I went there to see my "friends" and see their humor and life stories, even more than Scott's stories.
Sorry if that sounds "childish" or about "me" Susanna, I think you may be misreading some of us. I love Scott as my brother in Christ, but by not being a strong brother and telling ALL of us, (trolls, and yes "us" that respond to them), to straighten up, or be banned from his site, he has instead "taken his ball, and gone home". I don't think that is fair.
Just my two cents.
Thank you, R.A.M.
Well said.
If I might weigh in?
I have, perhaps, a unique perspective on this. None of you, I think, has had to actually DO what Scott has been doing for how long now? How many years? You get tired.
You all have no idea how much work is involved. Every day for the past 10 months my Inbox has been bombarded with email comments. Some days I get 300 a day. Just reading it, deleting it from my Inbox, screening it, etc is a huge task. I have a FT job - so does Scott. Then I get mail from readers - so does Scott. But Scott gets more than I did, and I had trouble keeping up with mine at times.
And I didn't even try to keep VC family-friendly. So that's an added burden on top of SPAM in comments and trackbacks.
And the thing is, it never stops. Not on Christmas. Or your birthday. You can never get away from it - ever. You can't take vacations - when you do you come back to 1000's of spams and comments you have to go through. On nights and weekends, you go out to dinner with your family and come home to 150 SPAM notices in your inbox at 11 pm. Not fun. You wake up in the morning and find your Inbox is full. Again, Scott gets more traffic than I do. I GUARANTEE YOU HE GETS MORE SPAM THAN I DID.
Until you've had to deal with this yourself, you can't imagine what it's like never to be able to get away from your blog for a single day, all because of the comments section.
It's no accident that whenever a blog reaches a certain traffic level, the blogger almost always shuts off the comments and/or stops participating in the comments section. The rare exceptions seem to be mostly fairly low-commenting blogs where no one has conversations and group blogs.
I was sad to see this happen too, but I understood why it happened and I don't judge him. It's his site. No one else is offering to do that work for him. No one can give his family back the time spent monitoring the comments section, can they?
Something to think about. The people who ruined this are the spammers and the ones who didn't follow the rules, not Scott. And as I would have to put myself in the latter category because I sometimes got edited for going off-topic and (rarely) for being mildly off-color, I am the last one in the world who would ever, ever judge him.
Please don't misunderstand, Cass. I am not judging. The original UPI was a site with no comments, and the pressure to produce new, funny stuff was intense. If I've slammed Scott in any way, it's a snivel; the wail of a spoiled child. Suddenly, there is one less place to comment on the foibles of the world.
So, what we have here is evolution. If I have the courage and passion of my convictions, I will attempt to pick up Scott's slack, cope with trolls and salty language, and try to conduct my own little forum here. Rush will never know my name, and I'll never have 7,000,000+ visitors. The odds are good that I will shut down UPI out of illness or disgust with the world. I can't be funny, or incisive, on a regular basis.
I think it was Red Barber, the sportswriter, who said that doing a daily column is the easiest thing in the world. You roll the paper into the typewriter, stare at it, and wait for the blood to spurt from your forehead.
Cassandra,
As a nurse,I would go work and "Shazaam" there would be sick peolpe to take care of.One would be discharged and then immediately a patient would be admitted.Can you believe it???Why didn't they realize I was tired and needed a break.The nerve of those people expecting me to do what I assumed responsibility to do.
IMHO...the hard truth is that the faithful Scrapplers were not even given any heads up.Scrappleface was a community and we were not given our 30 day eviction notice.
It hurts,but it does not diminish our love and respect for Scott Ott.I wish him well.
Let's not bog down here.
Scott doesn't owe us a damn thing. (It's my blog, I can say that.) Like the Miers quagmire, I'm going to hold fire and see what happens next. There are frequent "failures of intelligence", and I will be content to sit under the tree, waiting for Godot, and an explanation of why my favorite blog underwent a sea change.
Nothing may be forthcoming. I can live with that. We'll meet here for bacon and eggs on those Sundays we can't find a ride to church.
I don't really appreciate the slams from Susanna. I haven't seen any viciousness directed toward Scott. Just people being sad at losing one of their favorite places to "congregate." If Scott wants to have more personal time without the demands of the "comments" section, God Bless him. I truly wish him well.
"The Return of the King", the third part of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is hitting the satellite with no fanfare this afternoon. Popcorn is being popped in anticipation, the dogs are being loosed into the yard, and all hobbits are being called into the shelter of Scorpion Hill.
Every time he shows his face, James Carville looks more like Gollum [Smeagol]. It's downright creepy.
da bunny - Scott started a blog as a forum for his writing, which was the same high quality at the beginning that it is now. Because the template came with comments, he had comments. For whatever reason, he decided to eliminate comments. People who were supposedly his biggest fans immediately began saying things like he has a "big head", that his site will "die" because it doesn't have comments (I've noticed how dead Instapundit and Powerline are w/o them), that he has an "obligation" to the commenters, that he's "sour" and won't be able to sustain his quality in a "vacuum" (like the one he wrote in before you came along?), etc. Please share with us what you would call that kind of attitude. Loving? Sweetness and light? Supportive? Appreciative that a man with a family and a full time job for so long took time away from them AND from his writing to monitor hundreds and hundreds of comments a week? I'm sure he's very grateful to those who genuinely enjoy his work and come to his site to read his writing. And those people won't go away because there aren't comments any longer. What's that saying about finding out who your true friends are?
I understand you're upset at losing a place you love; I've had chat rooms close on me too that I used to enjoy. But this anger toward Scott is uncalled for. I'm glad to see that it's apparently settling down.
I read this thread and posted on it since the begininng and I haven't seen anything even remotely approaching viciousness at all. I wouldn't even call any of the comments angry. Susanna your complaints are over the top.
Scott should have explained at his site what he was doing and why. That's not too much to ask. I exchanged two emails with him since he halted the comments and explained that we miss it and wish he would bring it back. He responded that he doesn't have the time or the money to continue to edit them. I responded that the trolls feel as though they have won the battle because of this decision. He said the trolls will always say they won, no matter what we do.
I respect his decision, as it is his blog. I don't have to like it, but I can't do anything about it... but move on.
Beerme has a point; an explanation would've been nice. We don't hate you, Scott. We're just temporarily adrift.
Stop by from time to time, Susanna. My writing can't compete with Great Scott's, and I'm lazy, but we'll take a swing at it when I'm in the mood.
My kids are grown, and the wife got into the wind over two years ago, so I have plenty of time on my hands. I just wish I had Scott's talent and dedication.
Susanna: I like Scott, I think he is a good Christian family man. I think the same thing about our President too. Do I think either is perfect? NO! Do I think I am perfect? HEAVENS NO!!!, but I do think if either do something I think is wrong, I have the right to say so. GWB's illegal immigration policy stinks. So does his "out of control" spending---plus a few others, but you get the point, don't you?
I wouldn't want ANY other President right now, but I don't have to agree with everything he does, and I don't think Scott did the right thing here either. That doesn't change the fact that I still like and respect him overall!
I agree with Beerme. I think Scott could have given us an explanation. I have hit the tip jar on more than a few occassions. I also feel, (maybe undeservably), that I contributed to his site, if only in a small way. Scott must have felt some of "us" contributed something, as he acknowledged some of "us" in his book, "Axis of Weasels".
I really don't think that a one or two paragraph explanation is asking too much, or means that I now don't respect him.
If you ask Scott, I am SURE he respects our RIGHT to voice our opinions!
If YOU don't, then you sound more like you fit into the category of the liberals that think everyone has to feel YOUR way, or else you are wrong.
Having said that, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
RAM
Well said.
I wonder if Scott's wife is named Susanna.
Make that seven, bubba. I wandered over here from Scrapple when you started this thing, and just hung around occasionally. Like you, I feel like I know a lot of Scott's commenters, even tho I'm pretty quiet myself. Being from God's country myself, tho right now temporarily dislocated (Thanks,Uncle Sam!), I almost feel like I know you. Yeah, we'll miss the give and take at Scott's, but thanks for offering to fill in. I got a feeling a lot of folks'll still be here even if Scott opens up again. I know I will be.
Suckers.
I guess Scotty pants couldn't hack it. It's a shame.
Boo hoo. Another third rate satire site has bit the dust. Now we get a fourth rate rant site. Who says the internet isn't good for anything?
Love always,
Liger
Maggie said;
"Scrappleface was a community and we were not given our 30 day eviction notice.
It hurts,but it does not diminish our love and respect for Scott Ott.I wish him well."
This was just an example. I really liked the comments of Scrappleface, but I am going to get over it.
I suggest others do the same.
I don't mean this to sound harsh but I don't know how else to say this. Life goes on man.
I will leave an occassional post here and there, and my life moves on.
Scrappleface will still be read, and Scott will still get some good speaking engagements and book deals in the future.
What have you got for your future?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I didn't want to call you a bad name, Liger. I have that latitiude here, on my little blog, but you are in fact welcome.
I'll let you stand, Liger. I've never gotten this many comments before. You kept it reasonably clean.
I've done two other posts in the meantime. One is a straightforward parody, the other is an angry rave. I'm using language I discourage; on the other hand, there was no better word for racist BS.
Monday is starting slow. If we want to gather here, it is now. Illness will discourage my pace at picking up the slack. I used a bad word for someone who saved my life a long time ago. He understands, and so should all my readers.
I'll let the troll stand, because it is as lost as the rest of us. Welcome, Liger, keep it clean and jump in with your misinformed self. Opinions are welcome; jusst don't cuss too much.
Be aware that my tolerance for BS isn't as Christian, or as open-minded as Great Scott's. You skate thin ice here, not because of what you might say, but because of the way you might say it. Behave, and provoke as you will.
Love ya long time: Robert the Possum.
I'm trying. Old people need to go to bed early.
Keep stopping by, Jack E. I'll try to be less dour.
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