[pmwiki-users] Why all this zapping?

[David Spitzley]

>>> "The Editor" <editor at fast.st> 4/30/2007 11:20 AM >>>
On 4/30/07, Neil Herber (nospam) <nospam at eton.ca> wrote:

> From what I have seen in questions posed here about ZAP and Acme, they
> are confusing people more than clarifying the reasons they both exist.

It strikes me as curious that the ones asking the questions and
participating in the discussion, generally, are the ones who have
quite a good handle on the situation. Perhaps there is not so much
confusion out there as the one's who don't like the names Acme &
Coyote suggest...

Makes me wonder why these dear folk have so much mysterious energy
about the issue--enough to go pouring through old email archives to
try and analyze the issue.  : )  Don't we really have better things to
do with our time?
-------------------------------------------------

I suspect two things are at work.  The first, and I recognize this is probably a bit unfair, is that since you have been extremely supportive, and by extension vocal, with ZAP, it sometimes seems like you're trying to steal Pm's thunder, even though I assume it's untrue.  However, having established that low-level lingering sense of discomfort in some of the regulars, you've now a) implemented a renaming that appears likely to add prominence to your contributions for purely alphabetical reasons, and b) created a second identity which you have without explanation been referring to in the third person, which are commonly known as "sock puppets" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockpuppet_%28Internet%29), and are usually seen as symptomatic of attempts to manipulate an audience.  The combination seems to be causing people to respond to you negatively because they think they see classic signs of excessive self-promotion.  

I am not accusing you of misdeeds here, but I'm trying to explain why you're getting the reception you are right now, so you can consider whether you're doing yourself more harm than good through some of the changes you've made.


David