CRAIG GLAZER CONSIDERS THE COMMENTS

TKC NOTE: Here's a thoughtful note from Kansas City Media impresario and TKC contributor Craig Glazer regarding the cruel reality of Internets comments. Check it:

The Comment Section: 
Better Have Thick Skin

Understand this: the comments section for most websites, blogs, articles on-line, etc. tend to lean towards the vicious side. This is especially true when the writer or the subject of the piece has any local or national notoriety. Example: Tiger Woods; ninety-nine percent or more of those who read stories about this man don’t comment. Tiger Woods single-handedly has made modern day golf more popular than it’s ever been before especially on television. You might say Woods is the Muhammed Ali of golf. We all know about the incidents with his former wife and the various women he had his way with, however, he committed no crime and did nothing really unusual considering his financial and celebrity status. What major male young star hasn’t cheated on his wife, it would be harder to find one that didn’t than those that did. The comments sections on Woods were full of the ‘n-word’, he was constantly called things like ‘douche’ and ‘loser’ and there were few positive or supportive comments. This is the norm when it comes to people who comment on these sorts of stories.

Something many of you maybe didn’t know is how well read Tony’s Kansas City has become. TKC is in the top six or seven area news blogs. In first place is the Kansas City Star, then comes the four TV channels, Pitch Weekly, KMBZ Radio, followed by TKC, KCC and possibly 98.9 The Rock. Like all other top tens, these move around a bit each month. Given the fact TKC has over 200,000 independent reader/visitors per month, so you can see how few of them actually comment. (Figuring it out mathematically, it is a number massively lower than 1%.) Of those who do comment, many make comments several times on the same story. As mentioned above, the majority of comments tend to be negative.

I noticed a story about Kelly Jones (former KCTV 5 hostess) having a going away bash. TKC mentioned it in a positive way and included a nice photo. The ‘n-word’ was used by commenters and a couple of shots were thrown at Yours Truly in the process. I did write about Kelly on another web-site and everything I said about her was positive and complementary. I even went out of my way to make sure the story said that while we went out a couple of times, it was all friendly and in fun. KCTV5 approved of her doing the interview and was aware there could be some pretty salty comments, that’s normal. Personally, I like Kelly, she treated our comics and staff with great respect. She is a very confident and competent woman and obviously very attractive. These things, in and of themselves, will create enemies. She will do just fine, trust me.

We have a few local websites that are also popular that contain far less negative comments to the writer such as Greg Hall who does sports. I know Greg, we have a good relationship and I believe he’s a pretty darn good guy. While what Greg writes can be quite controversial, Greg himself is not. Greg is the example of what Kansas City perceives to be the ‘good’ person, a family man who enjoys our local college and pro teams whose opinion is valued. Greg Hall does not put his personal life out there very often and therefor is rarely criticized. In many ways, Greg Hall is the ‘Henry Fonda’ of writers, almost a Good Samaritan. You could say the same for many other Kansas City bloggers. Paul Wilson, who writes for another website, is new to the game, is a quality writer with solid subjects, but once again, it’s not about him, it’s about the story.

The best example of someone who used themselves as the story and became a huge success is radio super-personality, Howard Stern. Stern was the king of the shock jocks. If you remember early on, his entire program was almost entirely devoted to his daily life and how he felt about his experiences. ‘Ooh, I’d sure like to rip her panties off and do bad things to her. Wish I had a bigger dick,’ he said referencing a porn-starlet. Stern constantly talked about strip clubs and parties he attended where every chick in the room was throwing themselves at him and wanting to bang him, even though he was married. Stern was aware his wife was listening and his harsh comments helped lead to their divorce. If you saw the movie or read the book ‘Private Parts’, you know that people listen to Howard because they hate him and they don’t know what he will say next, or they listen to Howard because they love him and they don’t know what he is going to say next. Stern was the perfect example of Peck’s Bad Boy, and boy, did it work.

While many commenters have an opinion about the story that’s written which may or may not be negative, and that’s fine, far more use the comments section as a way to voice their anger at people they feel they have an easier, better or more glorious life than they, themselves, do. It’s especially a red light if readers feel the author is somehow snubbing their nose or looking down at them, in their minds the writer is saying, ‘I’m better than you’. A good example of this in the media is Rush Limbaugh. Many people love him.

In the metro, we really don’t have a strong ‘bad boy’. Oh wait a minute, I forgot about Your Humble Scribe. The only person close to me would be my sometimes radio cohort, Johnny Dare. The big difference here is that Johnny has the number one radio show in Kansas City and has for many years. He has people on his show who come across as outrageous but Dare himself, really does not. In a sense he comes off as a common man. Dare doesn’t brag about his looks or his victories with hot chicks, nor does he talk about his financial success. He puts out that he is just another ‘lowbrow scumbag’ like many of the people who listen to his show. The truth is, Dare is handsome, financially well off and leads a pretty fun life. He’s worked hard for it. Me, I’m the villain of the piece.

I’m not trying to say all commenters are frustrated, angry, unworldly, and simply jealous. But too many of them are exactly all of those things. Douchebag, pussy, you got your ass kicked here buddy, these are just some of the catch phrases you will see wherever you see an on-line story you can comment on.

Unfortunately, too many websites gauge the power and popularity of a writer by how many comments he or she gets and what sort of comments are made. I am well aware that I generally get the most comments on these top-ranked sites. Sure would be a pleasure to have commenters focus on the article and not their disdain of the author. It’s a new medium and I guess that’s the way it goes.
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