My Bitch Fest about another fan site
 

For many years, The Ledge was the only fan site I was ever a member of. When I "discovered' another band that I fell in love with (The Scissor Sisters), I joined their unofficial fan site -- sort of the equivilant to this site.

Keep in mind, the Scissor Sisters are an American band ( a blip in the states, but huge in the UK/Europe). Now this is a salty band that represents freedom, liberation...sort of an anything goes kind of mentality. But the complex website some fans established is Nazi-like in its rules and regulations. The rules and regulations are many -- so many that it is mind boggling. The site was obviously designed by super geeks who feel that more is more, and user-friendliness and simplicty be damned! It's so confusing I have a hard time figuring out how to respond to a post.

Also, there is an established f*cking class system! Many downloads are available and shared...but you can't just join up and enjoy them. Each member on the board gets a rating system in the form of five stars next to your name. You have to post about 200 time before your first star turns yellow. But that doesn't give you access to the downloads until all of your stars are yellow!

The mindset there (most of the members are outside the US, mostly Europe and UK) is that even though you may be a fan, that doesn't give you the privelege to download. You must contribute in a vast quantity of posts (earn your yellow stars!!) to do that. And if you don't maintain a certain level of frequency, you will lose your status to download!

The problem I have with this is that most of the downloads are public domain...such like all the stuff we share here freely and willingly with fans old and new to this site. Yet, on the SS site, they feel you have to earn the right -- and they hold their stuff, such as radio shows, bootleg concerts etc...captive, as if they own it!!!!

It just makes me so appreciative of The Ledge, which is such a breath of fresh air in comparison! A simple and easy site to converse and share with like-minded fans, with relatively basic rules of civility and fairness. The freedom and fluidity here is as palatable as are the constrictions and rigid controls that exist there.

I can't help but roll my eyes at fan sites that have that kind of silliness going on :rolleyes:. The Ledge certainly can be cliquish (much less so now than 5-10 years ago), but it's nothing compared to sites like you're describing. That's why I rail heartily against any signs that point toward the Ledge becoming such a place. Why I'm against it being members only, why I try to be as inclusive of new folks as possible, why I push for as little censorship as possible, etc. Once you get into all of that other heavily regulated silliness, you're basically carving your own epitaph. That's why the Ledge is still around after all these years, and why it's still the biggest and best, too.

Sorry to hear of your travails... but let's hope lots of people read your post, and keep it's lessons in mind here :thumbsup:.

Hi Hi louielouie! Thanks for the response. How are you? :cool:I rarely, if ever, post in the chit chat thread, but after spending time on one of the most oppressive fan sites ever, I needed to vent somewhere! It's really crazy how different it is here. I wish the atmosphere here could waif over to that god-forsaken site! It's so ironic that it's completely contradictory to the spirit of that band. I think the tone/image here is in line with the integrity of Fleetwood Mac.

I'm shocked that a fan site would be so Fascist (for lack of a better word) on how they treat their posters. I mean, in my mind, a fan is a fan, no matter what (which explains my hatred for elitists, but I digress), and this star system you're describing is just ridiculous in my mind.

I have to agree with you that the Ledge is certainly a place where fans are just fans with a like-minded love for a great rock band.

I find it odd that they encourage people to post to earn access to downloads. One would think that would just result in people posting nonsense to up their post count and get their stars filled in. I've never particularly been a fan of post counts being visible because it kind of automatically seems like a stance of credibility or how long a person has been a fan, and that's not necessarily the case. Just because a person has a certain number of posts doesn't mean their opinion counts more or less, or makes them a more valuable fan. Just seems odd to me that that is how they decide who gets to receive the downloads.

Luckily, I think this kind of fan site is probably less common. I'm involved with communities for a few others artists, some run by the bands themselves, and none are anywhere near how you described. I'm sure the Scissor Sisters probably have another community that is less strict, because I'm sure you aren't the only one fed up with it! Maybe they are anticipating a large number of new fans with the new album coming out next week and are trying to control? Still strange.

sounds like how 7 wonders was when i used to go there~ i thought they way they ran the board was very childish~

Fascist is the right word. And if I didn't experience it first hand I'd have a hard time believing it. I think moderaters and guy who runs it get off by being in control, and exerting power.

Recently he pulled this bull crap where the common folk (the starless posters) would be granted access to a certain download --- only if each of us showed him appreciation by replying to him and saying something to the effect of "Thank you sir for being so kind to let me have this." I kid you not!

He doesn't own the rights to any of the material, yet he feels the exclusive right to withhold it...for what?

No, that's not it. It's always been that way. At least they did a better job by recently re-designing the site. The former design was ridiculously dark and bipolar (busy beyond reason). The backgrounds were all black, so all the text was in reverse white. That makes it very hard to read. It would give me a headache. When I emailed him with suggestions to improve user ability, I felt I was putting myself at risk. His response seemed to imply that I was ungrateful and not a true fan. What a prick!

I love The Ledge!

I don't like the Scissor Sisters. But I saw the lead singer at the Mac show at MSG. And I've seen him bopping around Tribeca many times. I always want to ask him if Filthy/Gorgeous contains a reference to the live version of Not That Funny, but I'm afraid he'll think I'm hitting on him.

I'm just curious if you'd approach him if you were sexually attracted to him? I don't know what the guy looks like, but is it your opinion that he is unattractive to you and therefore if you pay him a compliment you might be afraid he'll hit on you?

The Scissor Sisters, I admit, are not everyone's cup of tea; you either love or hate them, and that's one reason I love them. What is the connection that you see between those two songs? And why would asking a simple benign question to Jake Shears (lead singer) instill fear in you? Are you so filthy/gorgeous that people who meet you can't control themselves? He seems like a very approachable and humble guy.