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All the commenters abandoned the Big Lead

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by poindexter, Nov 17, 2015.

  1. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Longtime posters here remember The Big Lead used to post here, before his website started/hit it big.

    He was mocked here pretty ruthlessly (cue Fozzy Bear pic post in minutes), but Jason and the Big Lead probably had the last laugh when his site got sold for (i think) a seven figure amount to USA Today.

    Enough of the background. I visit the site most days, and enjoy the morning roundup. They had a robust commenting section, which I found entertaining at times. Apparently there were some complaints about the sexist nature of comments, so The Big Lead switched from a more anonymous commenting type to commenting via your facebook account.

    The comments dried up almost immediately. Posts would have hundreds of comments - now, its nothing but crickets, except for an occasional "work from home" spam.

    It was a tad startling to see all those comments dry up immediately, to nothing.

    Any thoughts?
     
  2. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Arrested adolescents don't like to publicly own their woman-hating?
     
  3. TyWebb

    TyWebb Well-Known Member

    I remember when this happen seeing Jason what remained of the comments defending the decision, saying that the comments would liven up again. I don't know how long it has been, but it doesn't seem like it is true.

    I totally get the reasoning behind it. Unfettered commenting can quickly turn into a shitshow, especially when the majority of your audience is mid-20s white bros. I still think it was a mistake because, as you said, the comment section on the morning roundup was basically a small community. I recall seeing people asking other commenters about their newborns or weekend projects. I also recall seeing some pretty vile stuff on there.

    I guess to get rid of the little bit of bad, they also had to get rid of a lot of good. I'd be curious to see how it has affected their click-thru numbers.
     
  4. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

  5. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I never saw it as any worse than here.
     
  6. YorksArcades

    YorksArcades Active Member

    That guy got mocked because he was a twit. He could have sold his site for 70 figures, and I don't think that would have changed.

    I have long thought, and posted at many different places, that anonymity is bad for discourse, for multiple reasons.

    However, it is always pointless to discuss that at sites that allow anonymous posting. (BTW, you'll see precisely why that is if this thread continues to develop.)
     
    Liut likes this.
  7. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    As I recall, he was one of the few here who weren't anonymous.
     
  8. YorksArcades

    YorksArcades Active Member

    I don't remember him posting with a real name, but maybe he gave it out.

    I stopped paying attention to him after a while, except to ridicule him about Michael Vick.
     
  9. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    What was your name back then?
     
  10. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    Probably changed 4 times since then.
     
  11. YorksArcades

    YorksArcades Active Member

    Probably. I actually don't even know or remember.

    Good to see that my prediction about the deterioration of this thread needed only 5 posts to come true, though.
     
  12. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    What was the over-under?
     
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