I’m back people, with a new blog, Deaf Muse, a name that is more befitting of my Mephistofian Musings or Psychobabble. I am starting afresh, and in the interests of continuity, my old posts at Radio666fm, will now be housed at the Mephistofian Archives, but please be aware, that many of the links are now broken..

My old home at Radio666fm is being renovated. I am planning to remodel it as an art and culture blog. I want to write about those things that are infinitely more interesting than the usual all embracive shit about cockleer implants and the latest mapping exercise, and reading about how trolls reject Paddy Ladd’s DeafHood thesis in favour of common sense.

I suppose the book Deafhood had too many big words in it, big ideas and big concepts, it made the trolls heads hurt. So, it’s only natural that they would found solace in common sense. Then again, if Paddy was to do a research project on the troll’s use of common sense, it would make for some unsurprising findings, no?

I have written about DeafRead and deaf village in the past: Boring As It Gets: The Aggergator Question., Boring As It Gets: The Aggergator Question PII, Boring As It Gets! Part II, and Boring As It Gets!

Yesterday I was reading JJ’s [of DeafRead fame] article Rachel, Ella, Deafread, and Me. It sure brought back some memories, especially the storm in a teacup over what DeafRead was, is, and the ensuing shit farce regarding Rachel Chaikof’s expulsion from DeafRead. I’m not going to rebut JJ’s assertions point by point, but I do think it’s worth revisiting the incidents, to see what, if anything, has changed since DeafRead came into being.

 

The first thing I want to say is that as an aggregator, DeafRead is virtually indistinguishable from Deaf Village. They publish the same blogs now. In trying serve everyone, become a one stop shop, DeafRead has become like all those countless generic websites that cater to everything Deaf. It fell for the bullshit that it HAD to cater for everyone.

The diversity argument so often pulled out, is a bullshit one.

If, as JJ says, “The Internet makes it possible for web sites to be everything to everyone, just look at Ebay.com, Amazon.com, and etc…those sites serve everyone without problems (I know, they sell stuff…big difference, but the point remains…the Internet makes it possible).” Then the internet also makes it possible for websites to carve out their own space without the overwhelming need to impinge on someone else’s website.

There is nothing wrong with being territorial. The internet is more than big enough for all you territorial critics to set up your own little space, as Rachel Chaikof subsequently proved.

Which means a lot of that early shit could have been avoided, if say Rachel, or some other territorialist critics had gone ahead and set up Deaf Village in the first place, instead of targeting DeafRead accusing the extremists [another bullshit term thrown about by people who should know better, but choose not] of not embracing diversity. Not only that, we could have had TWO aggregators, with TWO DISTINCT IDENTITIES and WE ALL could have accessed both, and EVERYBODY would have been happy. Now we have two link lists, that publish the same shit.

And here everyone is thinking, isn’t diversity wonderful!

The two websites JJ quotes, actually each have their own identity, believe it or not. If you say Amazon, what’s the first thing that comes to mind, books, movies and music, right?. If u say eBay what do u think, flea market, second hand goods, cheap new stuff, right? Sure they expand to incorporate other things, but they have their core business, which they do very well. They have a distinct identity.

Of the two deaf aggregators we have, only Deaf village has its own identity. And it is the deaf part of town, a quaint little backwater, where everyone meets at the Audiologists office to discuss the latest maps and swap sounds and listening experiences. *Flutters eyelids*

A lot of the issue’s the editors had with DeadfRead can be traced to the fact that an aggregator medium was being managed using an editorial oversight more suited for the print medium. It was set up as an aggregator, but in practice operated like a print publisher because posts had to meet editorial guidelines and be approved by one of the human team.

It would have been simpler to verify Deaf blogs and vidblogs, and once registered, all the stuff that bloggers post should be allowed through. We the readers should then make the decision as what to read, what to watch, and what to listen to.The only moderation that should happen is to ensure that the deaf meme is being followed and that the aggregator is not overrun by spammers.

More to the point, this would have encouraged the diversity that everyone screams about. So the editorial policy needs to be reworked.

Last but not least, all the above, applies in equal measure to the deaf village aggregator. Same shit, different name.

When all is said and done, I am not in the least bit sorry for the words that I have typed and the blogs posts I have published to date. I have enjoyed writing each and every single one of them, and I hate to tell you this, but I am right! I was right then, and I am right now!

 

 

Related Articles:

Boring As It Gets: The Aggergator Question.
Boring As It Gets: The Aggergator Question PII
Boring As It Gets! Part II
Boring As It Gets!