BoingBoing and Violet Blue: Game Frakkin' Over

Having looked into this teapot tempest and spoken to both Violet Blue and Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing, I can say three things with confidence:

1) BoingBoing messed up, not in taking down Violet Blue's posts, but in taking them down under cover of night and then, when caught, trying to skirt the issue rather than owning the mistake.  This is a business and a major media outlet, not a page on LiveJournal.  If you're going to be transparent, be transparent and keep your readers informed about what you're giving them, and what you're taking away.  There are no transparency exceptions for "personal issues."

It appears Jardin now understands this:  "Some of the things that were natural to do when it was four people just doing it as a hobby," she began when we spoke on the phone, then finished on a different track:  "We rearrange things as we go along and realize the volume of any small actions you take will be a lot louder. We’d never handle it the same way again."

2) The reasons behind the mistake of number one are indeed rooted in personal dynamics between Xeni Jardin and Violet Blue.  What little I know of those dynamics I decided quickly was none of my business. When I realized this was a private matter and not some kind of baseless, mean-spirited ostracism, or legal dispute, or vendetta, I began to feel the story's importance shrinking, even while attention to it was ballooning. Problem was, the people involved didn't come clean until way too late, after it had already morphed into a sleazy gossip yarn.  Maybe a little quicker with the sunlight next time.

3) Bloggers are weird.  (c.f. this)

image courtesy flickr user borkurdotnet

Comments

[Je support les troops]

re: the BoingBoing questions…

I am of the opinion that Xeni, et al didn’t like some aspect of Violet Blue's lawsuit against Ada Mae Johnson. This is pure speculation, but I would be surprised if it isn’t the answer - or at a minimum, the answer they eventually give you.

[Vidiot]

The condescending, dismissive tone of BoingBoing's moderators has only thrown gasoline on the fire.

[Cronan]

My reading of this is Corey (who's proved to be a douche nozzle more than a few times lately, Google "Doctorow Le Guin") got pissed off with Violet about her recent attempt to copyright her name. Add to that the fact that Xeni and Violet aren't giving each other "special hugs" anymore, and this turns out to be a pathetic playground spat.

[Mike]

I used to like BoingBoing.net but the sanctimony and self-righteousness of that blog has become almost too much to bear. Plus, they live by an entirely different set of principles than the ones they espouse (for one thing, Cory Doctorow used to praise "The IT Crowd" without disclosing his relationship with ITV for over a year and a half.) Not a fan of that uber-narcissist Xeni Jardin either....

More importantly, I still don't understand what the kerfuffle was about. And apparently that's OK. "When I realized this was a private matter and not some kind of baseless, mean-spirited ostracism, or legal dispute, or vendetta, I began to feel the story's importance shrinking, even while attention to it was ballooning. "

Thanks for patronizing your readers!

[Tim]

I'm willing to bet this is not the first time BoingBoing.net has "unpublished" content from its archives. I'm sure an enterprising techie could write a script comparing the Wayback Machine with BoingBoing's current archive.

[foo]

possible reason?

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/01/that-violet-blue-thi.html#comment-224383

[big lebowski]

You've got to be kidding!!! Multiple posts on this scandal, and all of a sudden you start to figure out what it was about and you decide your readers don't really deserve to know??? You have a complete lack of respect for your readers.

[COOP]

If this is what passes for journalism at the LA Times, it's no wonder that Sam Zell is about to fire all your sorry butts and turn the place into a Starbucks. I doubt you'll be qualified to work there, either.

[julia]

Um.

Don't you just hate it when you pile onto an internets drama without getting the information first (although when the posts were deleted was actually available on teh Wayback) and it turns out you've been played by someone using their personal relationships for self-promotion?

Bloggers are weird indeed.