John Albrecht
New member
I have come to be aware that there are some folks from the Kingsnake forums that do not seem to understand what all the fuss is about regarding the censorship and banning of vocal opponents to censorship. One individual in particular has gone so far as to contact me and ask if I would appeal my ban. I know they meant well, but it clearly demonstrates that some people are not getting the point. I want to elucidate further regarding this censorship and the numerous bannings that have taken place.
The first thing that needs to be done to fully understand the situation is to dispel the misconception that participation in the Kingsnake forums is free. It is absolutely NOT free. Visitors to the site pay for products and services advertised there and those advertisers in turn pay Kingsnake for the right to sell to us. I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of forum users are in fact active in the hobby of herpetology to the extent that they are likely customers of these advertisers. Kingsnake is paid, albeit indirectly, by the site visitors which includes forum participants. I think it is only fair to add that merely visiting the site is in fact payment even if nothing is purchased. The internet bequeaths a value to visitors as they constitute what is known as an “eyeball count”. This is a marketable commodity, which I’m sure the management of Kingsnake is completely aware of.
So now that we have established that Kingsnake forum use is NOT free we can draw some analogies that should aid in putting the recent censorship and banning into proper perspective. I liken it to a group of like minded people hanging out at a certain restaurant where they all know the owners and staff have similar interests. In my particular case I had noticed every now and then a little ruckus somewhat removed from the location of my table and heard various rumors about the management of the restaurant having problems with some of the patrons. Finally, one day, the management comes and forcibly removes the occupants of the table next to mine. The occupants are pleading “what did we do, what did we do?” as they are unceremoniously dumped onto the sidewalk. Now these are people that I have known a long time and I have serious doubts that they did ANYTHING worthy of such treatment. Some folks including myself, protest on behalf of these victims and then we find that we also are no longer welcome at this establishment. The cycle continues with more and more people being put out until finally so many people are out that the management realizes they have a PR problem and they issue a decree that you can appeal, in private, for the right to return. But in the meantime, they close your favorite section of the restaurant and redirect anyone that has not been put out to a new section where you have the opportunity to offer “feedback” regarding the whole ordeal. Of course, this is not available for anybody that has been banned from the establishment and the original censorship that caused the whole mess continues, even in the new section!
Now I want to ask you, who in there right mind would appeal in private, when they were just treated like this in public? Who really would want to patronize an establishment like this? I also want to know how when somebody can see what is happening all around them that they can continue to participate and NOT protest? I realize that there are a few who really just don’t know what’s going on and I don’t blame them for not getting involved. I also don’t dispute the idea that ideally it would be best for all involved if we could all just get past this whole thing and get back to normal. But this does not seem to be a realistic expectation considering that the management of the establishment is not taking any responsibility for their actions or the actions of their staff. This of course means that regardless of how many people appeal and are let back in, the whole scenario that allowed the episode to occur in the first place still exist with the extreme likelihood that it will in fact continue to occur.
This is why I am out. The only appropriate appeal regarding this whole issue is my appeal to Kingsnake to publicly apologize for their action and immediately rescind all bans and censorship.
The first thing that needs to be done to fully understand the situation is to dispel the misconception that participation in the Kingsnake forums is free. It is absolutely NOT free. Visitors to the site pay for products and services advertised there and those advertisers in turn pay Kingsnake for the right to sell to us. I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of forum users are in fact active in the hobby of herpetology to the extent that they are likely customers of these advertisers. Kingsnake is paid, albeit indirectly, by the site visitors which includes forum participants. I think it is only fair to add that merely visiting the site is in fact payment even if nothing is purchased. The internet bequeaths a value to visitors as they constitute what is known as an “eyeball count”. This is a marketable commodity, which I’m sure the management of Kingsnake is completely aware of.
So now that we have established that Kingsnake forum use is NOT free we can draw some analogies that should aid in putting the recent censorship and banning into proper perspective. I liken it to a group of like minded people hanging out at a certain restaurant where they all know the owners and staff have similar interests. In my particular case I had noticed every now and then a little ruckus somewhat removed from the location of my table and heard various rumors about the management of the restaurant having problems with some of the patrons. Finally, one day, the management comes and forcibly removes the occupants of the table next to mine. The occupants are pleading “what did we do, what did we do?” as they are unceremoniously dumped onto the sidewalk. Now these are people that I have known a long time and I have serious doubts that they did ANYTHING worthy of such treatment. Some folks including myself, protest on behalf of these victims and then we find that we also are no longer welcome at this establishment. The cycle continues with more and more people being put out until finally so many people are out that the management realizes they have a PR problem and they issue a decree that you can appeal, in private, for the right to return. But in the meantime, they close your favorite section of the restaurant and redirect anyone that has not been put out to a new section where you have the opportunity to offer “feedback” regarding the whole ordeal. Of course, this is not available for anybody that has been banned from the establishment and the original censorship that caused the whole mess continues, even in the new section!
Now I want to ask you, who in there right mind would appeal in private, when they were just treated like this in public? Who really would want to patronize an establishment like this? I also want to know how when somebody can see what is happening all around them that they can continue to participate and NOT protest? I realize that there are a few who really just don’t know what’s going on and I don’t blame them for not getting involved. I also don’t dispute the idea that ideally it would be best for all involved if we could all just get past this whole thing and get back to normal. But this does not seem to be a realistic expectation considering that the management of the establishment is not taking any responsibility for their actions or the actions of their staff. This of course means that regardless of how many people appeal and are let back in, the whole scenario that allowed the episode to occur in the first place still exist with the extreme likelihood that it will in fact continue to occur.
This is why I am out. The only appropriate appeal regarding this whole issue is my appeal to Kingsnake to publicly apologize for their action and immediately rescind all bans and censorship.
censorship