Joining the Fat feeds – some admin stuff
Most of you are aware that I admin both Notes from the Fatosphere and Fat Chat, two of the fat acceptance aggregate feeds. I have had some interesting (to say the least) submissions for feed additions lately, some which I have had to refuse outright.
As such, I have amended the ‘criteria’ for being added to either feed. I think I am pretty open minded about what gets on the feeds and until recently, I haven’t refused anyone’s submission for addition. I have removed some blogs from either feed because they have been inactive for more than 6 months but I go back and check sporadically to see if the blogger has resumed posting. If I come across a blog that I think would be a good addition to the feeds, I ask the blogger if they would like to be added. Obviously I am also contacted directly by bloggers wanting to be added, which is great. I think it is apparent that there is a wide range of viewpoints on Notes and Fat Chat and I hope that continues, as long as Fat Acceptance is the primary goal for all involved.
With that in mind, I have added this caveat to the Fat Feeds page for those wanting to be added to the feeds…
Special note: If you are planning to submit your blog to be added to either or both of the fat feeds, please ensure that:
- Your blog posts are primarily related to fat, that is fat commentary, fat fashion, living fat, fat and health/health professions, HAES or the like. Your submission will not be accepted if your blog entries are not at least 75% relating to fat/size acceptance – Notes and Fat Chat are fat acceptance feeds for a reason – and also adhere to the following…
- Blogs that express hostility to the Fat Acceptance movement in general (and yes, Fat Acceptance is made up of more than Shapely Prose so if you disagree with them you can still get on the feed), that promote the idea of fat as unhealthy or negative, or promote weight loss as ‘the answer’ will not be added to the fat feeds. Genuine self reflection is fine, blatant fat hate is not.
Now before anyone gets all het up, the reference to Shapely Prose is not reflective of any personal feelings I have towards Kate, her bloggers or SP in general. It is there because I have had several people contact me concerned that they will be kicked off the feed because they do not agree with Kate or SP’s perspective. Not agreeing with another blog/ger is fine. Hate posts regarding specific blog/gers is not fine, and I am talking about more than saying someone’s actions are douchebag-ish. Hate posts about anything (race, sexuality, gender, weight, ANYTHING) will not be tolerated and the blogger will be asked to remove said post or have their blog removed from the feed.
And for those who haven’t realised, Shapely Prose has been removed from the Notes from the Fatosphere feed by Kate’s request. Shapely Prose is still on the Fat Chat feed (the blogs vary slightly from feed to feed).
I am not intending to run the feeds as a dictatorship and I am open to constructive feedback and discussion. That said, some things are non negotiable, such as hate posts etc.
Phew.
Enough with the admin.
I’m curious why SP wanted off the feed? Can you share?
is there because I have had several people contact me concerned that they will be kicked off the feed because they do not agree with Kate or SP’s perspective.
SERIOUSLY? What is this martyrdom bullshit.
Lisa, there will be a post on SP about that in the near future.
Ah, I hadn’t realized there was a different feed that featured SP – explains a lot.
SERIOUSLY? What is this martyrdom bullshit.</i.
We have never been involved with the feed beyond putting it on our site, so the projection involved there really baffles me.
Thanks for maintaining these feeds!
Just to clarify for those who don’t know some of the history of the Fatosphere feed, back when fat fu ran the feed there was a small group of powerful bloggers who pressured her to take *particular* blogs off the feed. fat fu said as much in a comment on an old Boombatti post named “Sabotage,” which was about me being taken off the feed for my political views. She (fat fu) kindly apologized to me, though I, at that point, wanted to stay off the feed. (Sadly, Boombatti no longer exists, so I can’t link to the post)
So pretending that powerful bloggers like SP, and SP allies, have never had any say in what went on or off the Fatosphere feed during any time in history is misleading. I’m not saying it was Kate Harding herself who IMed fat fu with a “WTF BL needs 2 go,” but considering who held the power in the ’sphere at that point (similar to now, actually), it’s not a stretch to think SP could have had something to do with it.
There’s a reason there are some bloggers who believe that SP has say over who goes on or off the Fatosphere, or who have concerns about posting particular items that might rile up the “bigs” (who are SP and SP allies like the Rotund and Fatshionista). That belief didn’t just materialize from thin air.
Thankfully, Bri doesn’t administrate the feeds based on who is popular with whom. I remember Bri back from the early days on my blog, she was always very fair-minded and I have no doubt she has no incentive nor desire to play politics with the feeds. When I heard she was administering the Fatosphere feed, I finally felt like it was safe to go on again, that I wouldn’t just get arbitrarily dropped because I refused to either a) kiss the butts of the “bigs,” b) held different political views.
So please, let’s drop the whole innocent act about the way the Fatosphere feed used to be administered, and pretending that powerful bloggers didn’t have any say in its composition, because that is demonstrably untrue.
Bri, thanks for clarifying these administrative matters. They are indeed important, because they can mean the life or death of a small blog which doesn’t have the number of followers of more established blogs.
BL, I wish you’d just come out with the details rather than being obtuse. Clearly you know more than the average reader – certainly more than me and I’ve been reading the feed since close to the beginning.
(Oops, hit submit too soon)
My point being I feel like I’m being accused of some knowledge that I simply don’t have, and that irritates me mightily.
So please, let’s drop the whole innocent act about the way the Fatosphere feed used to be administered, and pretending that powerful bloggers didn’t have any say in its composition, because that is demonstrably untrue.
That may have very well been, but I trust Bri to be ethical in the way the feed is now administered, so I don’t see that this would be a problem now or going forward and why it is still an issue at all.
Just to clarify for those who don’t know some of the history of the Fatosphere feed, back when fat fu ran the feed there was a small group of powerful bloggers who pressured her to take *particular* blogs off the feed. fat fu said as much in a comment on an old Boombatti post named “Sabotage,” which was about me being taken off the feed for my political views. She (fat fu) kindly apologized to me, though I, at that point, wanted to stay off the feed. (Sadly, Boombatti no longer exists, so I can’t link to the post)
Actually, while Kate (fat fu) took responsibility for removing you from the feed, she didn’t insinuate that it was Kate Harding or anyone else who influenced that decision. Read the entire archived post and her comments here.
SP may have its faults, but I don’t think it’s fair to make it or Kate Harding the villain here. From what I remember of that incident, there were many Fatosphere bloggers and supporters who were upset with what you wrote, myself included. When we place the feed on our blogs, we are, in a sense, endorsing what it links to. I personally would never have willingly placed a link to what I felt to be a very racially insensitive post by you, but I was hamstrung by the fact that it was included on the Fatosphere feed. That was the dilemma Kate (fat fu) found herself in as the feed administrator and she alone took responsibility for the way in which she resolved it, which was to remove you from the feed.
Sorry, I didn’t realize I was being obtuse. I know most about my own situation, obviously, that’s all I can speak to in detail. fat fu never told us which bloggers, in particular, were pressuring her. I could only ever guess which ones — my best guess is those who had power and held positions that were diametrically opposed to mine (regarding the controversy — again, questions of “privilege” — that was going on at the time).
The point is, there are good reasons that some bloggers think other bloggers have power over feed decisions. But that was the *old* administration, not the *new* administration. Bri’s done a bang-up job, and as far as I can tell is very fair. The fact that we even have robust intra-FA controversial posts on the Fatosphere now is a testament to that. The Fatosphere is now a much bigger umbrella, IMHO, than it used to be. And that’s a very good thing.
Bri – I really appreciate the effort you put into running the feeds.
I could only ever guess which ones
BL, this is not appropriate. Your “guesses” about who objected to a past post of yours are not appropriate in an entry like this, where Bri is attempting to be transparent and to defuse tension, not to stir it up.
@Rachel: There was more going on behind the scenes, and I exchanged personal emails with those who knew more about what was going on than I did, which made me believe quite strongly that there were a powerful few who got me kicked off the Fatosphere. And I pointedly did *not* make Kate the villain in my comments here.
But that original post — which you saw as racially insensitive, while I beg to differ — angered those who had control of the Fatosphere, the ones whose political beliefs apparently mattered more than my own. And there are times that links appear over the feed chats that I would never have put there — but isn’t that the point of the feeds? That it isn’t just one hive mind, one collective, with the same voices echoing the same things? Isn’t the point of a feed to have some difference, different perspectives, within the boundaries of an agreed-upon theme?
JP — I make informed guesses based on the evidence that I have, because the original bloggers who did put pressure on Kate (fu) never came forward about it (why would they?). But I surely can’t say that I “know.” That still doesn’t invalidate what happened to me. And if this isn’t appropriate on Bri’s entry, certainly she can tell me without your micromanagement. I began posting in here because SM’s comment about SP never having had anything to do with the administration of the Fatosphere feed seemed disingenuous to me, given my experience.
Yes, I suppose I’ll never know who pressured Kate (fu). But that pressure worked, and all I knew about it is that one day I was on the feed, and then I was off, without any explanation. I’m neither a troll nor a racist, but my political beliefs do run perpendicular to the beliefs of those who have the most power (and traffic is power) on the Fatosphere. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together on this.
Were other blogs removed from the Fatosphere?
It seems like there is a lot less variety than there once was. Are others just not posting? It’s just odd to see pages of posts from the same blog.