Post by Real Duality on Mar 6, 2017 5:34:32 GMT
I've been checking in to see if the news has covered the IMDb shut down, and it's been almost entirely ignored. The Guardian did publish a commentary pointing out how it was wrong, but I wanted to show you guys a part from a Ringer Op-Ed that some of you would definitely be interested in. It is quite something in my view.
"Sometimes, that user-directed ugliness was especially stark. I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary based on an unfinished James Baldwin manuscript that looks at the history of racism in the United States and that is in contention for an Oscar this weekend, has become a particular target for trolls. Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregate of critical reviews from major outlets has the film at a remarkable 98 percent positive, and that site’s users put it at 84 percent. Yet on IMDb, users have given it an average rating of just 6.6 out of 10. “Given that the film was only playing on a few dozen screens on that initial Friday [that it was released], it seems unlikely many of those who derided the film had actually seen it, although they might have watched a trailer,” NBC’s Matthew Carey wrote in a post last week questioning whether trolls are trying to tear the film down.
It appears that cases like the user response to I Am Not Your Negro were at least part of IMDb’s motivation in shuttering its message boards. On its support forum, which continues to serve as the website’s customer service portal, a post appeared Sunday titled, “IMDb should not allow racist trolling to skew rating or the conversation and review of a film.” “When I looked to see the reviews by low raters,” the author wrote, “I see white supremacists rants, without reference to the film in any substantive way, telling black people to ‘go back to Africa’, etc. I don’t think this should be allowed.”
Within hours, the user received a public response from no less a source than Needham, whose reply was brief: “We agree and the IMDb boards will be closing tomorrow,” he wrote, directing the author to the statement on the closure. He then marked the matter as Solved."
I found this amazing. He cites something unrelated to the boards as a reason for shutting them down, and considers the board shut down as solving the problem. Further, he appears to indicate that the purpose of ending communication was to end negativity about movies. I think it is just becoming clear that with Amazon now being a studio, no negativity was going to be tolerated. We all know that the site was not overtaken by trolls. Compared to other sites, it was a haven from them. This extreme control that corporations demand of the conversation is legitimately scary.
"Sometimes, that user-directed ugliness was especially stark. I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary based on an unfinished James Baldwin manuscript that looks at the history of racism in the United States and that is in contention for an Oscar this weekend, has become a particular target for trolls. Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregate of critical reviews from major outlets has the film at a remarkable 98 percent positive, and that site’s users put it at 84 percent. Yet on IMDb, users have given it an average rating of just 6.6 out of 10. “Given that the film was only playing on a few dozen screens on that initial Friday [that it was released], it seems unlikely many of those who derided the film had actually seen it, although they might have watched a trailer,” NBC’s Matthew Carey wrote in a post last week questioning whether trolls are trying to tear the film down.
It appears that cases like the user response to I Am Not Your Negro were at least part of IMDb’s motivation in shuttering its message boards. On its support forum, which continues to serve as the website’s customer service portal, a post appeared Sunday titled, “IMDb should not allow racist trolling to skew rating or the conversation and review of a film.” “When I looked to see the reviews by low raters,” the author wrote, “I see white supremacists rants, without reference to the film in any substantive way, telling black people to ‘go back to Africa’, etc. I don’t think this should be allowed.”
Within hours, the user received a public response from no less a source than Needham, whose reply was brief: “We agree and the IMDb boards will be closing tomorrow,” he wrote, directing the author to the statement on the closure. He then marked the matter as Solved."
I found this amazing. He cites something unrelated to the boards as a reason for shutting them down, and considers the board shut down as solving the problem. Further, he appears to indicate that the purpose of ending communication was to end negativity about movies. I think it is just becoming clear that with Amazon now being a studio, no negativity was going to be tolerated. We all know that the site was not overtaken by trolls. Compared to other sites, it was a haven from them. This extreme control that corporations demand of the conversation is legitimately scary.
