Liberal bullying: Privilege-checking and semantics-scolding as internet sport
You might ask yourself, “Hmm, what’s the biggest challenge the Offbeat Empire deals with on a daily basis?” You might ask yourself, “Is it complaints from advertisers who are offended by the content?” (Nope: that’s happened exactly once in almost six years. Our advertisers work with us because they like our content.)
“Is it angry comments from conservative readers who are offended by the content?” (Maybe once a month, we’ll get a drive-by hate blast from someone who thinks gay marriage is awful, or breastfeeding is gross, or family cloth is disgusting. But really, it’s pretty rare.)
So, if it’s not advertisers or conservatives, what’s the biggest challenge we deal with every day? The challenge that has my editors second-guessing every post and quaking in fear, just waiting for the awfulness to begin? It’s attacks from our fellow progressives.
Hate-reads and how for-profit sites work
Let’s say you don’t like an ad-supported website. I mean, REALLY dislike it so much that you feel compelled to regularly read it, but also wish it would stop existing. (This is often called hate-reading.) Here’s what NOT to do…
FIX TYPO: How to report errors on Offbeat Empire websites
Did you know you can submit corrections to typos and other errors you may find on the Offbeat Empire’s websites? Here’s how!
Small, focused, and yes, exclusionary community sites flourish
Recently, I ran some numbers and realized that traffic on the Offbeat Bride Tribe (the private community component of Offbeat Bride) was down… like, significantly down. Down by half from where it was at this time last year.
As a publisher, of course my first reflex was OMG TRAFFIC DOWN = BAD BAD BAD! But as a community manager, I’m keenly aware that the Tribe is functioning and behaving better than it ever has…