Anne van Alkemade

Out in the real world

Do you have a gripe on Redbubble?
Consider this:

In Australia a report found the number of homeless youths, aged between 12 and 18, across the country had doubled to 22,000 in the past two decades. Can you imagine your 12 year old living on the street?
Three 14-year-old Hong Kong children have been sentenced to more than three years for the armed hold-up of a jewellery shop. They are 14 years old for heaven’s sake! Children! They will spend 3 years in jail.
A 19-year-old climber has died after slipping and falling in Mount Aspiring National Park in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Someone’s family is grieving
One person was killed and 10 others injured when a car ploughed into a bicycle race on a highway in Mexico. people just going about their business killed and injured

There’s no punchline with any of this. Sure, the news is not always bad or sad, but it is LIFE. This is REAL LIFE people. So, before you hit the report button here on Redbubble, before you write a scathing journal or stir up discontent, have a think about REAL LIFE.

There are far worse things than being told you’re an idiot by someone you have never met. There are far worse things than feeling offended by an image or disliking the stand someone takes in a discussion.

You may have the right to feel aggrieved, sure, but you haven’t been in a bicycle accident, or fallen down a mountain, or lost a child in tragic circumstances. You’re not living on the street, or in serious trouble.

Before doing anything in anger – walk away from the computer and do something completely unrelated. Either you will forget about it, or you will get some perspective.

I know Redbubble is just a website. I know it’s just that. But I can’t help feeling sad at the nastiness that seems to be growing here. I can’t help feeling growing alarm that a place I spend every spare moment is being so adversely affected by petty squabbling that it will implode. Nope, the red dot next to my name does not give me any insider knowledge whatsoever. I have no idea how Redbubble Administration is working to subdue the destruction that is happening here. But I do know the place is losing its charm and happy environment because of a minority of people who feel it is their lot in life to set everyone else straight.

The underlying rule at Redbubble is “play nice”. When we all joined up we agreed to behave within the rules and the credo to “play nice”. Why is it so hard for adults and professionals to follow such a simple principle?

Please, think about Real Life before you weigh in to any arguments.

Christopher E..., 25 days ago

AMEN Anne!!! wow!! So so True! excellent job putting this out in a very NON offending way..Thanks!
jemimalovesbigted, 25 days ago

You rock Anne! It seems no matter when a group of people get together politics always arises… it is a sad but true state of affairs, but it doesn’t have to be in my opinion… May more people read what you have read and live by your message. Its nice to be nice =D
Damian, 25 days ago

Cool Anne, I hope this is widely read!
People grumble about the ‘play nice’ rule, but that’s been part of the charm and atmosphere of RB in my experience, and I hope they never throw it away. And I get sick of the whingers and stop watching them, then I never need to hear their moaning again (my country/politics/religion is better than yours), wooo! :)
MuscularTeeth, 25 days ago

well said.
BUT have you ever read the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy? or the radio show version?
in that (not the new movie) they had “the TOTAL PERSPECTIVE VORTEX”
which was a machine which pointed out where you fit in relation to everything else.
this was a dot on a dot on a dot in the cosmic scale of the universe and would send everyone mad who used it.
i love that.
Anne van Alkemade in reply to MuscularTeeth’s comment, 25 days ago

yer preaching to the converted Teeth. I have the books, I’ve heard the radio play (my brother has it on vinyl), I have the TV show and loved the movie. It all made perfect sense. We need that TPV here!
MuscularTeeth, 25 days ago

indeed ! we’d get along fine methinks.
i got the bbc shows on tape – special release ones. id grab them after the portable HDD in a fire.
Umbra101, 25 days ago

no more reality for me, i just want to draw my lovely horse ;)
Cathie Tranent, 25 days ago

Thank you Anne …. just thank you.
heroine, 25 days ago

Anne, you’re an idiot… only joking.
Outdoors2, 25 days ago

Think I’ll go Outdoors for a long, long while….
Thanks for the refreshing view Anne

~R
Clinton Tyree KM@, 25 days ago

Hey, in the UK we are getting younger and younger rape offenders, I think the youngest so far is 11
Danny Minisrty..., 25 days ago

Hi Anne , I been on about this for ages and have often talked to you about it.
If these people become anymore louder this place is fucked (it’s getting there now)
But beware there are certain types on this site who like to manipulate a situation to their own ends.
I find these repulsive pieces of apeshit more dispicable than the idiots who jump at the first sign of outrage.
It funny how the former anf later interact so well.
Danny Minisrty..., 25 days ago

Oh I aint finished yet…damn Sunday mornings…where’s that beer.
The arrogance of some people , that they are morally right and then invade others threads to express themselves then declare everything over because they said so.
2 examples
Here
HERE
The funny thing about the 2nd one was it was featured on the Home Page on release MONTHS & MONTHS ago to no reaction.
Yes Anne we all need to get a grip.
I’m off to kill Americans in Grand Theft Auto. Why not ? They made it and marketed it so that now it is the most popular game in the world.
Anne van Alkemade in reply to heroine’s comment, 25 days ago

here, have a go at my other cheek/s
hahahaha
samedog, 25 days ago

Thank you Anne – unfortunately the biggest problem with common sense is that it’s not very common…
thickblackoutline, 25 days ago

Amen Sister!
Darren Stones, 25 days ago

Talking about playing nice…Essendon defeated Collingwood yesterday. :-)

Well spoken, Anne.
georgiegirl, 25 days ago

Good one, Anne. Exactly what I would have said if I had your gift for writing. Thank you for waking everyone up.

Darren…. Yay!!
Anne van Alkemade in reply to Danny Minisrty of bad spelling’s comment, 25 days ago

I am starting to think, Danny, that the only way to stop the rot is to remove the means to do it. I guess that means removing groups and forums, introduce moderated comments, and if anyone wants to interact, they can set up their own blogs!!! Sad really, harder to meet new people, but at least it would cut out the cancerous nastiness. Cut off the leg to save the body.
Darren Stones, 25 days ago

Anne, I’m willing to stand up to the rot.

My gut feeling is there’s a silent majority ready to get right behind swift and affirmative action.
Anne van Alkemade in reply to Darren Stones’s comment, 25 days ago

I just wonder what action is possible Darren. It’s such a sticky mess. Perhaps the silent majority need to be galvanised or to circle the wagons or … hmmm … run out of metaphors and symbolism. Guess I better get back to work!
Darren Stones, 25 days ago

Anne, Peter initmated today that moderation needs to be stepped up. I think that’s the right move. I’ve been saying it for weeks.
Helen Bascom, 25 days ago

Excellent post.
Tania Rose, 24 days ago

Grand Commentary!
Roy barry, 24 days ago

Excellent Post. The last couple of weeks have been particularly damaging and draining for all concerned. I really, truly hope that the whole site isn’t too badly damaged.
Lawford, 24 days ago

Am I an ignorant nit?
Yes yell the chorus from the back.
I’m not aware of all the nastiness that’s been going on at RB for the last 2 weeks… as I don’t read it. Or if I do I don’t respond to it.
As a wise man once said “Never argue with an idiot. Observers cannot tell the difference.”
Anne van Alkemade in reply to Lawford’s comment, 24 days ago

so true, Lawford. But unfortunately these things, if toxic enough, tend to affect everyone.
Chanel2, 24 days ago

Anne, I don’t tend to take notice of the rot so much in the sense I tend to float about, turn the page on the ugly and just stay in the areas where I feel happy (it’s a habit perhaps, self taught long ago)
I usually choose to stay away from any form of debate, because I’m just not good at it plain and simple.
In saying that, I love being here on redbubble, it has given me no end of joy and helped me venture into stuff I would never have dreamed possible.
If these bad apples are just left to rot and ultimately ruin the whole barrel, then I guess its time I said something, except you say it so much better, so what I will do is tell you great post.
kathleen, 24 days ago

can I say… well.. I got involved didn’t I…??? I tried to tell everyone to shut up and settle…which as you know Anne, I have done before… I have found huge success in finding strong bonds in situations in order to mediate and try to talk people down more or less so that we might all co-exist… I find political discussion interesting and I feel that situations like this not only threaten the ‘play nice’ but that if it get too fascist around here simply because there are those who aren’t as good at communicating with each other as others.

This is where I have always, always been preaching about MEDIATION…

Regulation is not always the answer, as you said above in your examples Anne, sentencing 14 year olds isn’t necessarily the answer to the problem.

Likewise, kicking people of automatically (which is what happened in this case), after a bad chrononlogy of unrelated events that no one understood and tempers flared… that happens in REAL LIFE too… that’s why we here in bubble land need to think of alternative and extra ways of creatively finding ways around these things WHEN they occur…

Everyone who has been here a long time understands that this is what happens here, cyclically… it’s what makes the place VIBRANT… because there are such a diversity of people in the world…

YES IN THE WORLD… I remember this little Australian site had a massively hard time accepting other western cultures in here and the playground goes around, with other people with REAL LIFE conclusion jumping…

... because that is how we are conditioned in this media based community and place…

it’s all so quick… people aren’t connected they just react… they are in pain… and they react… they are in confusion… and they react… they are in fear… and they react…

etc.

Some people react in bigotry and hatred and downright nastiness...

I can’t respect it much, but I respect people… and I will always work to resolve and calm and bring peace…. and to stand up for what I believe in…

More regulation would bring more discontent in my opinion, and that (to me) could infringe of the things that I depend on redbubble to help me express… which is the same stand I had 12 months ago, when the same thing happened in reaction to Mick8585… I have a photographic memory, I forget absolutely nothing… much… :-)

But…

Mediation… People, needs to come from an independent paid source… which is not really anything from me but a suggestion…

However… I have found success in it EVERY time I have tried to move things on… even if it just be to spread the fire and de-centralise the argument…

This is the internet… and people feel passionate about politics… I know people who think, talk and live and act… with nothing but motivation for this stuff…

Do You think it’s fair that they get discriminated against because they don’t think everything in the world is funny… or that their pain is different and they express it here in a way that you just don’t understand… if you don’t understand, don’t act in fear… or hate… your opinion is nothing when that person is hurting in their heart so much they can’t breathe… some people in the world don’t even know it’s possible to BE that sick and sad…

Perhaps that’s the issue… more people need to know WHAT hurt IS before they can actually figure out what being NICE is!!!

Oh… public moralist me…

well… “aphroditethealmighty”: had a very mentally gruelling saturday… especially as she was being me at the same time…

I am hurting… oooooooo arrrrrgghghghghghg

I guess, in back analysing myself, I can’t stand looking at people tear each other apart, I have to jump in the middle and at least TRY to help, or calm them or soothe them… even if that means trying to talk their language, or stirring them up and making them SEE me…

blah blah blah…

The paragraphing comes out in me in these instances…

Way too busy… gotta go and do those other things we do…
kathleen, 24 days ago

aphroditethealmighty
Anne van Alkemade in reply to kathleen’s comment, 24 days ago

In a round about way, Kathleen, that’s what I’m trying to say. I’m not against lively debate, but it has gone way further than that with some ugly attacks on individuals from all directions. I’m not advocating ‘fun’ to the exclusion of all else. I’m asking people not to lose sight of the fact that behind these words are real people in the real world. We come here to create, question, comment, explore, express, construct … but some seem to have selfish purposes and set out to destroy anyone who doesn’t fall into their line.

I can’t tell you how many times I have come to grief in my life from either standing up for what I believe or stepping in between others who want to tear each other’s throats out (both in the cyber and real senses). Older and wiser perhaps.

I do agree that if Redbubble wants more proactive moderation, they need to think about paid moderators. Asking people to volunteer to a greater extent is ridiculous. Moderation needs to be done 24/7 – and RB is best placed to know just how many things there are where opinions are expressed – posts, journals, comments, written works, forums, groups with 70,000 members contributing one comment a day!!!!
raae- Ministress of Public Domain Madness, 23 days ago

Shit what did i miss?

Well written Anne…

Like someone else said way up there.. this is the internet.. and it is a characteristic of this medium that words are strong and sharp because it’s not a ‘real life’ interaction.

• There is no solution, and it’s wasted energy trying to find one.
• An alternative is to find better ways of responding.

Although i’m still yet to master this skill (but trying), i think the best way is to let these people keep talking their shit – because at the end of the day it’s obvious to everyone who the idiots are. Delete retarded comments to reduce the amount of exposure these people get. Not giving someone attention is a pretty powerful tool, ask any first grade teacher.

I think its important to not let ‘moderation’ get in the way of discussion. I can’t even believe that is suggested when sooo many artists here ride the ‘Big Brother is Watching’ train and are all up in arms about freedom. Personally i think the little moderation we have here is lame anyway. It’s probably due to the fact that everyone (in the world) is over worked and under paid.

The other thing: everyone thinks they are right, all the time. You talk to people sitting on death row for murder..most of them will tell you a story about how even though it was wrong – what they did is justifiable. So ignore, delete or be witty.

Why argue with these people when you can go see the new work of your friends, comment on old favorites and find fresh bubble meat?

The best thing to fight stupidy is education

When that doesn’t work, bring out the big guns….
raae- Ministress of Public Domain Madness, 23 days ago

AND sorry that was so long.
Darren Stones, 23 days ago

I do agree that if Redbubble wants more proactive moderation, they need to think about paid moderators. Asking people to volunteer to a greater extent is ridiculous. Moderation needs to be done 24/7 – and RB is best placed to know just how many things there are where opinions are expressed – posts, journals, comments, written works, forums, groups with 70,000 members contributing one comment a day!!!!

You’ve been reading my mind, haven’t you?
raae- Ministress of Public Domain Madness, 23 days ago

Paid moderators = higher base costs for us.

I don’t want idiots affecting how much money i get in the bank each month! Maybe there should be some kind of idiot tax.
Darren Stones, 23 days ago

My observations over the last week have been that some mods “took a rest”. Frankly, I don’t blame them.
Anne van Alkemade in reply to raae’s comment, 23 days ago

I like the idiot tax idea. You have to be licenced ‘not idiot’ to get a idiot tax return!
Anne van Alkemade in reply to Darren Stones’s comment, 23 days ago

Perhaps the hosts did take a bit of a rest Darren. But there’s only maybe 30 ish volunteers doing this. We don’t get paid, we do it because we love the place. As you say, you don’t blame them. But it wasn’t necessarily a rest – more likely we just can’t be everywhere at once. And you also hesitate to step in and make any comment because often you are seen as the enemy from all sides.
raae- Ministress of Public Domain Madness, 23 days ago

HAHAHA idiot tax return! That is such a great idea.

Non idiots should get ‘NAI’ (not an idiot) next to their name.
Darren Stones, 23 days ago

Yep, I’m with you, Anne. Stepping in to break up a barney can get you landed with blows from both parties. Thinks we’ve seen enough of this of late.

Experience is the best teacher and I acknowledge your thoughts 100%. You make a lot of sense to me. I respect your thoughts.
Alison Pearce, 23 days ago

Anne, I am unsure of what the nastiness going on here is all about (hope this turns out ok!) but even being ignorant of that, I found your article to be deeply moving. Life is too short, and tragedy is too close. I think that “playing nice” is a concept we should take with us no matter what we do. If people choose not to, then that is their decision.

p.s. I do hope everything is all right with you Anne? Your words seem very downhearted.
bchrisdesigns, 17 days ago

Anne, well said!