PG15 - Why is there no brand control?

[VanillaFlava]

Alright, just spent some more time over at the official forum, and I came upon this thread:

www.lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1318

I am not quite sure about the details, but it seems TerryFic and some other Mods removed some explicit imagery from the CIW section.

Now, what gets me about this thread is how the Admin later turns around and tells them not to 'censor' anything. First of all, I am suprised at the method. Calling your Mods out in public seriously undermines their authority (I guess now everybody is gonna run to the Admin in a dispute), and it is also somewhat embaressing. There are lots of really inflamatory posts later where the Mods come under attack. I assume this will be a growing phenomenon going forward.

That aside, what is the issue with 'censorship'? Usually boards have a spoken or unspoken charta of acceptable behaviour and content. I believe the points made in the thread are also sound, i.e. that so far, LG15, really has been PG15.

The current posters at the official site are really just a drop in the bucket of the overall LG15 audience, and it seems that the creators aim to convert more people to their site. What I don't understand is this: The masses to be enticed are surely of a more casual nature than the hardcore audience currently in place. So, why is there no brand control to make that place as welcoming to a mass audience as possible?

Even if that means they would see another splinter group (let's call it the CIW Brigade), that must be such a small subset of the real LG15 audience, especially when this group constantly re-states that they don't actually like the core content.

I really don't get it. Why do they undermine the authority of their volunteer staff, and cater to the whims of a niche audience?

[curiousgeorge]

I continue to be amazed that they let ciw dilute the LG15 brand. I also fail to understand why the creators don't employ a PAID mod staff to monitor this stuff. No, I am not shilling for a job. I don't have the stomach for these inane ciw posters who have co-opted the Breeniverse.

This seems yet another example of how the creators just don't get the whole web community idea. All eyeballs are not created equal... So (web wise) 1995. I assume they think that having the ciw crowd posting like mad is a measure of success. How does this contribute to the revenue stream

ETA: Call me a snob if you will, but the water is nice here in the cove and the beer is just the right temperature.

P. Monkey, pass the sunscreen and a cold one please.

[jayhenry]

PG15... I like it. Like they said, they're filmmakers, not web guys. And they fired Bukanator.

As for a paid mod staff, I doubt they're making enough money to do that. Jess is still getting paid peanuts. And I doubt Miles is making doctor money yet. It's possible that for The Creators the forums are still mostly an afterthough -- the videos and potential response videos are the main event, and all they care about is keeping the numbers up, at whatever cost.

If anything, it should give us a chance to find some posters who'd be happier in the cove. I remarked in PM that I'm not the only person who didn't exactly get Employee-of-the-Month in August/September from following this too closely. Anybody trying to keep up with that old forum, would probably be a bit overwhelmed... they'd probably prefer a beer at primate island with Diddy Kong, P. Monkey and Curious George.

[trixie]

Yeah that was a bit ungrateful of the Admin to say that. Maybe they would rather manage the board on their own. If I was a mod there I'd jump ship.

[syncomm]

Awesome post! I started that thread on lonelygirl15.com. ;-) I think there is real concern from the core LG15 audience, but the CiW folks have all but overtaken the main board. Their whole agenda simply doesn't fit with the brand at all -- and it is very explicit. Most recently they "decoded" a poem (clue??) about a priest engaging in "carnal relations" with Bree after tyeing her up... how revolting! I didn't even bother to add this to my thread as nothing will likely be done. Basically, I don't think the admin wants to see hits drop as they are trying to pull revenue from the site (and Revver) now. :-( However, money should be no excuse for throwing the ethics of the situation out the window.

BTW - There are now five (5!) separate forums for CiW topics... not that CiW related posts don't already appear in every other forum on the site. From my perspective, the Cove IS the main hub for LG15 now ;-)

Cheers,

syncomm

[Smashing]

I have no opinion about CiW or the main board, cause I haven't followed either closely. But I would like to say in regards to LG15 being PG15: It has been so far, and I expect it will continue to be. However, I support the right of the producers to make it rated R if they want to, and I think everyone watching should keep in mind that they never stated that this was for kids or put any kind of rating on it or made any promises. If anything, having Bree drop the F-bomb early on at least let us know it's not the Disney Channel. Now, that doesn't mean the series has to ever get graphic, but precisely because we don't know where it's headed, if I had kids, I wouldn't let them watch it.

[wills]

The lack of brand control could have much to do with the fact that earlier some people dug so deeply to reveal LG15 was fictional before the creators had time to plan the fallout. CiW is simply what happens when the creators create and tell people to create their own characters. The creators discussed an ARG. Just because some people at this board miss the "old" LG15, understand with their "outing" (by many of the same people who are now complaining that they miss "the good old LG15") the old LG15 is over. The creators offered a new genre of techno.storytelling. Now others are telling their stories, regardless of what earlier fans think.