It seems Cracked.com's head editor, David Wong, has had it out for commenters on his site for some time. I'm not sure he's ever liked them and even if you had doubts, when you find yourself being referred to as a cancer, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
I understand his reasoning and examples of asshats abound. Cracked.com works very hard at removing bad comments (ones which insult or threaten the writer or are blatantly racist, homophobic, misogynistic, etc. --- criticism is okay, don't worry). We see a relatively clean comments section because moderators behind the scenes work so hard to keep it that way. The site has grown impressively in the past six years so it's not like alienating the small commenting community would make a difference at all. Still...I don't like it.
While yes, I am offended at being viewed this way, I'm also realizing that far too much of my time is being devoted to that site. I didn't even realize it until I read about Cracked's growth that they've gone from publishing about six articles/videos a week to six articles/videos a DAY. The site, which I've been following for about three years now, has slowly been encroaching on my available time. It takes up too much now and I've known this for a while but just kinda accepted it.
And because the comments tended to be spectacular, I would find myself reading "meh" articles simply to enjoy the top comments.
With Mr. Wong's hatred of us commenters (I'm not a good one, but I do participate when I can), I think it's time I inspire myself to move on and be a part of that site far less frequently. Other things in my life are suffering as a result.
I removed Cracked's page from my Facebook and Twitter feeds. That way, I won't be so often reminded of the site. It's a shame though, because I've made a couple of real-life friends as a result of comments made. I'll do what I can to return to the site only at my leisure rather than as a daily occurrence.
I went through this with Gawker some time back. I enjoyed commenting on their often political posts anonymously so I wouldn't be judged on my sex, race, religion, etc. I had no desire to connect my Gawker account to my other accounts and when that became a requirement to post a comment, I simply stopped going to the site. (Gawker is also known for hating its commenters)
Cracked may end up joining this website.
Perhaps it will be best for me too. I'll get back to what I've been putting off for far too long now and perhaps find something new to do.
We'll see...
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