Something to consider as people make comments: are you interested in understanding where the person who wrote the article is coming from, or are you more interested in taking things personally and getting offended because the author dared to not unequivocally appreciate our appreciation and comments?
If it's the latter, you're making it all about
you. And that's pretty much the underlying problem. Unfortunately it's also pretty normal. It seems like many on the internet (and off) anymore want to make everything about themselves and get offended at things at the drop of a hat. (I know I've caught myself doing it before -- the internet lends itself to that, unfortunately.)
No doubt Massively, as a company, appreciates the influx of pageviews that puts money in the coffers and may well be happy to leave it at that. And if you're just concerned with the company, so be it.
However, Massively isn't just a company, it's also a group of reporters. They write for a living. I can understand why they, as individuals, might feel as the article suggests.
The article written (and my comments regarding it, for that matter) isn't directed at you, the individual. They're directed at communities, at the aggregate.
To be fair, thanking somebody for the publicity when it is something you need is not being disingenuous. You're not claiming to be an old friend, you're saying, "Thank you so much for your help, now, when I need it. It really is appreciated."
The problem comes in if you're acting entitled about it, not if you're being grateful.
We may not be disingenuous and we may not be claiming to be an old friend, but I think my point still stands even if my choice of simile was imperfect. I know if I were putting out a publication, I'd much more appreciate long-term support and readership rather than a huge crowd of people popping in to thank me for supporting their cause and then leaving. I'm not sure I'd criticize the ones who only pop in briefly to give thanks for helping their issue, but it would certainly feel bittersweet.
It'd be hard not to feel as if they cared more about the publicity than the article itself, no matter how grateful they are.
I'm confused, I thought selective interest was what made the internet.
Selective interest and entitlement abound on the internet. That doesn't mean they make a person feel valued for their work.
I don't really see the negativity in that article directed towards the CoH community. I took it as a thumbs up and a quick wink. Am I missing something?
Saying we "suffered from this same affliction" suggests it's not all positive. I don't think they were looking to chastise our efforts so much as acknowledging that this rather bittersweet tendency is present even among our efforts.
I certainly don't see that the author is saying we're doing or have done anything wrong. (Probably because we haven't.
)