1) I posted something about someone noting that screenwriters were losing their homes. The only comment for two days was thenewgreen asking me, specifically, "are you seeing stuff like this out in Hollywood?" I didn't answer.

2) Two days later, a comment is posted that basically says "boo fucking hoo shit is tough all over and why on earth should we feel sorry for assholes in Hollywood when other people are suffering just as much."

3) I post a comment saying, basically, "hold the phone, nobody is saying Hollywood is suffering more, simply pointing out that the shift from traditional to digital economies is not without its human costs."

Now - here's where the "human" part should have stepped in. This was a link by me, commented on by two people who follow me. I've talked about my experiences at length. I've made no secrets about the industry I work in and have opined any number of times from all sides of this (and other issues). Yet there's no aspect of Hubski that picks that up or incorporates it into anyone's experience. So:

4) Next comment was "I didn't say anything offensive and I'm not going to take any of it back, but if it makes you feel better I'll tell you I'm sorry that you're offended." Followed by more than a few "suck it up" comments. So I go off and have a day because really, fuck y'all.

5) The next day, I write up exactly why I find this all rather upsetting - after all, the idea is that we are paying attention to who posts what and why, and we are responding to what people say and frankly, with the number of people who follow me, if I can't get any consideration for who I am in what I post, then nobody else is likely to get anything else out of it either. What follows is two days of posts calling me a whiney-ass titty baby.

Let's be clear - this site can be as unforgiving and vitriolic as it cares to be. People can be as nasty and unsympathetic as they please. But when the entire mechanism is built around "following" and when "following" simply gives people who don't like your ideas more chances to cut you down for having them, the thing is dead out of the gate. I'm a nastier mud-slinger than anybody here. That's not a brag, just a simple truth. I've been holding back because I wanted this place to be civil. Apparently I'm alone in that.

The major players on this site all know each other from college or something. I definitely get the feeling of being a tolerated stranger. Thing is, if the site is to grow in the slightest, some sort of system has to be in place that doesn't foster antagonism like this. As it is now, I've got more followers than just about anyone but I'm not allowed to mention that or I'm a bragging egomaniac. I've got six badges for personal stories I've told but I'm not allowed to bring those up or I'm self-centered. I've put a very human face on my participation but I'm being rude if I don't presume that everyone choosing to follow me has no idea who I am, what I do, why I do it or where. Not only that, but when I'm being attacked and choose not to participate in the discussion further, it's held up as evidence that I did something wrong and I'm at fault.

Yeah. I walked away from the discussion. Everything I said was being used against me. It still is. And yeah. I demanded an apology. My industry - and everyone in it - was held up as being beneath sympathy. No one was "intentionally" trying to insult me, but no one saw any problem with unintentionally insulting me, and because it was "unintentional" it was determined that I was ineligible for an apology. From my perspective, the experience at Hubski is basically "people will specifically sign up to hear your thoughts, and as a group, make no effort to understand your perspective even when you rub their noses in it. Further, they will feel no obligation to consider your emotion as a genuine thing but will instead debate why you aren't entitled to it."

I don't deal with that level of inhumanity on Facebook.

Facebook gives you the ability to delete or ignore posts. Facebook demonstrates how you know people, and shows people who you are. Hubski is basically Reddit without the subreddits - so while it can profess to being more elevated and humane, it has not demonstrated itself to be so.

I share things with people whose opinions I respect and whose ideas I'm interested in. If I'm sharing with friends, I expect to be treated as a friend. If I'm sharing with strangers I'm taking the good with the bad and hoping for some wheat amongst the chaff. Hubski pretends to be a network of friends but is designed to maximize stranger-hood. That combination is unsustainable.