Statement
Greetings, Many of you know me as Mathieas. I have written for this site for over a year, in fact, many of the actual articles on this site were written by me. Several months ago, modelmotion asked me to register the "WebSeriesToday" domain name in what I thought was an effort to rebrand and refocus the site. Also, I was under the impression that the site would make an attempt to rise above, being yet another blogspot, to become something more. This did not include granting author privileges to random people to spam their latest project.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I do not support modelmotion's unilateral decision to let anyone post anything on the site. I believe that the site should and needs editorial oversight, a clear focus, and a commitment to quality. I want to be clear this does not mean censoring opposing views, anyone who has read the comments, knows nothing gets censored. It is simply about maintaining a certain level of quality and objectiveness. People might and certainly will disagree with me, that is your right.
Thank you for reading this, and thank you for all of the great feedback over the past year, I have really enjoyed writing for the site.
Regards,
Mathieas
P.S. I'm looking for a new hobby if anyone has any suggestions. :)
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Posts
Perhaps there should be a way to review posts before they are allowed to go live? For instance, it is good to post about new webseries / new episodes but if something comes off solely as a press release then maybe it shouldn't be posted. Now, I will acknowledge that this will need a trusted member of the community in order to maintain the integrity of the site so I nominate you to do it! :) Also - posting about your OWN series is a conflict of interest so I agree with your statement.
ReplyDeletePlease read the original change post:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.webseriestoday.com/2010/03/lg15-today-change.html
and also
http://www.webseriestoday.com/2010/04/change-2-streamy-week-banner.html
Note:
"For those that might worry that we are turning our back on our heritage or philosophy, not so! "
The blog has always been based on a core philosophy... one that dates back to WO on comments. That is what led to the creation of a shared community blog that was open and inclusive. We allowed community members to post about what is going on and in return the community would give feedback on what was posted.
This approach has stood the test of time. There was even a write up on StoryGas about how it worked.
The blog has been continually evolving since even before Jess decided to leave LG15 but it has always maintained one central philosophy and it was never intended for that to change. It is central to the blog and how it works (or does not work, depending on your point of view.)
I have never used the word rebrand in the context of Web Series Today. Others might have used it but I viewed the change as a continuation of our evolution.
This is an evolution based on trusting authors and trusting the community. I believe that is the right philosophy for a collaborative blog. It may not be for everyone but it has stood the test of time and it does work.
Clearly there are other approaches to creating a blog. However it was always intended from its inception that Web Series Today would build on the core philosophy that had gone before. Yes, there was to be change in certain design elements, but we also wanted to retain parts of our culture that are important. That is why i added back Tachyfin.
Now Tachyfin might not seem important to some, but Tachy has always represented a community working together to helps something grow and thrive. Just ask Joe, he feeds Tachy every day and to me that means something.
Angelique it is actually helpful if a web series creator posts their series or news about their series. We are not TF or NTV. We are a community based collaborative blog about web series and web series creators are in a great position to know what is going on with their series.
ReplyDeleteYou could always write for Tubefilter.
ReplyDeletei will return tomorrow with regular posts about "In the Bedroom" to fill the great hole that will be created by Mathieas' departure.
ReplyDeleteDoes one bad post really require a serious change? If it becomes a problem, then changes can be made. But for now, lets not let one person with html skills from the 90s create problems.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is I've been posting videos from both of my series' on this blog for years and that never spurred any controversey. I don't get why people are so pissed when others do it now.
ReplyDeletei started a discussion thread on anchor cove to see if this can be worked out or not.
ReplyDeletehttp://forum.anchorcove.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2758
The blog has always had one simple rule. "Do no harm". The author did nothing to violate that and as far as I am concerned, more not less authors are welcome including those who create web series. This is a community collaborative blog created by authors in the community for the community to keep them up to date with what is going on. That is exactly what the author did.
ReplyDeleteI have a thought...ahahahahahahahahhahahahahhaa
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can change it to "Do no harm and don't make your posts look like spam". I really don't think this is a big issue. It's just one person who decided to make their post annoying. At most, maybe some rules on what the format should be. You want the look of the page to be consistent.
ReplyDeleteLook on the bright side, it's not as bad as the Streamys.
The best approach is to welcome someone into the community and offer them constructive advice on how they can make their posts look better.
ReplyDeletewow and I was afraid to even attempt to post anything to the blog out of fear that I would mess something up.
ReplyDeleteVenus Spa: you were a part of this community before posting about your show. You took the time to make a place here and get to know the members, etc. You also came out and spoke about your series as it's creator.
ReplyDeleteThe difference here is that we have a faceless creator who isn't even posting under a name (yes, Venus, I realize you do this too but most of us know that "Venus Spa" is "Chris") whose very first post is an ad for their own show.
It's not the act of posting about your show that is the issue, it's how it was done. It rubbed the community the wrong way and that is going to do damage to the show.
If the post introduced "Jen" as a person who we can relate to and discuss her show with, there would have been no problem.
This isn't irreversable and it shouldn't be taken as "the end of Web Series Today". If anything, it stimulated a discussion that needed to happen and that's a good thing. This kind of thing has happened before and it will happen again, it's as much a part of this community as making as many 436 references as possible. :)
The author requested permission to post and they were qualified. There post was in line with previous web series posts and in line with our one rule: "Do no harm".
ReplyDeleteMathieas,
ReplyDeleteYou should come write for Tubefilter. Email if you're interested brady [at] tubefilter [dot] tv
Brady
oh noes.
ReplyDeleteI understand modelmotion however I think the point was that the post was nothing more then an Ad for their series. And the text read as copy, not as an article, not explaining who they are and their relevancy to the community.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think it would have gone over better if it had been posted by you AND/OR had been posted without the accommodating text other then the cast/crew.
I understand you're point about it being a community blog, however the community has a right not to be advertised in such a matter.
I believe, and maybe I'm alone here, this blog isn't a tool someone should be using as advertising but a tool to become/join a community that really cares about web series and the new things that are coming up every day.
This blog was formed with a core philosophy which is one that has not wavered since day one. We operate with one simple rule: "Do no harm". This is no accident.
ReplyDeleteThe concept has always been to empower individual authors from the community to post what they wanted about what is going on in the community, and make them accountable for their post. The community in turn gives them feedback.
For example, over the years authors have discovered that videos containing torture scenes are a touchy subject and the author generally learns to add a warning.
If you have something to say to the author then tell them what you think in a comment on their post.
As for what I decide to post that is my decision to make and mine alone. But, like everyone else I listen to feedback from the community. However, it would be helpful to have more web series creators test out their series on the blog and see if it is something that would resonate on an ongoing basis.
The blog works without rules and regulations. It is an interactive process where the authors learn from the community and in doing so it becomes engraved in our culture.
It might not be the perfect system. It might not be what you want. But, it is how this blog works and will continue to work.
And the net result is that you ran off your best writer leaving nothing but links to other people's content, but at least you do that. Maybe the sight should be renamed RSS Today.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, look at the content this week as opposed to last week. Your core philosophy does not work. It assumes people provide negative feedback they do not. Most posts don't receive any comments good or bad.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there once was a guideline that posts should have a lg15, EQAL or lg15 community focus. Yeah that provided a grey area but a precedent was established for posting guidelines to exist and then change. So why is the "core philosophy" untouchable? Especially if it does not reflect the will of the community.
If Math goes to tubefilter it not only makes this site weaker but makes that site stronger.
All you do is preach community, where is the community support for this core philosophy that you are so protective of?
After the great TOS battle the LG15 universe splintered into two: LG15 Universe and Red Territory. The latter then formally split into RedEarth88 and The Coalition. Over time other community series began to appear: 3rd Triad, The Samantha Chronicles etc. Former cast and crew of LG15 went on to work on other series: With The Angels, Sorority Forever etc.
ReplyDeleteAll the time we continued to evolve our coverage but at no time did we change our core philosophy. Ultimately our world became so entangled with the wider web series community that we changed the name to better reflect what had already become our content. That does not mean there had been any change in the way the blog was set up.
No one is preventing any author from posting contend. That is a choice they and they alone can make.
Who created this philosophy? If it is the community and everyone wants it changed (from what I can see) then shouldn't it change?
ReplyDeleteBesides there is no community there are writers and there are readers. The website is called web series today, so I am assuming people who come here want to read about web series. I think it is a no brainer that that should be the focus and I don't think it is too much to ask that the people who write here make good posts. These are such simple concepts that it is laughable that someone felt they had to leave the site because someone else thinks these are unimportant things.
mm: Why don't you address the things that might actually move the conversation forward? When the blog was created there was a guideline that only topics concerning lg15 be posted. Over time that guideline was relaxed. It was justified that if something(even beyond the web series world) was of interest to a community member, it might be of interest to the whole community. Nevermind often that is not the case. There also is the do no harm guideline. So posting guidelines have and do exist and have been amended.
ReplyDeleteI have seen no one suggesting the core philosophy be changed. They are suggesting amending and establishing some guidelines as to what they can post, which there clearly is a precedent.
Your answer is that the system works because the feedback provides quality control. Prove it. I say it doesn't work. No feedback is not positive feedback. In addition, I've seen negative comments that have not effect on what a author decides to post.
I've reread the "change" posts. Apparently this site is supposed to be a social hub. Who decided that?! And how is this site going to accomplish it?
As a creator this whole mess is a catastrophe. I'm a firm believer that very rarely is a creator's first show, their best series but they will never get to chance to do a second series if they can't get some attention on their first effort. The model for WebSeriesToday should be college underground radio. That's a void that exists and needs to be filled. The other sites that cover web series don't and will never get that. That's what I'm interested in doing and that's why I contributed.
I have a lot of big changes going on, if I don't respond again it's not that I don't want to participate so consider this my last word.
If your "core philosophy" of "do no harm" is doing harm in that its driving away your core audience, perhaps it's time to reconsider.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how there is even a problem. You have one person who wants to make a quality website with good content and one person who wants anarchy. Yet it is the anarchist who is enforcing an arbitrary rule or "core philosophy". If everything is up to a "community vote" all things being equal why is the one person automatically right and the other automatically wrong?
ReplyDeleteHowdy folks,
ReplyDeleteI've stayed away for the last few days to let things die down; however, there area a few things I want to address based on comments I've seen here and elsewhere.
First, I'm not mad. People have differences of opinion all the time, it isn't the end of the world. If anything about my post indicated that, then its simply not the case.
Second, while I can no longer post here, I don't wish the blog any ill will. In fact, I told modelmotion he could keep the domain name. Plus MM posts twice as much in one day as I did all week, so the blog will be just fine.
Third, I absolutely 100% enjoyed writing for the site, it was a lot of fun. My only regret is that we didn't get the chance to take it to the next level. Hopefully, I'll get to write about this stuff again in the future.
Thank you for everything.
Your input will be missed Math. MM has done a great job maintaining this blog, but as a reader its frustrating to see it not reach its full potential, and not becoming the great independent voice of the webseries community that it could be. Something that isn't touched by the LA influences. (No offense to the LA influences if they see this)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWow, who removed my comment? Seriously? Remove my comment but leave the comments by anon's that are nothing but trolls. Poor show whoever removed it.
ReplyDeleteNo idea how that happened KP. It is certainly not appropriate to remove a comment, so I have no idea who would do that.
ReplyDeleteDo you recall what you said: Perhaps you can re-post it?
I cannot recall word for word, but I'll do my best.
ReplyDelete---
lol Blogger Elitism much?
Last time i checked this was a blog not some news editorial site. Yes, those who come to post about there webseries should stay and become part of the community but you shouldn't stop them from posting if they won't. After all the blog is called webseries today, it is akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
The reason the "core audience" is being driven away is probably more to do with their core interest, LG15 being dead. A lot of those who stuck around with a glimmer of hope of LG15's return have left.
I hope this post isn't removed or I'll start to wonder about the part that says opposing views won't be censored.
The reason we changed the name from LG15 Today to Web Series Today was a recognition that much of the core community had either moved on entirely or moved on to watch other web series. The transition in terms of content began a long time ago but the central idea was always to take the same open community oriented philosophy and allow that community the opportunity to participate in a collaborative blog.
ReplyDeleteThe original blog was set up in a way to ensure that community members who desired to participate could. At times that will inevitably lead to some drama and some conflict but over time it is a philosophy that has worked.
My one hope is that the community will welcome all new authors and give them a fair shot. Sure give them, feedback, give them advice, give them help......... but most of all show them the kind of welcome that became the trademark of lonelygirl15 comments where we learned to embrace every new member.
meep