Episode 1: The first in a 4 part series of experiences, observations, 'run ins' and general unhappiness with the moderation policies at Huffington Post in particular and posting and commenting to online sites on the web in general.First, let's come to grip with something that few people will openly admit...or perhaps simply can't accept . (I'm sure, which one or the other varies from person to person, dependent on the situation.) Unencumbered “free speech” is limited to the confines of being a concept and is not the reality we love to imagine it to be.
Ogg
Since the very first time that little Ogg picked up a charred wooly mammoth bone from the previous evening's dinner off the floor of the cave and whacked his sibling for any real or imagined expressed verbal affront leveled in his or her direction, freedom of expression has been a very elusive object of desire and attainment for anyone not a cast away or shielded from the influence of the social human condition. To make matters worse, when Mom or Dad came back from drawing primitive pictures of the hunt or splattered hand prints in the lower section of the cave and found out about what Ogg had done, reprimand and censorship of unbridled self expression was yet again established (at least) as far as one or the other party in any debate or dispute would from then on, ever be concerned.
Since then little (if anything) of this social etiquette has been able to recover entirely from this stipulation enough for it to be considered intrinsically fair in regard to the right of anyone to pure, unabridged self expression.
Onward!
Now, fast forward (if you will) to today's modern society, the complexities that concept and language have under gone and the means of mass internet communications such as texting, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and a multitude of on line information sources run often for far more mercenary motivation than to simply allow people to avenue to express a multi-verse of topics such as The Huffington Post does (or doesn't)...which brings me to the object of my current focus.
“The truth Is Out There!"
Anyone can, if they so choose, easily provide their own search/research on the topic of moderation as it is practiced at the Huffington Post web site. The information, opinions and carefully compiled hard and anecdotal evidence of the short comings on (this loosely termed) "moderation" as presented on HP are plentiful and date back to May of 2005, which is when the site was first launched.
I've waded through sites and postings that covered a wide swath of cut and pasted screen grabs, opinions, complaints, examples, comments and incentives for the scrutiny now being given this subject surrounding HP and the mass publication of said information.
“Everybody's got an ax to grind.”
Some (but not many) were less than subtly progressing their own personal, commercial or political agenda -- which to their way of thinking were not being given the attention on the comment boards to the degree that they felt their topic of concern or 'cause du jour' warranted. In this class, of course, some even appeared to be (perhaps paid?) 'activists' who (for want of supplementing their livelihood) wished to be the St. George who would slay the dragon or the Don Quixote who would help vanquish what to many might have amounted to little more in reality than a tattered, old wind mill. Others I found were apparently using this chink in HuffPo's armor (there are, as many are already aware, several) as a commercial tool in an effort to maybe pry away a few "clicks" or pull a few advertisers in their own direction and open or level the readership playing field a bit through their rapier critique.
...but some people have a legitimate need to use that ax sharpener.
For the most part, I came away from it all with an unshakable belief that the bulk of what fruits I had gathered, did not come from these groups. Neither was it limited to simply disgruntled people. But instead, the time and efforts were taken by a majority of those people to publicly express themselves about being rendered utterly disillusioned and more than curious about the genuine intent and dedication of HuffPo to freedom of speech... as the 'pub' and policy (of HP) would like to have everyone believe. {Links will be provided in episode 2}
On a curious note:
The absence of web published material in defense of the moderation found on the Huffington site was notably apparent through out my research, except for the rare and occasional references (noticeably) from Huffington Post staff, co founders or people associated or aligned with that site in some cooperative fashion or another.
All that aside...
...this much is certain, (and a notable portion of the internet blogging population seems to agree) in regard to HP's moderation practices... if nothing is wrong, then something is terribly wrong.
[In episode 2, we'll take a look at some of the comments, replies and stories from others who have either broken away from HP for greener pastures of self expression online and an update on some of the damage control taking place at HuffPo in the wake of the continuing exodus of 'posters' due to their dissatisfaction over having contributed to the rapid rise of this online news empire -- only to find that the rules of the game had changed dramatically over time, without anyone telling them.]
[My thanks to the folks at http://condemnedtorocknroll.blogspot.com...(and "please send bail if needed") for my use of their graphic illustration used above...albeit for this all together different subject of coverage.]
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