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Huffington Post Goes NSA on Its Members

Hey rambot02, my totally unscientific measure of how devastating this mandatory invasion of privacy is the comment count per post and they are way down.

There will be those who either go along with each new imposition on them by HP or who gradually drift back and rationalize why it’s worth giving up so much just to blog with some good folks and some hateful trolls so HP won’t be destroyed by this but for those who stand on principle and refuse to go back no matter the lure or the promises that may be made, will be helping to build the alternatives to HP that they express they’d like to see.

To be frank, each time HP has stepped on their members toes, many have eventually gone back…just to be surprised again later on by another stomp.

There comes a point where you just can’t trust assurances and promises from those who haven’t shown goodwill. That’s my POV on HP but agian, I respect the POVs of those who disagree with my perception of HP.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 7:12 pm

Nirek, appreciate the shoutout to our new and returning friends from HP!

And don’t forget Vox Populi (our live weekly chat) on Friday nights at 7 pm PST!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 6:59 pm

Hi eldave1!

Well, de facto, this is a site where you can post comments freely about articles at HP, no need for an official site (not to mention the copyright infringement such a mirroring site would be sued over by HPAOL). So, why not do it here?

As for the indiscriminate and secret censorship at HP, I gave up looking for rhyme or reason and clearly they don’t feel any responsibility to members to explain why they violate their trust and trash their free expression. I would hazard to guess that in some cases, their auto-moderating of comments due to their blacklist of words catches so many comments that they just don’t have the staff to go through every comment so they just trash them or let them stay in limbo.

That kind of diss is surprising when a site’s only value comes from having people choose to spend time at your site.

Doing the responsible job of moderation with so many comments being posted would require more personnel than they’re willing to hire so their logic is the corporate logic of, “Let’s just use a big bulldozer on this big job and if we scoop up lots of innocents along the way, so be it.”

As to the other motivations behind killing anonymity, I think some here have put their finger on it. The value of datamining all their users and selling that info of what views their members have along with their identity and all their personal Facebook info sure looks like a juicy sweet for a big corporation like HPAOL. And at the same time, being able to shape and control the discussions there to promote their representation of what “the public’s views” are, would give them some pretty tasty political power. These are just suppositions but they are interesting to ponder.

As to the killing of links, that seems pretty straightforward. They don’t want anyone leaving the site no matter how positive it is for members and the community there. The priority is keeping people clicking at HP and anything that interferes with that is unwelcome.

I actually think this is the last stage of a corporately controlled “public” blog becoming irrelevant to those who value privacy and free expression. What more does anyone need to see about the true nature of those behind HP? And isn’t supporting those who display their true colors like this just perpetuating it and encouraging more of it?

What I say can be taken with a grain of salt, I have not been a fan of HP for some time and felt that HP was going down this drain a while back which was why I left.

Still, anyone who blogs here should never feel that they have to choose between there and here, we have a number of folks here who have been blogging there and we do believe in freedom of choice as well as freedom of expression.

I would say though that at least adding The Planet as an enhanced commenting community to one’s visits at HP could provide some valuable balance.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 6:57 pm

Thanks Beatlex!

That’s a point that’s been lost right now, the ramp up to this invasive policy included changing the comment format on every page to that awful flash popup format. Again, it works great for the execs and admins, who cares that the members don’t like it at all?

This is the Romney-style tone-deafness you get from the corporate types, they believe too much in how incredibly brilliant they are and can’t accept criticism or questioning of themselves…let alone consider what the 99% think of what they’re doing.

That HP of the past is finally completely dead. The Invasion of the Bloggy Snatchers has run its course and the soulless site that remains there just wears the visage of HP but is something entirely else.

Hope to see more of you here, Beatlex!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 6:37 pm

Hey Kes, it is rather eye-opening. As you recall, we launched just before the second HP purge and there were many articles here early on about HP and what was really going on.

Because of that we were tagged as “The Anti-HP” site and our URL was added to their blacklist. How’s that for respecting free expression.

As you know, we are not the anti-HP site, we cover many issues and that was just one. We have many members here who (at least as of yesterday) were regulars at HP too. We just had members who stood up to expose and take to task HP…because members are prohibited from doing so in a meaningful way there.

Yep, if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can’t blog at HP. Don’t know that Zuckerberg is in on this but he has been diving into politics rather deeply and very supportive of the RW economic agenda.

Indeed, a perq of being at The Planet is getting to blog like an adult and be respected like one. No time outs, no having to show your birth certificate and no one gets to throw a tantrum at you.

Can be a bit jarring after all the restrictions of HP, getting to blog freely, and it can be addicting…in a good way.

Cheers back, Kes. You contribute so much here and have done so even when it’s been a challenge. We’re all together on this Planet!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 6:12 pm

Oh and BTW, I remember and appreciated richmisty as well!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 6:04 pm

Hey HLL, thanks so much!

Oh yeah, I remember Friday Night tunes. We continued that tradition over here on Friday nights then shifted it to the weekend. Killgore Trout heads it up and the cooler thing here is that you can embed the video (not just the link) by just adding the letter “v” after the “http” in the YouTube link (so it begins “https”).

Here on Friday Nights at 7 pm PST we host Vox Populi, a live chat on the week’s events that all members are welcome to join. It’s a lot of fun and a whirlwind conversation on the latest events. You should drop by Friday night if you’re around and check it out!

As for the evolution of HP, they have indeed gone over fully to the dark side by doing this. And I don’t mean they are evil necessarily but by transforming the site into a data gathering, identity grabbing site, they now represent the worst in corporate internet social networking.

I would bet that they try to temper the big revolt against this policy to lure people back, then as they have before, they will slowly integrate it back into place.

Sometimes you have to stand up against others on principle and no matter how much they promise not to be abusive again in the future, you don’t go back because it only empowers them to try it again.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 6:03 pm

Wow KT, that is damn cool! Well done, my friend!

I may have put down the dry facts on HP but you sure painted a complex and textured portrait!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:54 pm

Whoops, I see you’re already set up and the site is just catching up, you’re all good!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:41 pm

Hey rambot02, welcome to The Planet! Thanks for the kind words on the article.

To add your Gravatar, just go to https://en.gravatar.com/site/signup/ and sign up for a WordPress.Com account then add an avatar to the same email address you used to sign up here. That avatar will show up here and at all sites that use WordPress. We have a Help Button in the right column, feel free to click on that and post any questions at all, we’re happy to help!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:40 pm

kimbanyc, very nice to see you!

Those are the kinds of scary experiences that are most troubling about this plan to strip everyone of their anonymity. HP knows better, they know how members have been stalked and harassed and yet they are acting as if that is a concept they are wholly unaware of.

This new censorship you does raise the question that greta42 raised below about there being a parallel attempt to control and shape the memes that come out of HP.

I check HP every day to see what’s going on though I have no desire to give up anonymity and post there. So, when there are worthwhile articles there, folks can always come here to have an open discussion about them.

Things do change, especially when corporations buy up businesses but it leaves an opening for people to build up elsewhere and I hope folks take advantage of the opportunity here to do so…at a site by bloggers for bloggers.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:35 pm

HLL, very nice to see you here! And thanks for the kind words on the post!

There’s not much of a community left at HP with this latest move, you can’t have a healthy community without freedom and a degree of personal privacy.

Though The Planet doesn’t have anywhere near the massive membership HP has, the community here make blogging as fun as it used to be at HP as well as enlightening.

It does take some getting used to, seeing your posts go up immediately, being able to edit them and being able to type the words you want to without worrying about being moderated.

But it’s well worth it!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:27 pm

But just think of how many FIENDS you could add at Facebook if your identity was known at HP!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:21 pm

Cheers OppositionReasearch and welcome to The Planet!

It is affirming to hear that you’ve had a similar perspective on the goings on at HP.

They do seem to be following in the highly manipulative footsteps of the RW’s tactics (like Boehner’s parade with Repub House members through states that refused to implement the ACA in order to only promote “disaster” stories about the ACA).

Stacking the deck as to who can be heard at town hall meetings and committee hearings is Repub territory but HP is now taking a page out of that book and deciding who will or won’t be heard and who will have to be concerned about retribution if they don’t fall in line.

I don’t see this as evil, just the corporate domineering and intrusiveness that we have become so familiar with.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:20 pm

Welcome to The Planet, Algebra Palin and thanks for the props!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:14 pm

Hi Greta42! At least I have HP’s shameless privacy invasion to thank for seeing folks I haven’t seen for a while!

My pleasure, thanks for the kind words.

I think that is a real possibility, with Arianna’s actions in 2012, insisting she’s never been a Progressive and might vote Republican to get Obama out of office, it is not unreasonable to suggest that this can indeed have an aspect of controlling the conversation and debate so it favors election of Republicans which would benefit the 1 %ers like Arianna.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:13 pm

Haruko, first, great to see you. Second, I wholly agree, this was such a bald faced lie and such an insult to members, to shut them up when they were first outraged then ram it down their throats.

As I mentioned in my article, someone I knew at HP was very hostile towards me after I posted that previous article, insisting that now they have changed the policy and are not going to force current members out of anonymity. Of course, I didn’t buy that half-hearted damage control. Now I would guess that person is a bit wiser.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 5:09 pm

Hey dimplasm, nice to see you! It is a drag about the new BigBrotherington Post but you’ve got a nice alternative here!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 3:01 pm

Maybe the casserole wasn’t fully done and needed another hour to fume?

That’s crazy but I remember in 2008 when “McCain” was a blacklisted word! You couldn’t even mention the GOP candidate for President without getting a time out.

One of the perqs of being an adult is not being given time outs.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 2:33 pm

Kalima, we joined HP around the same time and it was my first forray into blogging (it’s like looking at your adult child and remembering when they were 5 and learning to ride a bike!).

Yep, that was like a real campaign for us at HP in 2008, battling the RW trolls at HP…when we thought it was a one time thing. Little did we know!

It seems that Arianna and HP love everything about HP except the bloggers who make it have any value, they’re often seen as the main problem with the site.

Thanks Kalima, HP did bring you, KQ and me together and The Planet is here because of that so there are indeed good things that have come out of HP!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 2:30 pm

Hey Sabreen, so many other HP folk from back then whose names didn’t jump right back into mind…oh, really liked AuntieChrist!

KQuark and Kalima co-founded PlanetPOV with me. Kquark unfortunately passed away this year but Kalima is here every day, posting her fantastic international summary of the day’s news on Morning Blog (you’ll find a link to it in the 4-square of images in the right hand column of each page). I know you come here mostly on Friday’s for Vox Populi but Kalima is quite prolific here on posts.

Same here on HP. Many great folks over there including Murph and other Planeteers but for me, the toxicity just overwhelmed the positives. I do prefer unadulterated wit and reason than having it diluted with ignorance, racism and hatred.

So, I’ll order a round of reason with a dash of wit for the house!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 2:02 pm

Hey Dimbulb2!

Yep, once you’ve seen how cool it can be, it’s hard to accept how messed up it doesn’t have to be.

Glad to see you. Join the community of fellow HP longtimers and spread the word.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 1:51 pm

Nirek, your trust in us is very gratifying. Of course, we would never intrude like that on any member’s privacy, we respect the same kind of anonymity for our members that we want for ourselves.

There’s that kind of dread at HP after you post a comment that takes the RW to task, you know you’re prepared to get some hateful Bagger replying with lies or attacks. That’s not how normal people have discussions, there’s no point to it IMO.

We’re so pleased to have you here, Nirek, you bring a great deal to The Planet and the community, always looking forward to your comments!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 1:49 pm

Hey VietVet67, welcome back!

HP was the first site I joined too, back at the end of 2007. It was a far different place then as I described above, you know because you were there. Kind of the inspiration for The Planet.

As I mentioned to S-Man, spread the word at HP. Not urging anyone to quit HP but adding on an account here at The Planet will give folks a place to have a free and open discussion about any issue they can’t have or don’t feel comfortable having at HP now…with immediate posting (no moderation) and full anonymity.

Look forward to seeing more of you here.

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 1:41 pm

Thanks S-Man! Nice to see you!

Exactly, it is a ham handed gesture to “promote civility”…if not a more thought out way to mine really valuable data on many politically active people.

I didn’t know that, all comments are now moderated? Wow, that’s a real “conversation starter”.

Great to have you here, spread the word!

» Posted By AdLib On December 11, 2013 @ 1:32 pm

Hitler Descendants Sue GOP For Copyright Infringement

Oh…you can’t have worn them…well, that may not work out after all.

» Posted By AdLib On December 12, 2013 @ 7:53 pm

You drive a hard bargain, we stocked up on them on a Black Friday sale and it cost a pretty penny to insert GPS tracking devices into them. We did keep the receipts though, maybe I can return them?

» Posted By AdLib On December 12, 2013 @ 7:27 pm

Hey jj, thanks!

It does make it harder and harder to parody the GOP when they grow so extreme each day, they outdo any satire. I posted one satire about the GOP requiring every American to be armed and the next day a RW dominated town in Georgia passed a law saying exactly that!

It’s hard to stay ahead of their insanity!

» Posted By AdLib On December 12, 2013 @ 11:32 am

Thanks so much, Kes!

It does make you wonder why Ted Cruz has never grown a small square mustache!

The only issue there might be with that theory is whether it is believable that Ayn Rand could be seen as a mother. I would imagine that if she had a baby, she would leave it in its crib and expect it to be self-sufficient if it wanted to live.

» Posted By AdLib On December 12, 2013 @ 11:24 am

Sally, this is perfect! Thanks for posting it early!

Now don’t be surprised if Rand Paul quotes it word for word!

» Posted By AdLib On December 12, 2013 @ 11:19 am