I just went to the Joni Mitchell discussion forum and found this message.....

The forum has been shut down due to an increasingly overall negative tone. It may be back someday but probably not.

I know that George Michael personally had his official forum shut down a few years ago for the same reason (Joni doesn't even have a computer so she would have had no role in this case). I was just thinking if negativity was an issue then the org would have been shut years ago. Aren't all forums based around argument? The org is the only one I'm really familiar with so I don't know.

I wonder what folks were saying about Joni?

I visited it once before and the only negative thing I read was from some folks who didn't like the production on her latest album. I do seem to remember one troll in there, but it seemed like the other members were handling him pretty well. I can't even remember what he was saying.

I can totally understand why Prince and George closed their sites. You invite someone in your home and you expect a level of decency to the host...it would be like us railing against Ben and the developers of this site...wouldn't expect it to stay up long. Now it doesn't have to be a love fest but to expect and artist to frequent there own site and not react to the negative energy given off by some members is asking a lot.

i've seen a lot of people rail against ben on here in the past. i think when you're dealing with an audience on the internet, you have to grow a thick skin because a lot of people will talk smack about you just because they're in the safety of their homes and they feel they can spew any old venom they want, and they can get away with it.

most of the time, the venom isn't even warranted. it's just a way to get attention.

i think with time, you learn how to separate the trollish nonsense from the real constructive criticism, and you figure out how to filter out the comments that are negative for the sake of being negative.

of course, just because you CAN learn to do that doesn't mean that you necessarily OBLIGATED to do so. if the folks who ran joni's and george's web sites didn't have time for the pain, hey, that's understandable. god bless 'em.

It's amazing the level of hatred & venom you find on the net, say for example Youtube , the racist, sexist rants go unchecked over there .

SilverlakePhil said:

Yes, the internet seems to be an outlet for cowards and hate mongers among other characters. I stopped reading alot of comments and try to just stick to editorial or clip.

I found it completely crap from GM to shut it down. It was in 2004, when Patience was released.

I started a thread in which I complained about hoiw I think he lost his magig touch, and several other threads discussed the same topic.

I think GM visited it once stoned and was pissed not all his fans were kissing his hairy ass and would like Patience.

Artists like him release a new album eevry decade and expect his fans to absolutely love it because they don't get new music often.

SilverlakePhil said:

That's no lie. I'm amazed at how those people are able to get away with saying all that horrible stuff. I understand why any artist would shut down a site for reason stated for George Michael and Joni Mitchell but the thing is, everyone shouldn't suffer just because of a few boneheads. It's a tough judgement call but I there should be a way to regulate while keeping a fansite in tact.

purplecam said:

Amen. I visited the Joni site before and enjoyed reading the comments and stories of people in their 50s who were actually buying Joni's classic albums when they were released. It was interesting to hear from members of her original audience. I was disappointed that the site shut down so abruptly. I think it would be better to just ban the offenders.

All I know is if I was a famous musician I'd do my best to never visit a fan discussion forum!

A lot of interesting things to be sure, but I would also be shocked & horrified to see what people said about me.

NDRU said:

i guess it depends on the people who visit your forums and the relationship you have with the people who run it. tina weymouth and chris frantz post on the talking heads fan forums every now and then, and bowie is known to be a semi-frequent lurker/poster on the bowienet boards. i think if an artist can turn a blind eye to the trolls and keep all the crazy fam behavior in perspective, it's a cool way to interact with fans and get some valuable feedback.

Anxiety said:

I guess it depends on the person. I could be hurt with any negative talk off me, I'm pretty sensitive.

But I could see Bowie delighting in the human/troll drama of the boards. It's a performance of it's own, if you're objective.

And where else can you see such brilliant photoshop work?

JackieBlue said:

seriously

purplecam said:

NO. KOOLAID