Home > From the Publisher's Desk > Archives > 2007 > February
February 2007
Wasted weblog
The Telegram’s online forum generates the second highest number of page views on our web site after local news, but the number of people actually posting on the forum is very low. That leads me to believe that readers going to the forum do so either out of car-wreck curiosity or for the entertainment provided by the dozen or so regulars who malign each other on a daily basis.
The problem is that the dialogue is really not very good entertainment. It’s a combination of trash talk and potty language found on a sixth grade playground. Here’s a fairly mild example:
“Frankly, I don’t think he…. By TweetiePie….. is capable of working. It is obvious by his posts here that 1) if he is posting now, he certainly isn’t working, 2) his posts show the lack of intelligence to have a PROFESSION, 3) his posts show lack of intelligence to have a TRADE, 4) his mouth RUNNETH OVER, and 5) he can’t be open-minded because if he were his brains would fall out, 6) hard work has a future payoff, but for him laziness pays off now. So where do I think he works……well, only one of two jobs come to mind: 1) He’s a Circus Freak or 2) he holds the Slow/Stop signs for a hwy. construction crew.”
That isn’t about any issue like falling test scores in the schools, teen pregnancy or even the insanity in Iraq. It’s speculation flavored by insults about what another person on the forum does for a living.
Perhaps a problem with the forum is that it allows people to use a screen name rather than their actual name. It’s easy to insult someone anonymously. There are a few people who use their real names but it doesn’t change their rant as shown by this post:
“Sweetiepie it is so funny how…. By C Dancy II - TPA….. u ignant Racist want to compare me to others just bcause we don’t think like u & your racist friends on this forum. Nope I am who I say I am & don’t use a code name. U see I am the man who don’t hide bhind a code name like u do sweetiepie.”
Our Speak Up column is also anonymous but we can only print about a tenth of the calls because of language or libel issues. Lately people on the forum have started questioning the morality of their enemies, which not only takes the forum to new lows but also has possible legal ramifications that I’m not interested in exploring so a bunch of brats can trade jabs.
And finally I don’t think the current forum is the type of discussion the Telegram should sponsor in the community. So until we can either police the forum or find a more appropriate venue to trade ideas, the message board is gone. You can post a comment here — where your IP address is logged and your message can be edited or deleted — or send me an email at rwoodin@coxnc.com.
And if you feel the need to waste some time, go read about Anna Nicole Smith.
