Webmaster board persona vs. Consumer board persona

Curious how to some of the folk here would react if they saw a webmaster that posted on a board such as this one (and possibly one you recognized or met at shows or whatever else) running around trashing your site on consumer-oriented/surfer boards.

I see a webmaster from here doing it all the time about CorbinFisher.com. Personally, I find it quite petty and childish and think it's jealousy that causes them to do it. At times, they seem like a nice enough guy but then you see them attempting (not sure if they think they're being clever about it or sly about it) to talk trash about your site, your models, etc to surfers on surfer boards.

I don't see it as the least bit professional, and wonder why they don't spend more time trying to build up their own site on its own merits, instead of attempt to do so by talking smack to surfers about another site they feel threatened by.

What would you guys do? Out them on webmaster boards? Write a nice, polite email? Call em out on the surfer boards?

So far I've done not a thing. They can talk all they want and say all the trash they want on the surfer boards and I know at the end of the day they're so far off the truth with what they're saying and so don't much care. But at the same time I can't help but wonder just how far they'll go to the point they begin speaking some slanderous stuff.

I know it's hard to show restraint when you're under fire ... but waiting til it actually becomes a legally offensive slander situation may be the better tactic. Also, while I don't particularly find it tasteful, they do say bad press is just as good or better in gathering traffic/sales etc. to whatever.

I think I agree with Bec. At the point it becomes libelous (it is in print, after all) a quick letter from your attorney to the program *owner* (which in this case I think is probably different from the person making the comments) will probably solve the problem.

Or, an alternative approach might be a phonecall to the program owner, sort of a friendly "Um, I don't know what problem your guy has with us, but we don't want to be enemies with anyone, can we talk about it?"

Unless the program making the insults has more money than God, they'd be idiots to be doing shit like that to a larger progarm that has a lot of $. You sufficiently piss off a large program owner and even if it isn't economically feasible, the program owner could get mad enough to be willing to drop a hundred grand just to make a point and make life hell for the guy saying the shit.

If I am understanding you correctly, I think most people will see it as just that - trash talk. I get this quite a bit because of the company I promote (non-adult) and I just let it go.

The company I work with is one of the largest - and yeah, there are going to be complaints. You grow - you get more customers. Your competitors, etc get jealous. Nothing to be ashamed about.

There was a saying - I cannot remember it... As you grow, you sacrifice customer service, quality, quantity or something like that.

You know you are not big until someone has bad things to say about you :)

This is a hard one. On the one hand, I'm interesting in knowing who because I don't know that I would want to have anything to do with them.

But I'm also a fan of trying to clear things up privately and keeping the board route only as a last resort. For instance I have a sponsor right now that I've been hassling to pay me for about four months now. It's not a lot of money, but it's mine and I want it. And it's not even a sponsor that anybody promotes, so coming to the boards most people would say, "Who?" Still, I hate having to call him out on the boards, but I'm getting to that point.

So, I think the best route is to try a private e-mail and ask the guy what the problem is and if it persists then I'd maybe haul him out here.

Too bad, like you say, he just doesn't put his energy into making a better product for himself. Does badmouthing Walmart really ever have a big effect on their bottom line? The truth is that if a surfer sees some Corbin Fisher guy who really turns their crank, they'll forget all about whatever this guy is saying. What a bother.

Michael

This is a hard one. On the one hand, I'm interesting in knowing who because I don't know that I would want to have anything to do with them.

But I'm also a fan of trying to clear things up privately and keeping the board route only as a last resort. For instance I have a sponsor right now that I've been hassling to pay me for about four months now. It's not a lot of money, but it's mine and I want it. And it's not even a sponsor that anybody promotes, so coming to the boards most people would say, "Who?" Still, I hate having to call him out on the boards, but I'm getting to that point.

So, I think the best route is to try a private e-mail and ask the guy what the problem is and if it persists then I'd maybe haul him out here.

Too bad, like you say, he just doesn't put his energy into making a better product for himself. Does badmouthing Walmart really ever have a big effect on their bottom line? The truth is that if a surfer sees some Corbin Fisher guy who really turns their crank, they'll forget all about whatever this guy is saying. What a bother.

Michael

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dzinerbear

The truth is that if a surfer sees some Corbin Fisher guy who really turns their crank, they'll forget all about whatever this guy is saying. What a bother.

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That's pretty much what I figure. And what definitely seems to be happening. On the plus side, I get a lot of messages from people on that surfer board, as well as a lot of members of ours, telling us about that other webmasters behavior and conduct. It's surfers and members that are always the ones that make us aware of his posts.

I know that when I login to that surfer board and have a whole ton of private messages waiting for me, he's done it again.

Thing is, the surfers on that board know who the webmaster is and what site they work for. And so when they see an employee of that company trashing another site they put two and two together and recognize that person has an agenda and that they're rather poorly going about things.

Perhaps I should just sit back and watch until they inevitably shoot themselves in the foot with the behavior.