Casey's latest statement on Ravelry leaves no doubt - we were banned solely because we are conservative and he is afraid of the members who ran around causing problems for us rather than have them obey the rules.
It's nice to have him finally come out and stop the bullshit excuse of "they were causing technical problems" and admit that he has no control over his own site.
Like I said before, the problems on Ravelry will never end until Casey and Jess decide to figure out how to run a community.
I know the truth and I know what happened, as does Casey - the rest has just been a gigantic CYA on his part. I know this because I was there - and for those commenters who keep trying to feed me the latest Ravelry line about what the Bunker did or didn't do... let me give you one of my favorite quotes...
"You don't know. You just don't know. You may think you know, but you don't know. And you never will."
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No one could ever mistake me for being conservative but I wanted to say that this whole thing has been so wrong. As a dyed in the wool liberal, the totalitarianism of these actions have made me call into question my future involvement with Ravelry. These actions have activated my sense of injustice, it's one thing to ban ALL politics on the site, but quite another to ban one side. I guess they didn't want to make their friends unhappy with them!
I oppose the one sided favoritism shown and am shocked that they are so naive in running their business. Your actions did not violate the TOS but they did violate it, leaving them open to bad press and possible lawsuits. Rookie mistakes and no way to run a successful business you hope to sell and never have to work again.
Everyone knows they started this in the hopes of selling it off to a big yarn manufacturer in a few years. I wonder what all their friends will say when the cash in happens?
@Anonymous: Thank you. I am glad that not everyone is allowing the wool to be pulled over their eyes.
@EllieJane: What was the latest announcement?
I expect that when the next conservative (or maybe Christian) group is subjected to a concentrated attack and cast out, more people will get it.
And yes, I expect that will happen. After all, it worked once.
@MissRach...
He left a message on Ravelry that it was a "behavior" problem (which is really funny when you take into consideration the behavior on the forums that has nothing to do with us) and said it wasn't a technical issue.
It's in direct opposition to his earlier statement and what he told us when he suspended our accounts.
This is the same place that allows a group of over 3000 people a chance to go around the site and point and mock at other people (this same group has an off-site board where they point out specific people and posts) and let's not even talk about how rude and condescending they can get towards a newbie who dares to ask an innocent question.
So when it comes down to it, we weren't doing anything different than anyone else over there, so it has to come down to the one thing that is different - we are conservatives.
@Jasni - I agree - it's only a matter of time. Anger and irrational hatred like that can't ever be satisfied so they'll be moving onto the next target.
@Anon
Thanks for the comment - it's nice to see that people can see things objectively.
This whole situation is garbage. My sister was banned, too.
I'm so frustrated (not simply because of the boards, congress is in my craw today) because of how many, many people over there are saying things like "I hope this blows over; it isn't our problem; keep quiet so it doesn't affect our board, etc."
Don't they see that if you let it go once, it gets worse the next time?
Wow. I had no idea any of this was happening on Ravelry. I got wind of the problems in The Bunker Group when it was shut-down, but never really figured out the whole story. I've been reading blog posts from other banned Ravelry people, and I'm just dumb-founded.
I've felt for months that Ravelry was turning into the kind of place that I really don't like anymore. Really catty behavior, meanness, clique-y attitudes, etc. It's been a real turn-off for me. I've been particularly saddened that posters who open threads on the main message boards whose questions/comments aren't tolerated, and are actually being harassed and bullied pretty regularly - all while the PTB sit by and watch, do nothing, or actually participate! I'm not talking about contraversial questions/comments, either. I'm talking about questions/comments that newbies have about how to navigate through Ravelry, how to M1, why is there a 'disagree' button, can they knit on airplanes, etc. I know a lot of these questions seem tedious when asked multiple times, but it just strikes me as unbelievably intolerant that so many people bombard these threads with mean and hurtful comments! I've actually seen a few where Casey and MH have actually participated in the pile-on.
I knew it would happen, though - Ravelry turning into the mean girls table in the cafeteria. Get a group of women together for any reason, and they will eventually begin to rip each other apart.
I'm so sorry this has happened to you and the other ladies. What a sad statement about our country, people in general, and women specifically.
It's really sickening what has happened. You really haven't done what anyone else on Ravelry has done. We know which groups routinely flaunt the rules and common decency. Unfortunately, the members of these groups are also the vocal ones who put up a stink whenever someone doesn't agree with them. The conservative forums are still heavily "trolled" and we are continuously being accused of hating Casey just because we discuss the issue. No one has in our groups has even implied such a thing, but I don't need to tell you that. You know only too well how that works over in Rav. :-(
You are absolutely right Jen.
And great comment from Anonymous... thank you! I know many liberals who feel the same way. Casey is choosing to bow to the demands of a loud, obnoxious and crude minority who do not represent liberals (or decent human beings) as a whole.
I am a Rav user who had no clue. Heck, I didn't even know that a group called Rubberneckers existed. The first thing I learned about what was going on was the first post (about banning) from the PTB and assumed that "disruptive" meant hacking of some kind. I am shocked and saddened by what has happened to those of you who were banned without warning/notice. Thank you for sharing the other side of the story. It has really opened my eyes.
@anon: Yes, we too assumed Casey was accusing us of hacker attacks when he said we were disruptive. He makes a poor choice of words.
Heather: That is part of the problem with Casey and why he makes us so angry at times. He will compliment the mods in private, then come out and say they would not work with him. He would go a long time without saying anything and then just close the group. Or say nothing and ban us. Then his "lawyer" send an accusing form letter and Casey tells everyone on Rav that we were nasty.
The good lot of us sent out level headed, polite emails to Casey's lawyer asking what we did and if we can get our intellectual property sent to us. He made it out to sound like we were nasty.
If talking to the average woman makes him feel he's being attacked, then maybe he has some mental issues he needs to work out with a therapist. Perhaps business is not his forte. He's a great coder though.
I disagree with conservatives on almost every point, however, TPTB at Ravelry have displayed an absurd double standard in who they decide to eliminate.
If they really want to be a happy, shiny, rainbow-filled place they should get rid of all of the groups that aren't specifically related to knitting. Arbitrarily picking off some, and not other, groups kills their 'happy/shiny" credibility in a big way.
Pick an issue, any issue, and I can pretty much guarantee we'll be on opposite sides of it. But, EllieJane, I just wanted to say how sorry I was that your kids were threatened. Most of my friends are dyed-in-the-wool liberals as well (a few are conservative, even here in MA!), and I know no one who would even think of doing such a thing. If someone did that to me... I don't even want to imagine it. Please be well and safe. (I know you have law enforcement on the case, as I sure would.)
The problem with ravelry is the way that Casey et al have been, from the early days, hedging problems or disagreements around with 5700 rules. Then, of course, the rules get enforced inequitably.
I know ravelry is different to to a lot of places on the internet, because it is FULL of internet noobies and middle class women with really delicate feelings, but they created it to be like that.
I only participate in one group on there now, because the rest of it is just a haven for bitchy morons. I don't agree with the Bunker people politically, but I do think the way they dealt with you sucked.
I know there were many designers, yarn dyers, spinners and LYS owners that were scooped up in the net (and a not very well thought up net, may I add) that will now have their business negatively impacted by these actions.
This is after Casey had spent so much time defending Yarn Harlot and her right to be herself without personal recriminations from other users. Casey even used YarnHarlot's case to justify bending the rules about duplicate accounts!
I believe business owners have a case for their intellectual property being held hostage and could bring Casey (et al) up on charges with the FTC. Some users that had made purchases no longer have access to them, others had storefronts and others will have had their good business name sullied by the act of being banned & deleted.
Anyone whose businesses have been interfered with have an absolute case for TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE. This is specifically about people getting in the middle of how one does business. Please share this info with people who have been affected and advise them to seek legal representation!
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