Surfing the Net and Searching for Truth
Here's something to think about while surfing the internet: Tim Berners-Lee, the scientist who created the World Wide Web, almost named it The Information Mine. If Berners-Lee had gone with the original name we'd be typing TIM instead of WWW before each web address. Fortunately he thought it too egotistical so went with the W's instead.
Although he didn't use The Information Mine the name indicates how Berners-Lee thought his invention would operate. With noble intent we would be exchanging information to better ourselves, creating new ways of learning while tapping into unknown and heretofore unused parts of the brain.
As it happens out Old Tim was a bit off the mark. Research shows long-term internet use affects concentration and stifles learning, and I doubt that hardcore porn, online poker and gratuitous gossip – just three activities that have found a natural home on the 'net – would've been accounted for in his noble online vision.
I also doubt whether surf reporting and surf forecasting would've made his list either, yet it's another activity well-suited to the web. It's also not without its detractors.
If you've ever come across a gaggle of surfers lamenting ye olden days you may have heard them talk of the 'carpark rumour'. In pre-surf forecasting days the carpark was where the swell rumours were exchanged. Amateur forecasters would divine their information from the clouds or tea leaves and broadcast their prognosis to anyone who would listen. The carpark rumours would then spread outward.
There's a romantic charm about such quaint customs but the fact is the old blokes have got it wrong. The rumour mill hasn't dried up it's just moved to a different location. Online is where the shit gets talked now. The big wheels are still turning, as much as they ever have. And just because there are forecasting authorities such as Swellnet and Surfline in the field doesn't preclude the punter from having his say.
Take last weeks Teahupoo swell for example. Both Swellnet and Surfline put early forecasts out – fairly accurate ones too, just quietly – yet there were still wild rumours about the size and arrival time flowing around the 'net. The swell was coming, we knew that much, yet there was still plenty of room for speculation.
Sean Collins, head cheese at Surfline, once said of surf forecasting in the future, "Maybe we'll be sitting in the lineup using our GPS-enabled watches that access a real time satellite orbiting overhead that monitors ocean waves, confirming that a good set is on the way and will arrive at our exact position in the lineup in 2 minutes 13 seconds, and that the third wave of the set will be the biggest."
Me, I doubt the science will ever get that accurate. Yet even if it does it won't stop someone from calling bullshit and saying the fourth wave will be the biggest. We've all got restless minds, robust opinions and are keen to be heard. The internet further enables that trait. It's the ideal environment to have your say and not only about swell rumours.
Take Dooma's Rumours, the website of South African surfer, Damien Fahrenfort, for example. 'Dooma' is a homophobe with a weight problem and the spelling ability of a second-grader but his website is one of the more popular ones in the surfing world dealing with 'insider information' and cheap gossip. He very rarely gets it right but that seems besides the point – his rumours provide entertainment. Nasty and hate-filled at times, but entertainment nonetheless.
It's when the gossipers encroach upon more serious news that trouble starts brewing. Yesterday, many websites got in a tizz when the Quiksilver Pro New York was apparently cancelled. Shea Lopez, who, like Dooma, claims to be a surf insider with the scoop, said that the Quik Pro was "100% cancelled". No source or citation was provided, just a definitive statement. He even defied people who doubted him to "prove him wrong". It was taken as gospel by many.
Lopez' next tweet, glibly delivered 12 hours later, stated the contest was on. He gave no explanation for the turnaround. As it turns out now it was never off. So much for the wonders of the New Media Landscape.
While it's true the internet has removed the filters that distort and colour traditional news sources, it's replaced them with pop culture bloggers armed with monkey minds and a complete lack of integrity. Granted it was only a contest, hardly a world-changing event, but just like our surf forecasts we want authorities in the field. The way I understand it, you're either an entertainer engaging in innuendo and gossip or an informer aiming for truth. But the thing is, you can't be both.
Comments
The hardest thing in the internet age is to find the original source of the information and test it for veracity.
Yeah, more than ever the onus is upon us, the consumers, to question the information we read. Who knows where that's going to lead but at the moment it appears people put too much faith in unverified and illegitimate 'news'. There's a ready willingness to believe controversial and conspiratorial news and that just leads to more of it being expounded.
Still, I reckon people putting out false info should be held to account the same way that newspapers and surf forecasters are. Unlikely I know...
The easiest thing in the internet age is to find the original source of the information and test it for veracity.
So, how did you test Shea's info for it's veracity Roller?
Can't speak for Roller but I saw Shea's tweet and simply didn't react until official news came through. In other words: it's on till the official word says otherwise.
There's simply too many people pushing their own bias or offering news without the expected rigour for truth, only a wish to generate traffic.
That said, I did try contacting Mark Warren and Luke Watson to get the news from them. Word came through the ASP channels before they replied (if they ever would have).
Oh I don't know Stiv, possibly the avoidance of reading lame arsed opinions from the Twitterazi?...
And Google searching for the facts.
Now, tell us about your technique?
That afternoon I heard the rumour from a couple of photogs that New York had been cancelled. I asked the ASP media manager Dave Prodan and he could neither confirm nor deny: he said the situation was fluid and unfolding.
I went surfing at Chopes and saw Robert Kelly Slater. I asked him and he said : "Don't believe the hype.....you think they are going to walk away from something they have so much money invested in?".
I thought about that.
Paddling back in over the lagoon as a soft Tahitian sunset spread it's gentle hues across the waters I encountered another ASP employee. I asked him and he said it was on.
I checked all the official sites and they said it was on.
Stunet - let's strive to be both informative and entertaining at the same time.
I often felt I could foresee south swells coming in CA. from clouds over the desert moving up from the Gulf of California(Sea of Cortez) that separates baja from mainland Mex.
I was correct more than I was wrong, and this was 25 years ago - car park rumor -
It quickly became obvious that people scoffed at my forecast until they proved correct.
After speaking to Sean at his home in San Clemente one fine day I knew he was on to something.
If only I had kept on the forecasting dream instead of working and surfing all over Mex, Centro and parts of SA , I could be locked in a room full of computers using NOAA and Government forecasting tools and be rich and mentioned in surf reports and people would listen when I spoke.
As it is I want the fourth wave of the set, the one that has a predominant shoulder.
Zed,
That's my goal. The first part of your comment that is, not the 'locked in a room full of computers' part which would be my idea of purgatory. Heaven knows some of the fellas in here would see nothing wrong with it though. They enjoy tracking a swell every bit as much as riding it. Weird...
stu,
I accidentally stumbled on to this website and keep coming back for more.
That has to tell you something. Keep up the good work.
Here's your next story title - Accidental key strokes lead to adventures
Like turning down the wrong road and finding a secret surf spot.
Imagine Mexico/Indo BCE?
You think there's a lot of bullshit on the internet? Man, you should have heard the carpark theories.
I have heard so much carpark bullshit that it definitely trained me well for the internet.
I still think if I stood in the carpark long enough on a flat, howling offshore day, I would find some old-timer who would insist that there was such thing as a 'back-swell', a swell generated, well it gets hard to explain here 'cause it never made any sense in the first place, sort of defying all laws of physics and common sense at the same time, but they swore by it.
Just like the internet, a few old-timers knew what they were talking about, but mostly its just a group of blathering fools.
Like me.
BTW Stu, although your comments about internet porn are accepted, it is also true that much of the serious development of the web was and continues to be driven by the porn industry.
Eventually they will develop the 3D and interactive tools, ahem, that might just make socialising and actual physical sexual contact a pastime only talked about by old timers,
in the car park,
with faulty memories,
and big stories.
Well here is a real story for youse if you want to chase it.
I have heard from a well placed inside source at a large surf company that they're sick of the vast piles of anonymous bullshit being chucked around surf and other comment sites/forums/etc to their corporate detriment and to that of their various athletes. And that in the near future, the companies will be employing actual staff to combat the trend -- ie., go online in anonymous form and start tearing apart the babble, defending the faith, athletes, etc.
Indeed they may already be doing this in one company's case.
So will this not be hilarious, trying to pick which anonymous babbling fuckwit is working for which surf company and which isn't.
You never know, perhaps it will become a de rigeur trend for people to actually use their REAL NAMES in online commentary in order to gain a fragment of fucken credibility for a change.
Any info on if they'll pay a retainer with commissions Nick? Or can anyone just invoice Gordon directly after an anonymous keyboard victory in favour of the 'bong at its A-team? Log-on fee + hourly rate perhaps?
Anon 1: "Parko's got no chance this year, Kelly's all over it like stink on a monkey. Also, how crap was it that 'bong didn't give bruce a run, geez they're shit"
Insider: "Listen smegma breath - Parko's just warming up like Ron Jeremy on a b-grade fluffer at the moment and sitting pretty in 3rd. Yeah, 'bong clearly don't know how to run an event, especially after its been widely regarded as one of, if not the best of the last 5 years - and they gave him 30mins before the final to do whatever the hell he wanted. Fuckwit."
*print screen*
Be sure to clearly state your 30 day payment policy in you invoice footer people. Don't want to be chasing Quik-rip-abong as an aged debtor....
Nick, I don't understand why they would really care all that much? The way I see it, most of the shit being thrown on comments/forums etc is by fairly dedicated and world weary surf fans... the kind of surf fans that the big three don't really seem all that worried about pleasing these days. Do they really think that they still hold much credibility with dedicated surfers/fans these days anyway? Anyone with half a brain realises the fiscal realities that these companies now work within. It doesn't mean they don't care about surfing anymore, it just means that they have to make unfortunate compromises to try and please all sides.
The more extreme of these kinds of fans are never going to care about the big companies no matter what they do. The rest just deal with their existence as a reality that won't be changing anytime soon and get on with enjoying their past-time and sniping from the sidelines. But it is largely preaching to the converted anyway. Casual fans that make up a large portion of the current and potential custom for all of the frivolous fashion and accessory crap that they flog are not going to see/read these detrimental comments, let alone be swayed by them.
Is it more that they are worried that the growing discontent amongst hardcore fans may lead to a real revolution away from watching the online webcasts, thus undermining the financial viability of the tour? People won't tune out of contests en masse if the contests are good. They will tune out though if they keep adding sketchy beach breaks to the tour. This is a point that i am sure they are well aware off following the unrelenting backlash they have experienced this year.
The bong stepped up in Tahiti. They were lucky that the massive improvement in media output coincided with such an all-time event... but still, that kind of coverage will seriously increase the amount of time most surf fans spend on the comp websites watching heats they have missed etc. They did a great job. Now, who should i send the invoice too?
Anyway. Nice work on surfline with you own coverage. I have some serious issues with the integrity of that website, but your work was great, as always. You should do the power rankings... maybe as a duet with the outsider. would be interesting to see the points of view side by side.
Thanks grug, I'm doing the Surfline power rankings post Teahupo'o, just don't think I can do them justice unless I actually watch the contest and talk to the surfers etc, and I don't want to go to many of the contests so it's a bit self limiting.
As to why large surf corporations might care about relentless international social media slaggings-off of their business activities by a seemingly wide range of unidentifiable anonymous critics, I can't imagine.
But they'll just be following the lead of a lot of corporations these days -- more and more marketing budgets being devoted to trying to tilt Twitter etc in whatever directions seem beneficial to said companies.
p-funk: ha ha ha I love it. 20c per rebuttal.
@p-funk,
Tell us what you really do. I can't imagine that talent going to waste here at Swellnet.
Your comment was HI-larious.
@nickcarroll,
real names and faces to comment online? Add addresses and phone #'s - keeping it real!
No doubt it will come to that.
I think it would be a good thing!
Larger corporations like Nike, Wal-Mart, Target, etc... take beatings online AND in the BIG BOY MEDIA that make these measly little surf brand online beat-downs look like spankings with a feather duster.
The surfing world is going through growing pains.
Some will survive.
Some will not.
Thankfully, I don't depend on either.
This nothing new... The business that is surfing has been going on since day one.... And companies outside of the "surf" industry have been doing so since day one.
George Freeth. Father of Modern Day surfing....
"In 1907, with the aim of promoting the coast as a weekend leisure destination, the Pacific Electric Railroad contracted the Hawaii surf pioneer George Freeth to give exhibitions of this eccentric and spectacular sport. This set off an explosive property development based on the seducing lure of tourism that would make Los Angeles one of the greatest maritime cities in the world".
These so called "growing pains" include all of the corporations you've mentioned.... As Nike Inc, and Target Corporation come aboard the surf marketing machine.
Same as it ever was.
It's all image-making and image-protecting.
Why sit back and cop shit when you can do something about it? Not that I think they'll succeed, of course. When I read Nick's post my immediate thought was the recent attempt by alcohol companies to influence drinkers at bars.
It goes like this: two sexy girls dressed in civilian clothes (i.e bearing no brand names) befriend male drinkers at a bar. Male drinkers think they're onto a good thing until one of them heads to the bar to buy a round of beers. As he does one of the girls pipes up "How about a Jagermeister?" and then rattles off a spiel containing details that no-one outside of a paid mouthpiece would know.
It's sneaky and duplicitous and only tolerated by those stupid or drunk enough to think that they've got a chance with the girls.
Despite anonymity being the norm on many websites there is still an intolerance for disningenuous behaviour and online crew are pretty quick to sniff it out. Any surf company trying it on wouldn't stand a chance and will likely have it backfire on them.
Agreed Stu. It wouldn't take long and the backlash would be pretty vicious.
BTW.. Has Shaun and Big Wayne taken an alias...........
Well stu I dunno about all that, seems to me that in general there's a stance taken by most surf forum commenters that the surf industry is morally corrupt at its core and everything any of said companies do is intrinsically evil.
To be blunt about it, coming from anybody living a normal life in a modern Western democracy, this is a pretty thick-headed and self-indulgent stance and it wouldn't take a tremendous exertion by a couple of relatively smart people to mount clear and reasonable arguments debunking it.
Beyond that, there is a tremendous amount of what you've described in your story -- ie. sourceless claims to facts about various matters -- pouring out through the forum/story comment world, most of it never rebutted and thus feeding the general ga-ga-ness about how surf companies work, who works for them, and what they do etc. Some of the stuff we've read in comment sections about AI in the past eight months...stuff most people just seemed to accept and even use to get all morally upright about etc ...just fcuken unbelievable. Indeed I think maybe that might have been the trigger for companies to begin their anonymous social-media defence programs.
I also think that the programs will be harder to pick that it seems, and that until people in general who're commenting on sites are willing to own up to their actual identities, they'll have no way and indeed no particular right to request the same from the corpos.
Yeah, I guess the online crew are only wary of disingenuous behaviour when it comes from the corpos. Individuals making fraudulent, baseless claims are positively welcomed.
It's one of the things that really bugged me after AI's death. Billabong and surf journo's were bagged - rightly or wrongly - for how they covered the story. Surf fans wanted - in fact, demanded - to know the truth. Yet when it came to spreading rumours and unverified 'facts' surf fans indulged themselves every bit as much as the Billabong PR machine or the surf journalists.
They effectively committed the same misdemeanours as those they accused.
--"that in the near future, the companies will be employing actual staff to combat the trend -- ie., go online in anonymous form and start tearing apart the babble, defending the faith"
Sounds like the Gruen Transfer isn't about to run out of material anytime soon.
Nick Carroll,
You are a foolish person who has lived in the bubble of the corporate surfing world for so long you believe your own bullshit. You see the walls beginning to cave around your insular empire and you throw these reckless claims around as a means to intimidate a few sheep to feed off the spoon of The Industry.
You are a hack.
That is a fact.
Billabong, Quiksilver, RipCurl, Volcom, et al... have barely been nipped at the heals compared to what major corpos go through on a regular basis from sites completely dedicated to their downfall.
And I know corporate law far more than you could ever dream to imagine.
So stick that in your Paul Naude Pipe and smoke it.
morally corrupt? intrinsically evil?
C'mon NC - that's a stretch.
People are allowed to complain all they want.
Have the contests web coverages been complete horseshit up until Tahiti when Billabong finally stepped up and gave us an A grade coverage? Every now and again the anonymous fucking babbler's actually have a point.
Shit coverage, shit events (thank god for Katia - did you see that crap they surfed yesterday), cover-ups, lies. What's not to complain about? They might not be intrinsically evil but they're hardly lily-white either.
Shit, the babblers even got Bruce a free-surf at Chopes in memory of Andy.
Taking the babblers on at their own game seems destined to backfire to me...
Z-man as you can imagine, my chosen field of engineering lends itself to continual interaction with all manner of stimulating and vibrant personalities. Gavin for instance updated me yesterday at the water cooler on how after the weekend, his burgeoning wine collection is now fully documented in an excel spread sheet "for easy reference". My query of ‘what happens if you’re laptop dies, will you have to look at the labels?’ was met with a 1000 yard stare - or in this case, closer to a 650 yard stare. Gavin has a lazy eye…
Nick Carroll, Paul Naude, Bob McKnight and the rest of the gang has trouble sleeping at night right now because of one thing:
#PutBruceinChopes
Guaran-fucking-tee it.
Just to clarify, my real name is batfink, and I really am a small bat whose wings were damaged at both and a friendly smith generously wrought a new set of iron wings for me.
Such was his technical craft that somehow I still fly with them, as well as protecting myself and occasionally Karate, like a shield of steel, from Hugo Agogo's bullets.
And some company owes me big time for defending them over the Andy Irons death and subsequent internet gossip meltdown.
It was I who argued vociferously that they were as much the deer caught in the headlights as everyone else, hardly the backroom satans pulling all the strings.
Maybe they didn't like my defence technique, but that's no excuse for not paying up.
The internet spies may already be among us. I'm sure some marketing guy reads this stuff while pulling in a paycheque some substantial factor larger than what he is worth.
And just to be really clear, those two girls in the bar really, really liked me.
For my personality.
Then everything went black.
Ha ha rottmouth, youll have to do a lot better than that. I'll be surfing and writing about it till long after you've gone. You're completely devoid of credibility until you reveal yourself. Being in love with your own bullshit may well be an Internet act that's run its course.
Lolo look mate I am not talking about intelligent discourse, I love how people with something worthwhile to say have a quick and easy way of saying it, that's what got me into writing in the first place via tracks in the 70s. But I'm completely bored shitless with anonymous online bullshit artists. They haven't added a fucken single thing to the conversation and I am entirely unsurprised that the surf corpos are preparing to neuter the trend.
And batfink I think you have an excellent case for some sort of remuneration. Though of course this will make you into some sort of sell out. Argh!
So many of the surf writers and commentators cop shit so hard from people online I cant understand it. Surfing has an established sporting side and thats it. Nick Carroll, Steve Shearer, GT, Sal Masakela, Repogle etc. etc. all bring something insightful, interesting, amusing, dramatic etc. to our computers. Sure beats the shit thats on mainstream TV these days.
Would there have been such good coverage of Tahiti had it not been for the outcry about that absolute shit they where feeding us prior? Bong nailed it with that event and from what I've seen and heard most people are full of praise.
Seems like when they do something right they don't get torn to shreds over the net but in fact the opposite.
Maybe if the corporations went about their business with a shred more morality then previous the constant bullshit would stop. Who knows we might all babble about how they contributed something to the world other than emissions and questionable manufacturing policys.
p-funk,
You didn't disappoint! A degree in engineering and a surf commentator?
Rowdy professionals, and surfers in general, formed your unique critiquing abilities?
Keep 'em coming!
Still laughing.
p-funk,
"at the water cooler" ref.
Have you seen the comedy tv show/ Reggie Perrin?
My favorite character;
Vicki (Kerry Howard)—Vicki is the secretary at Groomtech. To call her stupid would be flattering her; she is immensely dopey and dim-witted. It is Vicki's job to try and organise Reggie's day—however this proves near impossible, what with Reggie's unpredicable behaviour and the fact most of his comments go over her head.
water cooler conversations at it's best! - Too funny!
..."Ha ha rottmouth, youll have to do a lot better than that. I'll be surfing and writing about it till long after you've gone. You're completely devoid of credibility until you reveal yourself. Being in love with your own bullshit may well be an Internet act that's run its course."
You have absolutely no clue as to how the internet works do you Nick? You'll be writing long after I'm gone? Really? Maybe you should START writing bfore you make a claim like that. As far as I'm concerned, you've never even STARTED writing. You have the skills of a community college drop-out, the knowledge of an empty dumpster behind the Quiksilver shop on the Goldy, and the humor of a typical thin-skinned Australian.
The world is changing Nicholas.
And it's leaving you and your dinosaur ilk behind.
Your argument that I have no credibility because I am anonymous shows how ignorant you really are. You have absolutely NO idea why I am anonymous. And if you think anonymous people CANNOT and ARE NOT changing things RIGHT NOW in the real world you need to get the fuck out of your Surf Media Industry bubble and see what's been happening in the Middle East, China, and even in parts of my homeland in Eastern Europe.
How many times did you wake in a sweat thinking this:
#PutBruceinChopes
?
And where the hell where you for 8 fucking months after AI died? You complain about the internet rumors by Anonymous people wondering why a three time champ died alone in a hotel room in Dallas (and please don't reference your fluff pieces at ASL which explained NOTHING)... why do you think that was Nicholas? Because of all the believable information about Den Gay fever being spouted by puppets at Billabong?
People behind the screens... the anonymous people you condescend with every drop of venom that drips from your tongue are more educated and smarter than you and probably anyone in the ASP. THAT is why things are starting to change you muddle headed statist.
WE THE FANS are starting to be heard for the FIRST time. And you, of all people, are SHOCKED that we aren't happy with shit? Well boo fucking hoo. Your bubble, just like the real estate and stock bubbles just burst.
Reality wins. Truth wins. And you can't blame anonymous people for that.
Anytime Nick.
You know where to find me.
I'm not going anywhere. And neither are the FANS. We sniff bullshit and aren't letting up until we get some credibility back in the sport.
You sir, have ZERO credibility in my book. Tom Carroll does not make Nick Carroll a good writer. It makes him a silent writer. A propogandist for your employers... RIPQUIKBONGCOM.
Your silence on real issues speaks volumes.
Now get to writing your in depth analysis of the Top 32 at Surflies.
Old field MARSHALL Rottmouth, coming off the hinges once again....
Always going on about the great "recycle". Constantly predicting the demise of others...
And continually ignoring his own.
We've heard your type of horse before....
All ten parts.
&feature=relatedFuck, I miss L.S.
poor f'n surf industry. they can't monopolize the dialog any more by virtue of buying out a few ragazines advert queue and force-spooning pablum to the [barely] tit-weaned infants with the hands of the paid staff hacks.
not that all of the current voices have something to offer, but if i want to read marketing copy, i can always go back to the industry sources. at least freemen have actual opinions to proffer up.
as for NC, he's forgotten credibility ain't like poon. once you sell it, you don't get it back.
I don't regard the surf companies as morally corrupt or intrinsically evil; just normal corpos now ruled by the need to increase profits for their shareholders.
As such, they should be held to the same level of account as any other normal corporation out there.
By journos using their real names or by anonymous internet commentors: doesn't really matter how the end is achieved.
I think Surf Companies got too used to having complete control of the narrative via the too cosy relationship with the surf media and when that little empire collapsed via the barbarian hordes unleashed through the internet the surf companies have been caught on the back foot.
What was the worst thing said by internet commenters about AI's death? That the dengue fever hypothesis was transparently bullshit; that the decision to delay the autopsy results to "protect the AI brand" (instead of protecting the pregnant mother) was cynical and in poor taste; that the decision to ask for donations from the public instead of creating some kind of corporately sponsored foundation was incredibly ill conceived and left a bad taste in peoples mouths; or finally that Andy was spotted partying in Miami and probably died from a drug related complication?
Jeez, the truth as revealed by the autopsy results (despite a last minute cynical attempt to hire a professional witness to spin the results) was that AI had just about every goddamm drug known to man in his system.
The way Andy's death was handled was a black mark on the media and industry. It proved beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt that the cynicism and suspicion of anonymous internet commentors was justified.
Now, surf coporations can move in two ways.
They can hire shills to try and spin information and shape the public narrative or they can try and reform by accepting that we now live in a more transparent age and by making their actions and intentions more transparent and accountable.
I think, based on the Billabong Pro in Tahiti that corpos may be becoming more accountable to the fans. Great webcast, giving Bruce an expression session, etc etc .
One thing's for sure: the old ways of doing business no longer apply. Information is just too readily gained and disseminated for that to happen.
Who gives a rats arse anyway, just go surfing and forget about the politics. The best way to judje shit is to judje the way someone surfs.
Nick Carroll is a good surfer and a good writer so give him a break and let your own surfing tell the story.
Yeah, so just delete my comments and replace them with Freeride's comment. I was typing on three hours of sleep.
@Non Local,
Pol Pot was also a good writer and surfer. At least that's what it says on Wikipedia.
+1 freeride76. Well said. Couldn’t agree more.
Do the surf corps honestly think they can neuter free speech on the internet?
I almost choked on my breakfast reading that!
Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.[1] Totalitarian regimes stay in political power through an all-encompassing propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled surf media, a single party that is often marked by personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror.
Dear Swellnet:
Can you allow capital letters in screen names please. Thanks.
FYI: It is, PacNW
@PacNW,
You are talking to Australians. Not humans. They will catch up eventually. I think the ASP has a better format.
Cheers Ben and Stu!
@PacNW - should be sorted in a few weeks time. Don't worry - it's been equally frustrating at our end!
FYI PacNW: Understanding that pacnw on Swellnet is the same PacNY on Brewers site isn't that much of a leap.
Even for us Aussies.
Dear nickcarroll:
You seem to have ants in your pants over the use of anonymous screen names. Let me see if I can help you understand why someone might not want to use their real name here, or elsewhere when communicating through social media.
Let's take a hypothetical example. We'll call her Jane Doe. Dr. Doe, MD runs a successful fertility clinic and her clients pay her generously for her medicine. Dr. Doe, MD also enjoys surfing and has been a regular follower of the ASP since the contests started streaming online.
Dr. Doe, MD also used to have a Facebook page. But, she had a bad experience when an ex-boyfriend publicly posted a picture of the two of them french-kissing. When people Google her name, they see a link to her practice and below that, they see a link to the photo of her mid-smooch.
She isn't embarrassed about the kiss. They were in sincere love at the time and it was an intimate moment.
So here's the kicker, once your name gets on the internet. It is public and everyone can see it. Forever.
Some of us have careers and clients and families to support. I use a psuedonym out of respect to those things. Not out of disrespect to anyone here.
I suspect if you got to know a few of us online, read what was written, you might find that there is a lot less anonymity than at first glance.
And for the record, I think you are a gobbling turkey in the commentary booth. Since I have seem to have your attention now, please consider not talking every single second of every broadcast. That goes for your co-commentators as well. Let us hear the waves once in awhile.
Sincerly,
PacNW
Who is this Nick Crowell that you guys are talking to. Is he on the chess tour? Wait!?!? Shit, isn't this the chess messageboards???
..."And batfink I think you have an excellent case for some sort of remuneration. Though of course this will make you into some sort of sell out. Argh!".....
Thanks Nick. I don't take myself so seriously that being a sell-out would worry me too much. I'll take the cash thanks.
Quite frankly we all sell out to some degree, except perhaps the seriously independently wealthy, and Steve Shearer of course, but he has chickens in his backyard.
I admire those who can and do type under their real names. Alas, it is probably an unnecessary risk for me.
Not sure what you did to upset everyone so much Nick. I liked your stints in the commentary box as well. Ah well, if you are pissing off a lot of people you are probably doing something right.
@PacNW,
What people may find a bit amusing is that your story is FAR from a stretch...
... hence Freeride's comment. The tide's shifting. More sentient folks that have been surfing for decades are hoping aboard this Pro Surfing Train and seeing it for what it is...
... gird your loins chillun.
Spicolli just got kicked the fuck off the playground.
thanks ben and stu.
Enjoyed the article. I like a little irony at times. Despite the noted (but anonymous) scholarly research authors that would alleged otherwise, I might have learned something on this website. Or at the least, I was provoked to thought.
Dear Surf Company representatives,
Your billion dollar brands are being trashed from internet forum to internet forum. This is where the real surfers actually hide out and get their views. Are you going to just take this like mealy-mouthed wimps, or are you going to stand up and do something about it.
I am available to anonymously debunk, harass, out-rationalise and generally destroy the credibility of all and any internet warriors who are defaming your good corporate name, your company products and/or related 'brand' issues.
I have years of experience in the field, on the front line, and have acquired a level of credibility that even I am mystified by. I am lucid, analytical, rational, business savvy and can prick the sordid and delusional balloons of just about every and any fucker on the internet.
They can take me on, but the only credibility they walk away with is from having actually entered the ring. Their ideas, their concepts, their arguments and their very self esteem are left shattered.
I am available for a fee, can argue either side of virtually any argument, and I'm all yours.
Contact details via Stu. He knows how to contact me. He can call me on the batfink phone, or just put those two halves of the rings he shares with Craig and say "Shazzam".
Respectfully yours........................
And I can do it for 20% less than Batfink.....
batfink,
These multi billion dollar multinational corporations do not need your help.... They have not only teams of lawyers, but the IP address of anyone and everyone who might possibly be committing internet libel. Or not.
And it's all measured in billable hours.
Yew!
Well, they would have to serve a writ to Swellnet to get the IP address roller, but they would just be digging a deeper hole for themselves and any chance of gaining credibility would be lost for all time. If you were the CEO of one of the majors, would you want to be known as the company that brought down anonymous internet defamatory commenting? You would be hated for all time and sales would really plummet.
Hire me, and I take them down on your behalf and nobody is any wiser, and they maintain what little cred they have.
And I'll do a 25% better job then zenagain! :-)
pacnw: wow! I also have a wife and children. An entire family in fact. Grandparents are dead but.
I am not talking about embarrassing private moments made public, I'm talking about people using anonymity to avoid the consequences of writing nasty shit in a public forum. It's not a subtle distinction.
shearer: I'm not talking about intelligent people trying to hold the surf media or whomever to account. I am talking about the absolutely dreadful shit written by a large number of anonymous posters in a number of places online about numerous people and agencies and their supposed hands in AI's death. There was also a wide range of quite incredible posts calling AI himself all sorts of amazing things, saying stuff about his family, his friends and others without any backup whatsoever. All of it done anonymously. Imagine what wonderful reading it must have been for any of AI's close friends or family had they been unfortunate enough to be exposed to it -- and a number of them were.
You've had some very brief tastes of anonymous posters having a mild crack at you on a personal level. Try multiplying that a few hundred times and increase the magnification by including the death of a friend or family member. Yeah fun hey.
But none of it rebounds on the nicknamee does it.
These aren't private chats down the pub or something, everyone, they're public statements you're making under the guise of anonymity. Easy for you. Not necessarily so easy for the people who read 'em.
batfink: ha you know what's funny, I get in fun conversations quite often with sources or pro surfers or surf corpo people who have something to say about a story I've written... but no anonymous stranger has ever once come up and started saying rude shit to my face they way they do on website comment sections. People are much nicer when they have to own their statements.
Are you threatening another car park fight Nicholas?
Your credibility is done. And we are just starting with you. Watch the domino's fall.
You asked what "we" are capable of.
And it is beginning to unfold before your very, very myopic eyes.
You should get on Twitter. Just sayin.
And if I walked up to your face in a carpark, not a punch would be thrown. The reasons are multitudinous.. but nothing to do with me being tuff.
Would it be so you could introduce yourself as 'blasphemy-rottmouth'-internet warrior?
Internet warrior. Ah ha ha ha ha!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=internet%20warrior
That rottkamp, he's a busy 'lil boy...
Busy in his own pants.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rottkamp
@P-Funk
No.
Quiksilver Pro NYC beach side crowd and web was choka block with people. Waves and performances were all time.
Owen earned that $300,000, and firmly established himself as the top shelf surfer in any and all conditions. The back half of the tour events may just play to his advantage.
Next year's NYC event should be even better.
And yes, searching for the truth?... Old ms. rottkamp was wrong again.
Nick Carroll asked what "we" have done.
I took it seriously and completely eviscerated his phony facade. But he's just a bit player.
He asks what "we" have done.
Did Mr. Carroll see who surfed before the final at Chopes?
Has Mr. Carroll seen the reactions from The Industry over Bobby's melt-down?
The winds of change, how sweet they smell...
To think that you had anything to do with anything professional surf related is the height of humor.. But, how internet warriorish of you anyway, Ms. rottkamp.
Winds of change? Keep those cards and letters coming.... As the industry takes them straight to the bank.
Thanks for coming... Drive thru.