Nezacant Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) http://www.forbes.co...s-nerd-baiting/ I'm sure by now many of you have heard about the Gizmodo Article (http://imgur.com/O8qUI) where an editor went on an OKCupid date with Jon Finkel, the Magic: The Gathering world champion. In the article she thrashes him simply because of his geek hobby, and like most ignorant, poorly written Gawker articles, it received a fair amount of backlash while at the same time receiving a ton of hits. This Forbes article explains why articles like this are published, and it's all about money. It also references a nerd bait article posted by Kotaku. I figured you guys would get a kick out of this. Edited August 30, 2011 by Nezacant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 http://forum.pressxordie.com/index.php?showtopic=534&pid=60943&st=920entry60943 We have seen it. As much as they talk about this creating page hits, it also helps ruin the credibility and community that supports the regular posts. So, cannibalize your tribe to eat, but soon you won't have anyone left to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nezacant Posted August 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Bah I knew it would have been on this forum here somewhere. It's hard to keep up as a new guy with threads going beyond 40 pages. I agree. Keep messing with your community and they will move on. Look at what happened to digg.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr W Phallus Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I'm not going to go over all the issues I had with the article again ( http://forum.pressxordie.com/index.php?showtopic=534&view=findpost&p=60951 ) but the reason I found the Gizmodo AU follow-up article so offensive (beyond it's basic content) is because the tactics behind it are even more sly and underhand. Clearly someone has cottoned on to the idea that if there's one thing internet dwellers like as much as getting worked up over a stupid article, it's reading other articles that trash the original stupid article. Furthermore, by providing a link in the follow-up article to the original article, you're increasing your chances of getting new page views for the original article, in case people missed it the first time round. Btw, linking to imgur instead of the original article is a great way of avoiding feeding the Gawker trolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 "we nerds just can’t let things like this slide, and so our anger will continue to be used as currency." That's the real heart of the issue isn't it? Why do nerds have to correct everyone so bad? This is the same mentality that spawns grammar nazis? The point of the Forbes article is not that Gizmodo should stop doing the stories but more that nerds need to not let themselves be baited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyRan Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 "we nerds just can’t let things like this slide, and so our anger will continue to be used as currency." That's the real heart of the issue isn't it? Why do nerds have to correct everyone so bad? This is the same mentality that spawns grammar nazis? The point of the Forbes article is not that Gizmodo should stop doing the stories but more that nerds need to not let themselves be baited. Much, much easier said than done for many people. When someone links the newest shit article from Kotaku, 99% of the time I just read the headline and comment on that because 1) I'm not giving them the satisfaction of giving them pageviews for shit articles, and 2) the articles in question are always so shallow that you can extract the entire meaning through the purposefully provocative headline. Unfortunately, people go, read, rage, and pass on the link for others to do the same. Internet people like to rage, and Gawker sites (and many others) know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) Unfortunately, people go, read, rage, and pass on the link for others to do the same. Internet people like to rage, and Gawker sites (and many others) know it. That's the cycle that needs to be broken. The first step is stop going to sites like Kotaku. Joystiq's headlines are funnier anyway. I feel like such a tool. The irony of this article just hit me. In a way the article itself is nerd baiting and here we are sharing it and getting upset. Edited August 30, 2011 by Yantelope 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Joystiq has the most awkward and unfunny writing ever. Anyways I go to Gawker for the non-trolling articles and just ignore the rest. I have multiple sites in my news reader so it's pretty easy to just skim over stuff and move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyRan Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Yeah, I go to Joystiq now for news reading (the only place I actively comment anymore is here anyway) but I can't remember the last time I laughed at something witty they said. I did kinda like their Zumba hand mini-meme (wtf were those artists thinking?), but in terms of writing style RPS tops them all. I was laughing uncontrollably at that "PC 2" piece they did near E3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 RPS can get awkward, too, but oh man they do have some awesome stuff. I think a lot of where RPS flops is their headlines. They just worry about that god damn headline too much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewblaha Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 FUCK THAT ARTICLE! NO MORE SPEAKING ABOUT IT!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Up until you posted here no one had for over a week ¬_¬ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewblaha Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 That's pretty sad that it was the fourth topic on the list or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Chew where the hell did you learn to count? The last post, before you bumped it this morning, was on the 31st August. That would have meant it would have been 14/15th down the list just alongside the Windows 8 thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.