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Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

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Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#131

Post by watwut »

JohnBooty wrote: post #32
stolenmerch wrote: post #3

I took this news a little harder than I should have. It was like the kids from It found out Pennywise was dead except Pennywise wasn't real and was actually your cousin from another state. His death seems like a time to reflect on the internet of old and maybe even reconnect with old friends you pissed off in a flame war. So many mixed emotions and I'm still thinking about his death two days later.

Yeah. SA's legacy is... complicated, and mixed, to put it mildly. But SA was so representative of that era of online culture. If you have strong memories of that era, then Lowtax's passing has got to hit you some kind of way.

I had strong memories of that time and never cared or engaged with something awful.

The thing is, this is subculture and past of some people. But not all people at the time nor likely majority of us.

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#132

Post by shadowgovt »

thrower123 wrote: post #119
newbie789 wrote: post #11

Lowtax was by all accounts a real piece of garbage by the end, but he undoubtedly created a place that changed the internet permanently. I find it kind of funny the amount of ire he drew long before the abuse allegations surfaced though. For example, he was basically auto banned from Twitter by… somebody with the ability to make those decisions at their discretion. I’ve always wondered who that was. In my head, it’s…

> created a place that changed the internet permanently. Not in a particularly positive way. It seems like every truly awful person I've interacted with online has roots back to SA.

SA's sweep was so wide that it encompassed both ends of the spectrum. A lot of good stuff also originated there, including the Welcome to Night Vale podcast drama series.

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#133

Post by pram »

mattlondon wrote: post #118
vasco wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pockets of internet communities shaped internet culture which shapes how society exchanges information online. That's the impact of any large scale forum. Your question is like asking what the lasting impact of painting is beyond paint on paper.

Well I don't think many paintings are talked about as "having shaped the painting world/art". They are just some nice pictures or whatever. Sure - some pieces have shaped art - like first real use of perspective, or that one with the weird stretched skull etc (can't remember names, sorry). Those were pioneers that changed how artists and people thought about and created art. That is what I am wondering about - what h…

Saying things only have relevance if your grandma knows about them is definitely not a bad faith argument!

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#134

Post by watwut »

newbie789 wrote: post #11

Lowtax was by all accounts a real piece of garbage by the end, but he undoubtedly created a place that changed the internet permanently. I find it kind of funny the amount of ire he drew long before the abuse allegations surfaced though. For example, he was basically auto banned from Twitter by… somebody with the ability to make those decisions at their discretion. I’ve always wondered who that was. In my head, it’s…

> I find it kind of funny the amount of ire he drew long before the abuse allegations surfaced though.

People have to deal with and react to abusive people years and years before big abuse happens and becomes public. That sort of behavior don't comes out of nowhere, but rather escalates over time.

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#135

Post by syshum »

capableweb wrote: post #102
jychang wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's the market Substack is trying to tap into, although not quite the same obviously.

No, I don't think you can put Substack in that same bucket. Substack has raised a total of $82.4M in funding over 4 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Mar 31, 2021 from a Series B round. Their investors are gonna want to get that money back, and how do you think that'll happen? Substack is aiming to scale way beyond SA ever had the ambition to, and probably dreaming about ending up like Twitter, Facebook et a…

Venture Capital is where good idea's go to die....

Substack is a good idea, but venture capital will ensure they devolve into another Twitter, Facebook, etc... which is not good....

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#136

Post by mountainb »

citizenpaul wrote: post #82
unclebucknasty wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the answer is anything less than “infinite money”, you’re anti-free-speech. Pointing this out is not the most popular thing on HN, but that doesn't make it less true. I made a similar case a week or two ago in response to someone who did a Show HN on their new "free speech" platform. I essentially challenged the creator to advocate for his new platform by supporting the speech rights of child abusers to promote…

Its interesting that you mention this infinite money problem. Have you ever noticed that the second a fully free speech site opens it is almost instantly crippled with CP? Do you really think that is just happening naaturally? How can something universally loathed also be so prolific that it needs to constanly infect venues to propogate? Its almost like its a tactic to suppress free speech but im just a nut.

This is a problem with the post-'60s post-Chatterly trial conception of free speech. Since then, amidst other developments, the concept of free speech has been conflated with a rabid opposition to any obscenity laws. The US and Great Britain have had a much longer history in which free speech had a meaning separate from the absence of prohibition against obscene material (with some small exceptions we have today like child pornography).

There is actually no contradiction between moderating to remove obscene and other illegal content and supporting the principle of free speech. It's just our understanding of what free speech is has become deeply muddled. Depending on your understanding of free speech, the Comstock Law regime for example either contradicts the principle or fits within that principle.

SA is a good example of the limits of the post-60s conception of free speech and the problems associated with a fanatical dedication to an only recently established reinterpretation of the first amendment. James Madison would not have recognized the post-60s speech regime as something he was establishing in Bill of Rights. He would have seen it as an odd stretch of a relatively ancient and well established principle under British law and political culture.

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#137

Post by shadowgovt »

citizenpaul wrote: post #82
unclebucknasty wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the answer is anything less than “infinite money”, you’re anti-free-speech. Pointing this out is not the most popular thing on HN, but that doesn't make it less true. I made a similar case a week or two ago in response to someone who did a Show HN on their new "free speech" platform. I essentially challenged the creator to advocate for his new platform by supporting the speech rights of child abusers to promote…

Its interesting that you mention this infinite money problem. Have you ever noticed that the second a fully free speech site opens it is almost instantly crippled with CP? Do you really think that is just happening naaturally? How can something universally loathed also be so prolific that it needs to constanly infect venues to propogate? Its almost like its a tactic to suppress free speech but im just a nut.

> Do you really think that is just happening naaturally?

Yes, in the same natural way that water flows down a gravity gradient.

As water will be found at the bottom of wells because it can't generally flow uphill, content that is excluded from every other location will only appear where it is not excluded. And the speed at which it appears is the speed of communication on the internet, which is fast.

There's no conspiracy here, other than the very dedicated conspiracy that is the tiny minority of horrible people thirsty for a horrible thing desperate to find an outlet for it. It is, unfortunately, the natural consequence of not excluding them that they show up and do their thing (disproportionately more on a site that allows it because no other site will).

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#138

Post by INTPenis »

mattlondon wrote: post #97

Perhaps someone can enlighten me: So what was the impact on the internet then? Beyond a few meme templates or abbreviations or whatever, what has the actual lasting impact been? People say this about 4chan as well, but beyond passing meme fads I have yet to see anything convincing?

It's a community so, you had to be there to understand I guess.

Re: Richard ‘Lowtax’ Kyanka, founder of Something Awful, has died

#139

Post by JKCalhoun »

sidlls wrote: post #9

Well that’s too bad. I had a lot of fun trolling D&D and participating in photoshop Fridays. I remember loading that up and watching 9/11 footage set to the Benny Hill theme practically the day it happened. The forums were just brutal, and hilarious for a certain kind of mind. And the impact on the internet is clear and widespread.

> The forums were just brutal, and hilarious for a certain kind of mind.

I don't want to know that there are people with that kind of mind.

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