On 6/1/07, The Mangoe the.mangoe@gmail.com wrote:
Of course, the question is "respected by whom"? And is that respect actually worth anything? I'm seeing a lot of RfC and AN/I cases where people weigh in with comments along the lines of "X is a highly respected editor", implying "and therefore can do no wrong." Meanwhile, on the "attack sites" issue we seem to have two (for lack of a better word) camps whose members don't necessarily have a lot of respect for each other (or maybe they do, but it isn't figuring in the argument), but within each camp there is a lot of respect among the members.
Yeah, the respect isn't really worth much--but, since there is none. Still, I got a note a while ago from a scientist who had read my edits on an article and thanked me for making such a, something like responsible contribution to understanding the subject. People do notice, and it is good for the ego. I took an art class on a new technique a while ago and got a lot of praise from the instructor for the originality of my work (original, unique and the like is pretty high praise from other artists). Although I am an artist, not a student, and I know my work is unique, it was still good for my ego. Respect wouldn't hurt, like acknowledging that established editors are every bit as valuable to the project as penis writing vandals.
The attack sites issue is a difficult one, because until you've been stalked you can't really imagine what it is like, and once you've been stalked you can't really communicate from a rational perspective on the topic. I was stalked, not on the web, in real life, by an obsessed, well, fan--for lack of a better word. It was offensive, to say the least, that someone I didn't know and couldn't give a shit about, had such a pathetic life that they felt it gave them a right to do anything to make me part of their life. It consumed eons of my time. It interfered with my family, my work, everything. And, ultimately, the most offensive thing about it was IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ME! It is fairly enraging to be the victim of something that isn't even about you.
I don't know how to get those who have never been stalked and those who have been stalked to understand each other, and communicate about how to protect the latter from continuing to be victimized by their stalkers. For one thing, most people who have been stalked, imo, have the right to all the outrage they feel, and, especially if it is recent or ongoing, I have no intention of ever expecting better of them in their response to anything that could possibly give the perpetrators a platform. And this is what these attack sites amount to, just another means of allowing the criminal to gain access to their victim, when, again, it has nothing to do with the victim.
So, when the discussion comes to linking to attack sites you may have one person saying, "Well there may be some instances when an attack site is notable," in response to another person saying, "Stop giving my attacker more platforms from which to machine gun me." The second person is meanwhile ducking for cover, while the first may be trying to reasonably discuss the issue. I don't think it's going to amount for any flowthrough of respect.
My brother suggested I get a t-shirt that says, "Stalked--been there, done that, find someone else."
KP