Is the View Askew board gone?

[BrianLynch]

Whot hoppen?

[nate.3.0]

Yes.  And Kevin never watched DREAM A LITTLE DREAM. Consider 14 years wasted.... heh

From what I gather some people took shit too far.

[sean]

about two weeks shy of the 14th anniversary, if memory serves.

Goddamn.  Somebody's gotta know what's up.

EDIT: What's this "LOW" thread shit?  I saw a post by Kevin talking about entitlement and a few posts from Jen about the "Low" thread, but I can't figure out what it's all about.  I'm just gonna wait here until Hawk can explain it to me.

[Donnacha]

There was a thread entitled "Last One Wins". As is often the case with some internet threads, what started out as a silly game (people would post random things until the thread was closed, and the one with the last post would win) devolved into something icky. The "LOW" thread and its sequels became a place where a group of posters would often share very dirty, misogynistic and pornographic chatter and images, and would attack anyone who called them out on their nastiness. Most of the LOW thread posters kept to their own pus-filled thread (seriously, it was rotten, with users posted tons of porn and shots of their own genitals for no apparent reason) but other posters couldn't resist causing trouble in other threads.

There was another thread, "The Den Thread", which Jen Schwalbach had as her own hangout (it started as "the Jen thread") for herself and anyone cool who wanted to chat. This thread attracted a lot of nice people who appreciated Jen, Kevin and most of the other boardies. However, this too devolved, though not in as bad a way or as far as the LOW thread. Some posters began to have an inflated self-image due to their closeness with "the Reds", and would engage in rather vicious board fights with posters they felt lowered the tone, especially the LOW thread people, who seemed quite fond of playing victim.

Kevin Smith largely doesn't post on the VA board anymore for several reasons. As social networks have grown, Kevin has drifted further and further away from the main message board, which is no longer the easy and useful filmmaker-to-fan conduit it once was. The situation had worsened since Kevin took it upon himself to moderate the board himself (after the departure of the previous mod on bad terms) and so threads would often blow out of proportion, allowing trolls to cause lots of offense before the thread ever got disciplined. This was fairly evident in the old MySpace days around the time of Clerks II, when board bickering got to the point where Kevin posted a "my 95 theses" thread on how he felt people should treat each other, and that he could close the board whenever he wanted as he had more than enough MySpace fans to keep on going. This was ultimately very divisive in the eyes of some VA board members, who felt entitled to more attention from Kevin than they were getting. This rift and resentment deepened with the advent of facebook and especially twitter,  the latter of which Kevin says he prefers, as he can reach thousands more fans and doesn't have to deal with the "entitlement babies".

So, last night one of the LOW posters felt the need to "invade" the Den thread and taunted that the LOW thread could never be destroyed. Jen took him up on it as a last straw, and she and Kevin shut the board down. Kevin made no formal statement or warning. The threads were just locked up. The only people with any sort of foreknowledge were Den threaders already there to witness Jen's response to the brash LOW poster, and they traded twitter addresses and whatnot before the Den thread - along with the rest of the board - was locked up for good.

Note - this is only the "chatter forum" that's locked, at least right now. I posted a goodbye post in the "riders of the board" forum.

[Dalton]

There was a thread entitled "Last One Wins". As is often the case with some internet threads, what started out as a silly game (people would post random things until the thread was closed, and the one with the last post would win) devolved into something icky. The "LOW" thread and its sequels became a place where a group of posters would often share very dirty, misogynistic and pornographic chatter and images, and would attack anyone who called them out on their nastiness. Most of the LOW thread posters kept to their own pus-filled thread (seriously, it was rotten, with users posted tons of porn and shots of their own genitals for no apparent reason) but other posters couldn't resist causing trouble in other threads.

There was another thread, "The Den Thread", which Jen Schwalbach had as her own hangout (it started as "the Jen thread") for herself and anyone cool who wanted to chat. This thread attracted a lot of nice people who appreciated Jen, Kevin and most of the other boardies. However, this too devolved, though not in as bad a way or as far as the LOW thread. Some posters began to have an inflated self-image due to their closeness with "the Reds", and would engage in rather vicious board fights with posters they felt lowered the tone, especially the LOW thread people, who seemed quite fond of playing victim.

Kevin Smith largely doesn't post on the VA board anymore for several reasons. As social networks have grown, Kevin has drifted further and further away from the main message board, which is no longer the easy and useful filmmaker-to-fan conduit it once was. The situation had worsened since Kevin took it upon himself to moderate the board himself (after the departure of the previous mod on bad terms) and so threads would often blow out of proportion, allowing trolls to cause lots of offense before the thread ever got disciplined. This was fairly evident in the old MySpace days around the time of Clerks II, when board bickering got to the point where Kevin posted a "my 95 theses" thread on how he felt people should treat each other, and that he could close the board whenever he wanted as he had more than enough MySpace fans to keep on going. This was ultimately very divisive in the eyes of some VA board members, who felt entitled to more attention from Kevin than they were getting. This rift and resentment deepened with the advent of facebook and especially twitter,  the latter of which Kevin says he prefers, as he can reach thousands more fans and doesn't have to deal with the "entitlement babies".

So, last night one of the LOW posters felt the need to "invade" the Den thread and taunted that the LOW thread could never be destroyed. Jen took him up on it as a last straw, and she and Kevin shut the board down. Kevin made no formal statement or warning. The threads were just locked up. The only people with any sort of foreknowledge were Den threaders already there to witness Jen's response to the brash LOW poster, and they traded twitter addresses and whatnot before the Den thread - along with the rest of the board - was locked up for good.

Note - this is only the "chatter forum" that's locked, at least right now. I posted a goodbye post in the "riders of the board" forum.

Does this mean no mini-posters?

[Hayner]

Bazinga!

I'm assuming it's only a temp. thing.  Give it a week.

[nate.3.0]

Damn Donnacha. You recalled that perfectly. That's the story that's gonna be passed down like the kids' speech in THUNDERDOME. Heh

[Hawkboy]

Kevin made no formal statement or warning.

He posted this two weeks ago, which was as good a warning as any I've seen.

Can I tell you how stuff around here comes into existence? It's because I take a massive interest. And obviously, I've taken a massive interest in SModcast and its spin-offs. The good news is that you get HOURS UPON HOURS of free entertainment. The bad news is that some of you are getting too comfortable in your expectations, and are quickly allowing said expectation to become gross entitlement.

Y'know how this all goes away - this fucking golden age? When people feel the need to try to pit my friends and I against one another. When people slap the host in the face. When people - even after being expressly told the host would rather you not brought shit like that into his party - insist on introducing into this organization that sort of unrest or divisiveness.

Comments like yours are what's gonna kill my enthusiasm for SModcast. And when my enthusiasm for it all goes? Guess what happens?

Speaking of which, five times now I've returned to the board in the last month, and all five times, I was reminded why I enjoy Twitter so much more: absolutely ZERO sense of entitlement over there. Some cats here, on my own message board, assume they're owed... well, anything. You guys are playing the old game - when I was younger and far more tolerant; when it seemed like there was all the time in the world. Newsflash for all you devils' advocates and "But I'm a TRUE fan"-ers: I'm not interested in your reindeer games. To be fair, I never was; but at least I was more polite then. Now? Approaching 40? Shuttering this board is no longer the unthinkable notion it once was. There's no more Askewniverse; the website can just as easily follow.

We're in the second Act, folks. You like it, stick around. If not, don't bitch; just leave. A lack of gratitude is an enthusiasm-killer. Why would you wanna ruin it for everyone else?

So go ahead: keep expressing your very important thoughts about which free, funny podcast you're being given weekly is better. Then, when it all goes away, you can express your very important thoughts about that, too. And when you're done being very important? Know that it was folks like you who sent it packing.

I mean, we're 15 years in at this point; you still don't get where this all comes from?

Jesus...

[nate.3.0]

I think the funniest thing to come of this is that you joined Twitter.

[chrisb]

The "LOW" thread and its sequels became a place where a group of posters would often share very dirty, misogynistic and pornographic chatter and images, and would attack anyone who called them out on their nastiness.

So basically, they had a 4chan thread?

The situation had worsened since Kevin took it upon himself to moderate the board himself (after the departure of the previous mod on bad terms)

Well, there's the problem - if only Smalls was made moderator 10 years ago, none of this would have had to happen.

[Tom K.]

I miss the pre-format-switch VA board.  Yes, it could be harsh and juvenile, but it was lovable.

[Hawkboy]

I think the funniest thing to come of this is that you joined Twitter.

I actually joined it a few months ago to bitch out Dana White about a lackluster UFC card. Far as I can tell, it's a way for the famous to talk about what they're doing, and for non-famous people to harass the famous people.

[Keith]

Kevin is right. Once a message board passes a certain size it is guaranteed to go to shit. The only boards I go to are heavily moderated or small like this one. So much trolling and fake drama out there. I think that message boards might be the worst way humans have invented to communicate with each other.

[chrisb]

Kevin is right. Once a message board passes a certain size it is guaranteed to go to shit. The only boards I go to are heavily moderated or small like this one. So much trolling and fake drama out there. I think that message boards might be the worst way humans have invented to communicate with each other.

Wasn't there like a $2 charge in order to join the board after the switch to discourage assholes and prevent banned users from creating sockpuppet accounts?  Or did that change?

[nate.3.0]

Far as I can tell, it's a way for the famous to talk about what they're doing, and for non-famous people to harass the famous people.

Pretty much.