Post by bombmaniac on Jul 11, 2010 1:14:44 GMT -5
below is a letter i wrote just 5 minutes ago. criticize, discuss, and analyze away. i couldn't care less.
Dear Dan,
I started watching your videos approximately 7 months ago, and at the time I must say, I was deeply impressed. You were an intelligent person who truly understood world issues, and made informed decisions for yourself about those issues. You presented your ideas to the youtube community, in a clear concise and intelligent manner. While almost never agreed with your opinions, I genuinely enjoyed watching your videos. Here was a person who bucked the trend on youtube, and actually presented well thought ideas, and discussed relevant Issues, rather than resorting to the usual pettiness that most youtubers reduce themselves to. I watched every single one of your videos, and enjoyed all of them. Your coverage of the Obama campaign was brilliant.
Then you started to move off of your original path. Your videos started getting sillier. I found this acceptable, because I had always viewed your videos as being a little TOO serious, so the new laid back format was fine. Then you did it. You made the FSM series. There…RIGHT there is where you blew it. I am going to branch off now with an analysis of that series.
Your general format up until that point was basically you presenting an idea, the 2 sides to that idea, and asking for responses with people’s opinions. This format was GREAT! It allowed for a LOT of group discussion, and viewer input. This format lasted for a few weeks, and I really enjoyed it. Then you made your tea party video. That video was such a deviation from the norm that I nearly vomited after watching it. Instead of presenting the issue in an intelligent and mature manner, you made a complete mockery of the tea party, and closed the discussion absolutely. Instead of asking for video responses about the TEA PARTY, you asked for videos of people “worshipping” Sarah Palin.
The following night, at your live show, when people tried to engage you in a conversation about the tea party, an actual intelligent discussion about the tea party and your opinions about them, you shot them down. You insisted on making a mockery of the conversation, bringing it back again to your little BS about the FSM and Sarah Palin. You refused to discuss the actual point of your video. You closed discussion on the topic. Your subsequent videos followed a similar vein. They were themed on that ridiculous farce of a video you had made about the tea party.
Friday came along, and it was time for you to present your personal opinions. You looked at the comments on your previous videos, and saw that the responses were less than favorable. What had begun as a joke was turning into a mess. As a career youtuber you had an image to maintain. You could not be associated with such nonsense; some spin would have to be applied here. You made your Friday video about religious tolerance, and freedom of speech and expression. Anyone with half a brain in his head could realize that this was just a PR stunt. The focus of your original video was on the tea party. That was its title. Yet somehow, you managed to convince people otherwise…you managed to spin it in such a way that people forgot you had ever MENTIONED the tea party! And so passed that incident.
Since then, your videos have been on the decline. Most of them have been stupid videos of you doing stupid things to amuse the youner age groups in your audience…no real thought or intelligence there. No more engaging conversation. No more intelligent Dan. Enter Dan the clown. You began making the most ridiculous videos I have ever seen. As each week passed your videos got progressively worse. Eventually, I stopped watching them altogether. I couldn’t bear to see the person who I once regarded with such high esteem sink to such a low level. It got even worse with the moderator module. Your videos became so ridiculous, I’m surprised youtube maintained your partnership.
Yet through all of this…through all the disappointment…there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Your secret project. We had been waiting for it for many many months. As awful as your videos had been, there was always that beacon to look to for support. The knowledge that once it was released, all the mistakes of the past would be forgotten and we could forge ahead into the new future-a future where we, as a community, as the community you built, could together influence and change the world we live in for the better. For months we waited with baited breath for your project to be released. We hungrily grabbed at the clues and hints you dropped about it. We speculated.
The day had finally arrived. July 10. VidCon. The day we had all been waiting for. The tribe as a whole sat there watching their screens, waiting for the moment where everything would change, the moment where we would be shown exactly why we had been brought together. The project that would change the world. You took the stage, we drew and held our breath. You had our rapt attention. Every syllable you uttered, bringing us one step closer to the unveiling of the project. And then…it was out. The project was revealed. The moment we had waited for, for over 6 months had finally come and gone. We let out our breath, and I groaned. What a waste of time…what a waste of potential…what a waste of resources.
You had us there, ALL of us in the palm of your hand. We were all ready, willing, able, and eager to participate in this world changing project. what we got instead…was a croc. A ridiculous project that has no direct impact on anyone’s world but yours. No world changing ideas. No world changing project. nothing we as a community could accomplish. No goal we as a community could work toward. Nothing. A huge void created by all of our aspirations and expectations left void of any mission, goal, or possible accomplishment. A disappointment plain and simple.
The question now becomes, what are we to do as a community? Running your life is a nice reality show, but it has no bearing on why we are here; it has no bearing on the world at large. We are a community of 3000 plus people, now left without a mission or a purpose, what are we now to do? How are we to accomplish what we set out to do, how are we to change our world? You had us. You had us for whatever project you had in mind. We were willing to follow you along the path of bettering the world, but you strayed off that path. Where does that leave us?
I hope you realize what a tremendous resource and potential you have just squandered, and I hope you realize what you will have to do to gain us back. I realize that I do not speak for every member of SPOTM when I say all of this, but there are enough people who are deeply disappointed in you to warrant a response and explanation at the very least. Personally I expect something else. It will be very difficult to regain my respect. I realize that to you this may not matter…in the grander scheme of things, what is one member out of 3000? What is one viewer out of close to 250,000? But it is not just me, and it is not just about the numbers. It is about your obligation to the community, and in fact the world.
You set yourself up as a person who cares, a person who is intelligent, and enjoys intelligent conversation; you set yourself up as a person who genuinely wants to effect positive change upon our world. Can we have that Dan back? Can we skip Dan 3.0 and have Dan 4.0? Can we begin to focus, as a community, on what we should have been focusing on all along? Can we beging to help our world rather than closeting up online, and doing nothing but talk about ending “worldsuck”? Can we work toward achieving a noble cause? Can we achieve our purpose? Can we do what we were meant to? Can we bring an end to “worldsuck” as we know it? I believe the answer is yes, and I believe that this has to be your focus: “How can we as an online community effect positive change upon the real world?”
Keep your eyes peeled for the SPOTMunist manifesto.
Very Annoyed,
Bombmaniac
Dear Dan,
I started watching your videos approximately 7 months ago, and at the time I must say, I was deeply impressed. You were an intelligent person who truly understood world issues, and made informed decisions for yourself about those issues. You presented your ideas to the youtube community, in a clear concise and intelligent manner. While almost never agreed with your opinions, I genuinely enjoyed watching your videos. Here was a person who bucked the trend on youtube, and actually presented well thought ideas, and discussed relevant Issues, rather than resorting to the usual pettiness that most youtubers reduce themselves to. I watched every single one of your videos, and enjoyed all of them. Your coverage of the Obama campaign was brilliant.
Then you started to move off of your original path. Your videos started getting sillier. I found this acceptable, because I had always viewed your videos as being a little TOO serious, so the new laid back format was fine. Then you did it. You made the FSM series. There…RIGHT there is where you blew it. I am going to branch off now with an analysis of that series.
Your general format up until that point was basically you presenting an idea, the 2 sides to that idea, and asking for responses with people’s opinions. This format was GREAT! It allowed for a LOT of group discussion, and viewer input. This format lasted for a few weeks, and I really enjoyed it. Then you made your tea party video. That video was such a deviation from the norm that I nearly vomited after watching it. Instead of presenting the issue in an intelligent and mature manner, you made a complete mockery of the tea party, and closed the discussion absolutely. Instead of asking for video responses about the TEA PARTY, you asked for videos of people “worshipping” Sarah Palin.
The following night, at your live show, when people tried to engage you in a conversation about the tea party, an actual intelligent discussion about the tea party and your opinions about them, you shot them down. You insisted on making a mockery of the conversation, bringing it back again to your little BS about the FSM and Sarah Palin. You refused to discuss the actual point of your video. You closed discussion on the topic. Your subsequent videos followed a similar vein. They were themed on that ridiculous farce of a video you had made about the tea party.
Friday came along, and it was time for you to present your personal opinions. You looked at the comments on your previous videos, and saw that the responses were less than favorable. What had begun as a joke was turning into a mess. As a career youtuber you had an image to maintain. You could not be associated with such nonsense; some spin would have to be applied here. You made your Friday video about religious tolerance, and freedom of speech and expression. Anyone with half a brain in his head could realize that this was just a PR stunt. The focus of your original video was on the tea party. That was its title. Yet somehow, you managed to convince people otherwise…you managed to spin it in such a way that people forgot you had ever MENTIONED the tea party! And so passed that incident.
Since then, your videos have been on the decline. Most of them have been stupid videos of you doing stupid things to amuse the youner age groups in your audience…no real thought or intelligence there. No more engaging conversation. No more intelligent Dan. Enter Dan the clown. You began making the most ridiculous videos I have ever seen. As each week passed your videos got progressively worse. Eventually, I stopped watching them altogether. I couldn’t bear to see the person who I once regarded with such high esteem sink to such a low level. It got even worse with the moderator module. Your videos became so ridiculous, I’m surprised youtube maintained your partnership.
Yet through all of this…through all the disappointment…there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Your secret project. We had been waiting for it for many many months. As awful as your videos had been, there was always that beacon to look to for support. The knowledge that once it was released, all the mistakes of the past would be forgotten and we could forge ahead into the new future-a future where we, as a community, as the community you built, could together influence and change the world we live in for the better. For months we waited with baited breath for your project to be released. We hungrily grabbed at the clues and hints you dropped about it. We speculated.
The day had finally arrived. July 10. VidCon. The day we had all been waiting for. The tribe as a whole sat there watching their screens, waiting for the moment where everything would change, the moment where we would be shown exactly why we had been brought together. The project that would change the world. You took the stage, we drew and held our breath. You had our rapt attention. Every syllable you uttered, bringing us one step closer to the unveiling of the project. And then…it was out. The project was revealed. The moment we had waited for, for over 6 months had finally come and gone. We let out our breath, and I groaned. What a waste of time…what a waste of potential…what a waste of resources.
You had us there, ALL of us in the palm of your hand. We were all ready, willing, able, and eager to participate in this world changing project. what we got instead…was a croc. A ridiculous project that has no direct impact on anyone’s world but yours. No world changing ideas. No world changing project. nothing we as a community could accomplish. No goal we as a community could work toward. Nothing. A huge void created by all of our aspirations and expectations left void of any mission, goal, or possible accomplishment. A disappointment plain and simple.
The question now becomes, what are we to do as a community? Running your life is a nice reality show, but it has no bearing on why we are here; it has no bearing on the world at large. We are a community of 3000 plus people, now left without a mission or a purpose, what are we now to do? How are we to accomplish what we set out to do, how are we to change our world? You had us. You had us for whatever project you had in mind. We were willing to follow you along the path of bettering the world, but you strayed off that path. Where does that leave us?
I hope you realize what a tremendous resource and potential you have just squandered, and I hope you realize what you will have to do to gain us back. I realize that I do not speak for every member of SPOTM when I say all of this, but there are enough people who are deeply disappointed in you to warrant a response and explanation at the very least. Personally I expect something else. It will be very difficult to regain my respect. I realize that to you this may not matter…in the grander scheme of things, what is one member out of 3000? What is one viewer out of close to 250,000? But it is not just me, and it is not just about the numbers. It is about your obligation to the community, and in fact the world.
You set yourself up as a person who cares, a person who is intelligent, and enjoys intelligent conversation; you set yourself up as a person who genuinely wants to effect positive change upon our world. Can we have that Dan back? Can we skip Dan 3.0 and have Dan 4.0? Can we begin to focus, as a community, on what we should have been focusing on all along? Can we beging to help our world rather than closeting up online, and doing nothing but talk about ending “worldsuck”? Can we work toward achieving a noble cause? Can we achieve our purpose? Can we do what we were meant to? Can we bring an end to “worldsuck” as we know it? I believe the answer is yes, and I believe that this has to be your focus: “How can we as an online community effect positive change upon the real world?”
Keep your eyes peeled for the SPOTMunist manifesto.
Very Annoyed,
Bombmaniac
In my personal opinion, he should have included some of these details in his presentation, but instead he wanted to tell his life story or something... either way, you should wait.