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Does an Epinions abuser belong in the Hall of Fame? Let's find out shall we...Jun 07 '04 (Updated Jun 08 '05) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line My three mentors are very important to me, they belong here...my abuser friend here, well...YOU tell me okay?
Her Story; About five years ago, a very strange woman finally got local access so she could go online. How she survived without it before is still a mystery. Anyway...she had a little one who was just under a year old, and three older children in school. She had gotten into a rut. Her baby was on the same schedule every day, so she ended up with too much time on her hands during Teletubbie shows and nap times. Rather than wallow in loneliness, she spent that time online making friends. After a year of lurking in chat rooms, and odd websites...she accidentally fell over Epinions. Wow, here's a cool site. She'd always wanted to write, so she dipped a toe in...(shiver)...she sucked at this writing thing! Or so she thought at the time. She did however, do a great deal of reading on the site. She became obsessed to a certain degree with three specific members who weren't at all like the rest. Hard To Please mattjoe SLOW The way they wrote was amazing, they added so much wit to their reviews, yet still made sure all the information needed for the product was there. They became her mentors, teaching her that one of the best ways to write was to write honestly, put your real personality into your reviews, and the main thing...write as if you're talking to people you know well, as if the only people reading your reviews are your friends. She had found others like them later in her Epinions experience, but these were definitely her original mentors! Then it happened...Gourmet opened a Spirits section! OMG...could she transfer her own bartender personality to print? Ooh...yes, she could, she did...and behold...LadyCynic was born! LadyCynic became popular, became a very high profile member of this little community. She worked hard on the site too, spending quite a bit of time reading and rating. In those days, she even gave some of her valuable time to the "just in" section. Then something weird happened one day, July 19th 2000, as she sat in the "just in" section...she saw a writer who she thought was an abuser. This idiot was popping out what seemed to be a review every five minutes or so. They weren't very long, and they were ALL off topic. He was using categories like General Kids & Family Advice, Disciplining Kids and How to Raise Teenagers...yet not talking about the topics, just a paragraph or two of apparently what he was thinking of at that moment. It was like he was just throwing all this stuff here just to scam some money, what the average Epinions abuser did at the time. She went along as usual and NR'd (NH) most of this stuff...but in reading the writings of this lunatic, she felt that something just wasn't right. This didn't seem like your typical abuser for some reason. She had left a small comment on one of these totally off topic reviews, something to the effect of "you're just throwin these anywhere aren't ya darlin?"...Now the test began...would he shoot back with a sarcastic or ignorant reply? If he were a true abuser, that would surely prove it. She thought to herself "Hmm...no reply at all, and I know he's on the site, He must have read my comment because he's still poppin out these reviews!" She went to his profile page, not really understanding her interest in an abuser, but somehow...this didn't feel like an abuser. "Well, there's part of it anyway" she thought to herself, "he's an Aussie...jeez...that could be it right there. Though he sure isn't in it for the money, Epinions isn't paying outside the U.S. yet" She saw that he had probably written about 10 reviews in less than an hour...and all had an overall NR (NH) or SR (SH) rating. So far, like a typical abuser to her, the other kind though...these ones just enjoyed mucking' up sites just for the heck of it. Still...something just didn't seem right, it was more a feeling she had than anything tangible. She tried to shake off the feeling and get back to what she was doing, so she headed back to the "just in" and didn't give this weirdo a second thought. That is until she saw yet another review show up from him... I hate racists "Okay, now that's an interesting title" she thought. She clicked on the review, honestly expecting to leave another low rating. Now this...this was amazing! This editorial, this poem...this was a work of art, it had to be plagiarized! She spent almost an hour trying to locate it on the internet, with no luck. Finally, though he had placed it in the How to Raise Teenagers category it certainly fit there...she decided to rate it appropriately, HR (VH)! She added her comment as well... "This was good! Don't let me find out later that this was plagiarized cause damn...I'd be disappointed!" To this, he actually replied... "no chance" Now, LadyCynic took interest. This piece was so profound, if this guy actually wrote this thing...he's well worth knowing! So she extended an offer, she thought that maybe this guy just didn't know how the site worked. Maybe he could just use some help from someone who had gotten good at it. After all, though a lot of his stuff was off topic...he did seem to have some interesting things to say. So she emailed him, half expecting to be ignored as she usually was when she offered her help... ...And there it was in his reply...yes, he did need help...yes, he did want to do better on the site and didn't know how. Therefore, LadyCynic shared the wisdom passed down to her from her mentors with this wild and crazy Aussie, who had honestly jumped into something before he really understood what it was about. The rest is history, the strange Aussie became popular after taking her advice. Once he understood how to write on the site, his genius took him higher than even LadyCynic could achieve. She was terribly proud to have helped him find himself, terribly proud of what he'd become because of her help. It didn't matter that he could have eventually done it himself, or at the very least...someone else could have helped him given more time. LadyCynic found him first, how incredibly satisfied she was when she saw his total hits rise above hers, and even more so when his WOT went up so much higher than hers. ...And her crowning glory... He had published a book almost four years after they first met, and after she read it she had no doubt in her mind...it would become a best seller!! His story; A bit over four years ago, an alien from Australia dared to mix it with the Americans and do some writing - really for the first time in his life. He was an old fella, only several months from his 50th Birthday and had long since given up chasing balls around tennis courts. He worked seven days a week and did very little else. His Doctor starts making predictions about little things such as life expectancy, and pleads with this bloke to somehow have at least one day a week off and to get interested in something else. On top of that, the Doctor declared this bloke should take up walking, which was readily accepted...except for the walk part in walking. So a hobby - "what the hell interests me right now?" he said to himself - well the real answer was nothing, nothing at all. So that is what he did, work and nothing, and became very good at it. Then he accidentally fell over Epinions, tried to join because how hard could it be? And found he was already a member! "hhhmmm since January no less when I joined a whole lot of things, then changed my mind and did nothing with them" he thought. For some reason he had a good look around the site, knocked up a few words and published them. And the result was incredible - four readers all NR (NH), or maybe one SR (SH). "HHmmm maybe its not so easy, thats good.........a challenge!" He said to himself. So he kept serving up literary genius rated SR (SH), he even got an R (H) once! Then some galahs tried to help - but of course, they were just insulting...or so he thought. Then something weird happened - without even trying to, the one on "race" flowed out of him. He couldn't believe it - "did I write that?" he thought to himself. That would happen numerous times in the future but he still can't explain it. Anyway, along comes LadyCynic who gives it a HR (VH) with a warning saying if it was plagiarized, she would kill him (or something to that affect). He thought, "hell, did I read it somewhere and it came back to me? Oh hell - what to do." Next thing an email rolls up from this Lady and the rest is history. Except, she didn't tell him what to do, she suggested. She helped him in every imaginable and unimaginable way. Here they were a year on - he had been in horrific fights, offended many, but 67,000 "unique" readers had read his ramblings, many of which are in some schools that he knew of. The Australian State of Queensland featured him on their Website and he's written a book, one that LadyCynic even assures him will become a top seller very soon. She believed in him - he didn't and really still doesn't quite. But he's amazed to have come this far regardless. And believes that if it wasn't for her, he most definitely would not have...and for him, that will never be forgotten. Now, my note for you Peter Smith… SMITHSWOODSIDE You’ve spent the past four years trying to convince me that I taught you how to write, that I invented you, and that if it weren’t for me you would not be a writer today. For that I have two arguments and one concession my dear sweet Aussie... I did not teach you how to write! I taught you what I learned from my mentors, I passed on the exact same things they taught me. In my mind, something you will never change on this point, those three guys up there are the ones who taught you how to write. As far as I'm concerned...I was merely a conduit in this case. I did not invent you! The day that you can prove to me that you write like I do, that your wit is the same type as mine, that you've adopted my style...that's the day you'll convince me of that one. You invented yourself, the way you write and your wit is all you! As I said earlier, all I did was pass my mentors teachings on to you, so that you could develop your own winning style. And the concession... You've finally convinced me, that if I hadn't caught you that day and offered my help...you would have given up writing completely with the belief that you were never meant to be a writer. So yes darlin', you now have it in print, if it weren't for me...you would not be a writer today! (smiling proudly) Now, if I haven't embarrassed the hell outta ya with this one Peter...I ain't the Bewdy that I know I am...HA! LadyCynic's final thoughts... Who belongs here? My mentors of course, without them I would have given up myself and though I never did and probably still won't write often, I wouldn't be able to call myself a writer today. Also, Peter Smith for certain! I may have been the one to pull his butt out of the gutter of Epinions, but he's brought himself up to the top on his own...and has written a beautiful best sellin' book as well!  |
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