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So I do think the content of the "advertising" is relevant to the board. I know this isn't the Bendis board, and I'm about to make a bad analogy here, but if someone posted on the Bendis board saying, "hey, we're releasing this book about Bendis, with an interview with Bendis," I don't think there would be any backlash. I would imagine people would be excited to hear the news. But at Barbelith -- and I know it's very different -- people seemed annoyed. That's why I'm surprised by the reaction.
Well, as you say, it's very different. Barbelith wasn't intended as a Grant Morrison fan site - it was an aspirational title referencing a shift in thinking and values. It was only the magic of Google that means that the only people who turn up here now are looking for a Grant Morrison fan site.
Having said which, there is an expectation of interest from and in some quarters - although there's a question about whether that's a good thing; I have long resisted the urge to start an auction here for my copy of Lovely Biscuits, which is different again.
I think people get irked when they feel like they are only being addressed when the other party wants them to buy something - see Jason Louv's signed copy of the Invisibles issue 1, or John H Williams III, who got quite a bit of pushback - but it isn't wholly consistent - Keiron Gillen gets a relatively easy ride, but I think that is in part because he was ready to keep talking about Phonogram even when it was physically impossible to buy a copy.
Cameron may hang around chatting on Barbelith less than he used to - but, really, outside the Late Shift who doesn't? - but he's been here a long time, and has shown a willingness to talk about things generally. Boboss has not only been here ages, but has served enough time as a moderator and general cat-herder that he's probably entitled with our collective blessing to tell us about a new project he has embarked upon. If it takes discussion away from Barbelith, perhaps that's just Darwinism, just as the once-common cybering has probably largely moved onto Livejournal, Myspace, Xanga and the like.
It's a judgement call - and one which, ultimately, the remaining Comics mods probably have to make. I used to be quite hardline about this, but it occurs to me that the audience for comic books in general, before we even get onto books about one part of one comic book writer's output, is so small and dwindling that providing a platform for sales pushes may count as a good deed for the day. |
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