ROS Journal (6/11/14) - Commenters: A Relationship

One of the things I find most interesting about this job is the way it changes over time. The way my writing changes and the way my interaction with commenters changes. When I first started the site back in 2003 there were no commenters or even a place to comment. Thankfully, it was all so new to me I had more to keep me going.

I first added comments to the site in August 2005 and as the comments came in the more my writing began to change, particularly reviews where commenters will…

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…latch on to a particular word or sentence, or they won’t even look beyond the headline or the grade I give a film before coming to a conclusion on how they feel and what they think of me.

Of course, I’m not talking about everyone. In fact, I’m talking about the extreme minority, and most likely I’m not talking about anyone reading this right now, but as with any tiny splinter in our finger, comments can rankle and responding to something that’s perceived to be an “attack” or misguided leads down dark paths.

I do talk to some bloggers that don’t even read the comments (or respond) at all on their respective sites, I don’t see the point of that. I’m not here to spout my opinion as gospel, no matter how firmly I believe in my opinion. It’s the interaction with the readers that I prize most, though I have to be careful in doing so.

For me to reply to comments in a way that’s less than agreeable will clearly result in a like response until suddenly everyone involved feels they’ve been disrespected. This obviously comes with the territory of trying to get a passionate response across over text to someone you only know through white and black digital ink. Hardly the best way to form a relationship, but we make do.

However, I also try and run a site where disagreements are encouraged as long as they are kept civil. After all, if we don’t disagree on occasion what fun is that? The comments would be a barren wasteland because what else is there to say besides, “Yeah, I agree!”? That’s no fun for anyone, after all there are nuances to films and our very own opinions where we can explore differences of opinion and find something meaningful.

That said, I’ve noticed an interesting trend as of late and perhaps it’s more as a result of my “Game of Thrones” write ups than anything else, but I did notice it within a couple of movie reviews recently, which was a suggestion that the reason I didn’t like something had nothing to do with what I was watching, but was more of a personal failing. It was apparently my fault I didn’t like the movie/television show in question.

This is taken to another level when what’s being discussed is a movie and the person making the accusation hasn’t even seen the movie yet. Now this is something that wouldn’t bother me at all if said commenters would actually return after seeing the movie and reaffirm their position or back away and look at it another way. That rarely happens if ever.

I know this can come across as me playing the victim, but I also know I too can be just as guilty of this. Of course, my guilt comes in a different and more complex form in that I am the one that sets out the kindling and I’m asking the commenters to start the fire. The question is just whether it will get out of control or now.

What I have to do is ask myself is whether or not I’m intentionally enticing conflict or just being bull-headed. I have no doubt I’ve done both, though I’m admittedly ignorant to when, where and how often.

When it comes to “Game of Thrones” I will admit that after writing my last piece I stayed clear of the comments. I looked over a few of them briefly and almost responded to a couple others, but I felt I would just be fanning the flames, which I didn’t think would be productive for either side.

That said, it has honestly gotten to the point where I want to sit down with the entire fourth season and write an outline for the whole damned thing. Hell, if I didn’t have a life I would want to sit down and re-edit the whole season, but what I’m most frustrated with is the idea anyone actually thinks I “hate” the show, something I’ve never said and I would like to think people that read this site regularly wouldn’t think I “hate watch” anything. What would be the point?

I know I’m prone to sarcasm and snark, but I won’t stoop so low as to “hate watch” something just to troll readers when I still have so much left to watch that I actually like — “Fargo”, “Hannibal”, “Sherlock”, “The Wire”, etc. — not to mention thousands of movies I have yet to see.

Bringing it back to the beginning, these are the things that go through my mind as I’m writing a lot of what you read here. Oftentimes it’s in an attempt to protect the integrity of both what I write as well as the comment section and keeping people on topic. Ironically enough, doing so actually “hurts” the site in a way as hyperbole and over-the-top commentary actually fuels more traffic as it incites more commenter fury, something I’m not entirely interested in. My goal is always level-headed discussion and, I guess, if the “Game of Thrones” articles have done anything they have brought the readers together, now here’s to hoping that season four finale impresses us all.