I was fully prepared to do a review today, but instead would like to nod in thanks and awe at Okazu Hero Bruce McF for his article on today’s Daily Kos:
What Can Newspaper Reporters Learn From Yuricon?
For one thing, Bruce really *gets* what I say about niche marketing, and he shows an understanding of social media that far outweighs most Marketing Directors’. It’s a very good article and I hope you will read it all the way through and vote Bruce chocolate chip cookies at the end, because he definitely deserves a cookie for his efforts.
The comments interest me, as someone almost immediately tries to diminish the impact of the message by forcing it back into the anime box – and not just that, but the “oh, it’s those gals talking about Yuri, how cute and pointless” box. Bruce deftly points out that my social media skills are useful for more than “just Yuri.” I would have commented myself but new accounts are embargoed for a week on Diary posts. :-)
This is not an isolated behavior, either. I’ve seen it occur in other male-dominated discussion forums and I dare say every female gamer runs into it on a regular basis. A recent quote on Simon Jones’ blog over at Icarus netted a comment that read something like, “I totally respect what those dykes are doing” which contradicts itself fascinatingly. :-)
But I digress. The point is that Bruce’s article is good, it’s a genius expression of Project Engage and along with voting Bruce a pile of chocolate chip cookies, he’s just gotten himself promoted to Okazu Superhero. Because I reward engagement.
Thanks for the great article, Bruce!
To me, those comments speak more about the recognition of the niche as something relevant and ‘threatening’ enough to warrant a knee-jerk reaction. That kind of mentality that can’t just take a live and let live approach to media, or in other words, still believes in winning the internet through the lowest common denominator is just getting that much more aggressive as they find their appeal slipping.
Oh lawd, and now I am forced to blush.
Its probably more exposure so far at Docudharma and ProgressiveBlue, much smaller community blogs … but it was frontpaged at both blogs. dKos is more of a hit or miss proposition … but there’s still the hope it will be Diary Rescued.
The only “well, son, let me explain to you how the world really works” comments were from a single kossack, and that’s not all that uncommon at that site.
(BTW, its spelt “BruceMcF” as its not McFadden or MacFarlane or any of the four or five more common variations that name took on its trip to the US)
@Bruce McF – Yeah, it may get more exposure on those sites, but for status DK wins. For the record, SM guru Shelley Kramer loved it. :-)
This is not an isolated behavior, either. I’ve seen it occur in other male-dominated discussion forums and I dare say every female gamer runs into it on a regular basis.
Yup. Dimminishing a woman’s accomplishments is pretty much the norm in gamer culture, sadly. Women gamers have to work twice as hard as male gamers to just get basic respect. I know a few women gamers who refuse to get Xbox 360s because they absolutely do not want to experience the widespread sexual harrassment on Xbox Live.
Great article, Bruce! :) Your analysis was very well done.
@Anon, @Brinstar … “I love it, but of course its not serious, aren’t you worried it will be distracting?” was a bit odd to see … the microniche marketing was the topic of the article and the newspapers dying like flies were the hook.
And its easy to see patterns that may or may not be there in small samples … but if HollwoodOz (I assume that’s a guy, but just from tone of voice) was perhaps a bit patronizing to funluvn1, wouldn’t it be stereotypical if I defended her by responding to HollywoodOz and bettynyc defended her by chiming in support direct to funluvn1. Didn’t notice that at the time!
@ Katherine, thanks. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that.
That’s a great article. I especially like how it reminds people that just because your not trying to be the next Random House or New York Times doesn’t mean you don’t know what your doing. Small doesn’t necessarily mean stupid or lazy.
Erica I’m glad to see word of your wisdom is spreading.
When I do the “Slow Food, Slow Money, Slow Work, Slow Press” blog, I’ll be sure to give advance notice and wait til some Sunday arvo to publish on dKos, so there’s a shot of putting it onto the reclist.
{It is, after all, an ambition of mine to get something other than a high speed rail diary on the dKos reclist sometime in this decade, and the clock is ticking.}